The Priinitive Deuwcracij of tJie Germans. 35 



in the 2 otli chapter — eight chapters later than the passage 

 under discussion — that he mentions the serfs. 



We must conclude, therefore,, that the free tribesmen lived 

 in villages as well as in isolated homesteads; and this con- 

 clusion is supported by the incidental mention of villages in 

 other relations: for example, in the first book of the Annals, 

 chapter 56, in an invasion of the German territory by Ger- 

 manicus, Tacitus says that the Germans scattered into the 

 woods, leaving their districts and villages, amissis pagis 

 vicisque. If then, some of the free Germans inhabited vil- 

 lages, while others inhabited isolated homesteads; if, further^ 

 some of the free Germans fought in companies by family 

 groups, while others followed personal chieftains; and if 

 these personal chieftains were at the same time really noble- 

 men and public officers, it seems probable that it was these 

 chieftains who lived in isolated homesteads, surrounded by 

 their free retainers and their serfs — just as is assumed by 

 Mr. Seebohm and Mr. Ross — while the common freemen, a 

 class ignored by their theory, lived in other villages. 



xlssuming, then, that the common freemen of the Germans 

 lived in villages, the question arises, what kind of villages 

 were they, and what was the nature of their occupation? 

 In other words, are we warranted in assuming the exist- 

 ence of free village communities among the Germans of 

 Caesar and Tacitus, as is done by many modern writers. 

 The evidence as to this point is very scanty, being confined 

 to a few isolated statements of these writers, but it is, I 

 think, sufficient to warrant a positive conclusion, partly af- 

 firmative, partly negative. 



We must begin by defining our terms. The village com- 

 munity is a group of persons occupying a tract of land, 

 which they own and cultivate in common. For the purpose of 

 this common cultivation they must have their residences 

 near together, in a village, from which the arable lands, the 

 meadows, pasture and wood land will be equally accessible 

 to all. The view of the German writers, Von Maurer, Thu- 

 dichum and others, who have worked up the theory of vil- 

 lage communities, is that some communities, Markqenos- 

 senschafteti had such villages, and others not. It is only 



