44 
. 
Transactions Texas Academy of Science. 
Tacitus tells us that the Germans had heroic ballads and social 
songs, also epic songs of Arminius and others. But these are all lost 
and we can only guess what they may have been. Not till the Roman 
culture invaded Germany do we find a literature worthy of our 
hearty approval. The Latin models are the works of Notker (Labeo), 
Ekkehard I., the nun Roswitha who wrote comedies like those of 
Terence, and others. The knightly period of the Middle Ages pro- 
duced the first real German poetry which we have to enjoy from that 
early time and shows the manifest influence of Rome through the 
medium of the romance languages. But we need not dwell on this 
phase of Rome’s influence as it has left its mark upon all modern 
literature. The same is true of philosophy and art. Enough has been 
said to show the indebtedness of the German to the Latin. 
