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Tacitus · Germania

Germania 32

The Usipi and the Tencteri horsemen

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Germ. 32.1Proximī Chattīs certum iam alveō Rhēnum quique terminus esse sufficiat Usipī ac Tencterī colunt.Next to the Chatti, along the Rhine, which now has a settled channel and is sufficient to serve as a boundary, live the Usipi and Tencteri. Germ. 32.2Tencterī super solitum bellōrum decus equestris disciplīnae arte praecellunt;The Tencteri, besides the usual glory of war, excel in the skill of horsemanship; Germ. 32.2nec maior apud Chattōs peditum laus quam Tencterīs equitum.nor is the fame of the infantry greater among the Chatti than that of the cavalry among the Tencteri. Germ. 32.3Sīc īnstituēre maiōrēs, posterī imitantur.So their ancestors established, and their descendants follow suit. Germ. 32.3Hī lūsūs īnfantium, haec iuvenum aemulātiō: persevērant senēs.This is the play of children, this the rivalry of young men: the old men persevere in it. Germ. 32.4Inter familiam et penātēs et iūra successiōnum equī trāduntur: excipit fīlius, nōn ut cētera, maximus nātū, sed prōut ferōx bellō et melior.Horses are handed down along with the household, the hearth and the rights of succession: a son takes them over, not the eldest, as with everything else, but the one who is fiercest and best in war.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (54 words)
proximus, -a, -umnearest, next
certus, -a, -umdetermined, fixed, certain; certiōrem facere, to make more certain, inform
iam, adv.now, already
alveus, -ī m.hollow vessel; trough, tub; river bed
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
terminus, -ī m.boundary, limit
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
sufficiō, -ere, -fēcī, -fectusbe enough, hold out; supply
atque, ac (conj.)and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
colō, colere, coluī, cultustill, cultivate; inhabit; worship
super (prep. + acc. or abl.; also adv.)over, above, on top of; upon; about, concerning
soleō, -ēre, solitus sumbe accustomed, usually do
bellum, -ī, n.war
decus, -oris n.honour, glory; what is fitting, propriety
equester, -tris, -treof cavalry
disciplīna, -ae f.training, discipline
ars, artis, f.art
praecellō, -ereexcel, surpass, be pre-eminent
neque or nec, conj.and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
magnus, -a, -umlarge, big, great, mighty; loud
apud, prep, with acc.among, with
pedes, peditis m.foot soldier
laus, laudis f.praise, glory
quam, adv.how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
eques, equitis m.horseman; (pl.) cavalry
sīc, adv.so, thus
īnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtusdecide upon, determine
maiōrēs, -um m. pl.ancestors
posterī, -ōrum m. pl.descendants, posterity
imitor, -ārī, -ātus sumcopy, imitate
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
lūsus, -ūs m.play, game, sport
īnfāns, -fantis, m. and f.infant, babe
iuvenis, -is, m.young man, youth
aemulātiō, -ōnis f.rivalry, the effort to equal someone
persevērō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumpersist
senex, senis, m.old man
inter, prep, with acc.among, between
familia, -ae f.household (incl. slaves and dependents)
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
iūs, iūris, n.right, justice, law; iūs dīcere, to pronounce judgment; iūs iūrandum, iūris iūrandī, oath
successiō, -ōnis f.succession, inheriting; coming next
equus, -ī, m.horse
trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditusgive across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report
excipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptustake out or up, receive, welcome, entertain
fīlius, -ī, m.son
nōn, adv.not
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
cēterī, -ae, -a, plur. adj.the other, the remaining, the rest of
nātū (abl. only)by birth (maiōrēs nātū: the elders)
sed, conj.but
prōut (conj.)just as, according as
ferōx, -ōcis, adj.fierce, savage
bonus, -a, -umgood
Tacitus, Germania. Latin text: H. Furneaux, Cornelii Taciti Opera Minora (Oxford, 1900), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.