"Their shields are black, their bodies dyed. They choose dark nights for battle, and, by the dread and gloomy aspect of their death-like host, strike terror into the foe, who can never confront their strange and almost infernal appearance."

“Some might consider him as too fond of fame; for the desire for glory clings even to the best men longer than any other passion.”

“Mercury is the deity whom they chiefly worship, and on certain days they deem it right to sacrifice to him even with human victims.”

“Indeed, the crowning proof of their valour and their strength is that they keep up their superiority without harm to others.”

“Dwelling on one side of the Chauci and Chatti, the Cherusci long cherished, unassailed, an excessive and enervating love of peace. This was more pleasant than safe, for to be peaceful is self-deception among lawless and powerful neighbours. Where the strong hand decides, moderation and justice are terms applied only to the more powerful; and so the Cherusci, ever reputed good and just, are now called cowards and fools, while in the case of the victorious Chatti success has been identified with prudence. The downfall of the Cherusci brought with it also that of the Fosi, a neighbouring tribe, which shared equally in their disasters, though they had been inferior to them in prosperous days.”

“All this is unauthenticated, and I shall leave it open.”

“The Annals, The Histories; English”