Ill] AND HISTORIC TIMES 115 



regard themselves the ministers of the gods, and the horses as 

 acquainted with their will." We shall presently find that the 

 ancient Persians had very similar beliefs and practices concern- 

 ing white horses to those held by their Germanic kinsmen. 



But in the interval between Caesar and the date when 

 Tacitus wrote his account of Germany, one German tribe had 

 developed a cavalry organization of so high a quality as to call 

 forth the warm admiration of the latter writer. This was the 

 tribe called Tencteri by Tacitus, Tenchtheri by Caesar. In 

 Caesar's day this tribe, being hard pressed by the Suevi, had 

 made their way to where the Menapii occupied both banks of 

 the Lower Rhine. The Menapii on the eastern side hastily 

 removed to the western bank, taking with them all their boats. 

 The Tencteri, thus baffled, pretended to return whence they 

 had come, and the Menapii of the east bank recrossed the river 

 to their homes, thinking that all was now safe. But the 

 Tencteri suddenly returned by a long night march accom- 

 plished on horseback, slew the Menapii, seized their boats, and 

 were thus enabled to cross the Rhine 1 . 



In the time of Tacitus the Tencteri were dwelling on the 

 west bank of the Rhine, near the Chatti and Usipii. The 

 historian states that the Tencteri, " besides the more usual 

 military distinctions, particularly excel in the organization of 

 cavalry, and the Chatti are not more famous for their foot- 

 soldiers than are the Tencteri for their horsemen. What their 

 forefathers originated, posterity maintains. This supplies sport 

 to the children, rivalry to their youths ; even the aged keep it 

 up. Horses are bequeathed along with the slaves, the dwelling- 

 house, and the usual rights of inheritance ; they go to the son, 

 not to the eldest, as does the other property, but to the most 

 warlike and courageous 2 ." Tacitus is probably also referring to 

 this people when he says that the bridegroom brought such 

 gifts as oxen, a caparisoned horse, a shield, a lance, and a 

 sword 3 . Occasionally the horse was burned along with his 

 master on the funeral pyre 4 . 



It will be noted that the Tencteri had crossed the Rhine 



1 Caesar, B. G. iv. 4. 2 Germ. 32. 



3 Ib. 18. 4 Ib. 27. 



82 



