A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

552 The Northern Barbarians
Food and
drink.
lb. 22.
Tac. Germ.
Intemperance.
23-
Public
shows;
gambling.
lb. 24.
not reckon them as a favor, nor feel under any obligation
in accepting them.
Immediately they rise from sleep, which they frequently
prolong into the day, they take a bath, usually of warm
water, as is natural where winter takes the lion's share
of the year. After the bath they take a meal. They have
separate seats and each his own table. Then they proceed
to business and often to feasts in full armor. No one is
ashamed to drink from dawn to dawn. As is natural
among drunkards, quarrels are frequent, and their brawls
are rarely settled without wounds and bloodshed. But
they also frequently consult at their feasts about the reconciliations
of feuds, the forming of family connections,
and the adoption of chiefs, and also upon peace and war.
At no other time, they feel, is the heart so open to frank
thoughts or so well warmed to great ones. Being as a
race without much cunning or experience, they still open
the secrets of their hearts in the freedom of jest. Thus the
mind of each is laid bare. On the morrow they discuss
the question again, thus preserving the advantages of
either state. They debate, while incapable of deceit, and
decide when they cannot be misled.
Their drink is a liquid made from barley or wheat fermented
into a faint resemblance of wine. Their food is
simple, wild fruits, fresh game, or curdled milk. They
simply satisfy their hunger without any refinement or
preparation. In drinking they are less temperate. If
you pander to their intemperance by supplying as much
as they want, their vices will conquer them as effectively
as any troops.
They have but one kind of public show; in every gathering
it is just the same. Naked youths who profess this
sport, fling themselves in dance among swords and levelled