assembled for war, the priests took the sacred symbols from their sanctuaries and carried them into battle.[1] Lastly, there can be little doubt that they had duties in connection with public sacrifices, though this is not explicitly stated by Tacitus.
The information to be derived from other early authorities is slight, but does not conflict with Tacitus' account. Ammianus Marcellinus (xxviii., 5, 14) states that over the priests of the Burgundians there presided a chief priest, called Sinistus,[2] who held office for life, and was irremovable. Jordanes (c. 5) says that the priests of the Goths were drawn from the nobility. According to Bede, H. E., ii., 13) the priests of the ancient English were forbidden to carry arms or to ride, except on mares. Here also we find the priests of Deira presided over by a high priest.
It cannot be denied that there is a certain resemblance between the position of the German priests and that of the Druids. In both cases we find some kind of regular priestly organisation, under the presidency of a chief priest (Tacitus' sacerdos ciuitatis), though among the Germans the organisation seems to be confined within the limits of the 'state' or tribe. Among the Germans, as among the Gauls, the priests seem to have been exempt from the duty of fighting, though they were present on the field of battle. Like the Druids, the German priests inhabit, or at all events have charge over, sacred groves. Lastly, in addition to their distinctively religious functions, both the Druids and the German priests have duties in connection with the administration of justice. Tacitus' information is here corroborated by the evidence of language. In Old High German the word ēwarto,[3] which literally means
