With Germany prior to the dissolution of the Roman power, the present compendium has no concern: the history of that period is, or ought to be, familiar to every reader. Our object is to contemplate that celebrated country as an Empire; but as its establishment must be traced to an era considerably anterior, a few pages by way of introduction may properly open the main subject.
Germany, prior to the French monarchy, exhibits a perpetual succession of vicissitudes. As we descend the stream of time, from the invasion by Caesar to the reign of Honorius, we find new nations, or at least new denominations of such as previously existed; and that the boundaries or the location of each is ever changing. At one time we read of a number of tribes located on the banks of the Elbe, or of the Rhine, or of the Danube; in the revolution of two or three centuries, we perceive names totally different occupying the same regions. The causes of these changes are twofold,—the peculiarly military character of the old Germans, and the frequent arrival of barbaric torrents from the eastern confines of Europe. Of these causes, the latter was the more efficacious; for though the Germanic tribes were always ready to encroach on the boundaries of each other, they were more generally moved from their seats by the resistless torrent of invasion, the course of which was nearly always from east to west. Nor must we overlook the probability—we should be justified in assuming it as a fact—that new combinations of tribes, for the purpose whether of defence or aggression, often changed their distinctive appellation. It has, indeed, been contended, that the various denominations of Alamanni, Suevi, Goths, Franks, Saxons, &c. implied, not associations, whether voluntary or compulsory, of different, however kindred, tribes,—kindred in descent, manners, and language,—but that each was a generic term strictly applicable to one great nation. But for such an assertion there is no foundation. That these associations were frequent, may easily be collected from the incidental notices of the Roman historians; and reason tells us that it must have been so. All the great tribes were, in fact, eager to increase their armed defenders, by incorporating with themselves their allies or those whom they subdued. On some occasions, we distinctly read that the option proposed by one tribe to another, was alliance or war. Yet where success must, in the nature of things, have been so variable, these alliances must have been extremely precarious. In most cases, the victor would dictate, and the conquered would receive the terms of a new confederation. In a country covered, not with fortresses, but with forests; which contained no strong positions where aggression might be successfully resisted; such mutations, alike of place and of denomination, were incessant.
Germany, prior to the French monarchy, exhibits a perpetual succession of vicissitudes. As we descend the stream of time, from the invasion by Caesar to the reign of Honorius, we find new nations, or at least new denominations of such as previously existed; and that the boundaries or the location of each is ever changing. At one time we read of a number of tribes located on the banks of the Elbe, or of the Rhine, or of the Danube; in the revolution of two or three centuries, we perceive names totally different occupying the same regions. The causes of these changes are twofold,—the peculiarly military character of the old Germans, and the frequent arrival of barbaric torrents from the eastern confines of Europe. Of these causes, the latter was the more efficacious; for though the Germanic tribes were always ready to encroach on the boundaries of each other, they were more generally moved from their seats by the resistless torrent of invasion, the course of which was nearly always from east to west. Nor must we overlook the probability—we should be justified in assuming it as a fact—that new combinations of tribes, for the purpose whether of defence or aggression, often changed their distinctive appellation. It has, indeed, been contended, that the various denominations of Alamanni, Suevi, Goths, Franks, Saxons, &c. implied, not associations, whether voluntary or compulsory, of different, however kindred, tribes,—kindred in descent, manners, and language,—but that each was a generic term strictly applicable to one great nation. But for such an assertion there is no foundation. That these associations were frequent, may easily be collected from the incidental notices of the Roman historians; and reason tells us that it must have been so. All the great tribes were, in fact, eager to increase their armed defenders, by incorporating with themselves their allies or those whom they subdued. On some occasions, we distinctly read that the option proposed by one tribe to another, was alliance or war. Yet where success must, in the nature of things, have been so variable, these alliances must have been extremely precarious. In most cases, the victor would dictate, and the conquered would receive the terms of a new confederation. In a country covered, not with fortresses, but with forests; which contained no strong positions where aggression might be successfully resisted; such mutations, alike of place and of denomination, were incessant.
