A complete dictionary of the Greek and Roman antiquities explaining the obscure places in classic authors and ancient historians relating to the religion, mythology, history, geography and chronology of the ancient Greeks and Romans, their ... rites and customs, laws, polity, arts and engines of war : also an account of their navigations, arts and sciences and the inventors of them : with the lives and opinions of their philosophers / compiled originally in French ... by Monsieur Danet ; made English, with the addition of very useful mapps.

ALEMANNI,

the Germans: These People, says Tacitus, were never debauch'd by Commerce or Alliance with other People, which is the reason that they are all alike; for they have yellow Hair, blue Eyes, a fierce Aspect, and an advantagious Stature, yet they cannot bear long Fatigues, and are only brisk at the first; Heat and Thirst are very unsupport∣able to 'em, but they endure Cold and Hunger very well, by reason of the Constitution of their Country. Those that inhabit our Fron∣tiers value Money upon the account of Com∣merce, and know some antient Pieces of our Coin, which they value more than others, as those that have a Saw or a Chariot on them. The rest traffick by exchange of Goods still, as the first Men did. Their Cavalry carry on∣ly a Lance and a Buckler: Their Infantry car∣ry also Darts, of which every Soldier has se∣veral, which he knows how to cast with great Force and Dexterity, being not at all hindred by his Clothes or Arms; for their only Gar∣ment is a long Coat. If we consider their Troops in general, their Infantry is the best, which is the reason that they mix it with their Cavalry. 'Tis such a Disgrace among 'em to quit their Buckler, that they who have done is, never dare come to their Assemblies or Sa∣crifices. In choosing their Kings they much respect their Birth, and in their Governours their Vertue. None but the Priests among 'em have right to imprison and punish. Of all the Gods, they chiefly worship Mercury, and sacrifice even Men to him at certain Solemni∣ties. They think it not agreeable to the Gran∣dieur of the Gods, to paint them as Men, or shut them up in Temples, but they only con∣secrate Groves to 'em, and adore such as are most solitary. They are much given to Augu∣ries and Lots, which they perform with lit∣tle Ceremony. They cut a Branch of a cer∣tain Fruit-Tree in several pieces, and having mark'd them with certain Characters, cast 'em carelesly upon a white Cloth; then the Priest, or Master of the Family, if it be a private House, after he has made a Prayer to the Gods, lifts up each piece three times, and interprets them according to the Marks on 'em. They also consult the flying and chirping of Birds, and the neighing of Horses is with them a certain Presage: To this end they feed white Horses in their dedicated Groves, and will not suffer them to be prophan'd by the service of Men; and when they have a mind to consult 'em, they yoke 'em in a Chariot of their Gods, and the Priest or King follows them to observe their Neighing; there is no Augury to which they give more Credit. They make use also of another Invention to know the Event of their Wars; They take a Captive of their Ene∣mies, and match him with one of their own Party, and judg of the issue of the War by the success of their Combat. They count by Nights and not by Days, as we do; and in their Orders of State, they set down on such a Night, and not on such a Day; because, as they think, the Night was first. They meet in Council armed, and the Priests alone have power to en∣joyn silence, as they have also to punish: Their Punishments are different, according to their Crimes; they hang Traytors and Deserters on Trees; the cowardly, the base, and the infa∣mous they smoother in Puddles, and then throw an Hurdle upon 'em. Their Coat, which is all the Garment they wear, as I have above observed, is fasten'd with a Button or Clasp, the rest of their Body is naked: The richest of them have their Garments not large and full, as the Parthians and Sarmatians, but close, according to the shape of their Bodies: They also clothe themselves with Furs. The Womens Garments are much like the Mens, save that they wear a kind of Linnen Shift with out Sleeves, border'd with Crimson-Silk, which leaves their Arms and Bosom naked. Their Marriages nevertheless are untainted, and their Chastity is not blemished by their Meetings, Festivals, and publick Shews. They neither

send nor receive Love-Letters or Billet-Douxes, insomuch that Adultery is seldom found among so great a People: they allow not second Marri∣age, and a Woman takes an Husband to be uni∣ted to her, as one Body and one Soul. 'Tis an odious thing among 'em to destroy a Child in the Womb or hinder Conception; every one is brought up in his own Family, without any o∣ther Nurse than his own Mother. There are few People that take more pleasure in entertaining Strangers; 'tis a Crime for any Man to shut his House against them, whosoever they be: When any one comes to their Houses, the Ma∣ster of it gives him whatever he has, and when he has nothing left, he will carry him to his Neighbour, who receives him with the same Respect and Freedom. They drink Beer, for no Vines grow in their Country. Their Food is very plain, wild Fruits, Milk curdled, and Venison, and they live without Dainties and Expence. They have but one sort of pub∣lick Show, their young Men dance naked on the points of Spears and Javelins. They do not divide the Year into Four parts, as other Nations. The Autumn is as little known as the Fruits of it. Their Funerals are without any Pomp or Magnificence, they only burn the Bodies of some Persons of Quality with a particular sort of Wood, putting nothing upon the Pile but their Arms, and sometimes the Horse of the deceas'd without Perfumes or Garments; their Graves are made of Turfs, and they contemn the Costliness of our Tombs. In fine, they are great Drinkers, and very great Gamesters, insomuch that they will play away themselves after they have lost all their Goods.

They celebrate in old Verses, of which all their History is compos'd, a God born in their Land, called Tuisco, and his Son, Man, who were the first Inhabitants of the Country. Caesar speaking of the Germans in his Sixth Book, De Bello Gallico, tells us, That they have nei∣ther Priests nor Sacrifices, and own no Deity but such as they see and feel the Effects of, as the Sun, the Moon, and the Fire; and that War and Hunting were their only Exercises.