A Guide to the History of Physical Education

THE TEUTONIC INVADERS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

The Germans as we meet them in the pages of Caesar and Tacitus[4] are a race of sturdy, blue-eyed giants, who dwell in a land of forest and swamp. Their straggling villages consist of low, thatched, dirt-floored huts of rough timber, and in spite of the harsh climate they go about scantily clad in skin mantles or garments of coarse linen. Small fields of barley and perhaps other grains are tilled by the women, but flocks and herds form the chief support of the family, and these, with wild animals taken in the chase, supply the greater portion of their food. For drink there was a crude beer, made without hops. Next to warfare, hunting was the favorite occupation, and for this the surrounding forests yielded the aurochs or bison, the wild boar, elk, and bear, besides packs of predatory wolves and numerous lesser animals. Arms were a token of the freeman's position and dignity, and were carried constantly. Only a few could equip themselves with breastplate and helmet, and iron for swords was scarce, but each man had a shield, and short, sharp spears for thrusting or throwing. Their cavalry rode without saddles. A public spectacle much in demand was a dance of naked youths in the midst of drawn swords and upturned spears. Swimming and horsemanship furnished other means of active exercise in time of peace.