Due to the Romans’ extremely differing views on sexual morality, surveying the Germans left Caesar with great distaste. “Those who have remained chaste for the longest time, receive the greatest commendation among their people; they think by this the growth is promoted, … physical powers are increased and the sinews are strengthened.” and “to have had knowledge of a woman before the twentieth year they reckon among the most disgraceful acts” writes Caesar. However, he provides this detail immediately followed by “they bathe promiscuously in the rivers and [only] use skins or small cloaks of deer’s hides” in such a manner suggesting that these mannerisms should be considered inherently contradictory. However, from the perspective of the Germans,…show more content… Caesar observed that in Germany, parcels of land are not privately owned but are rather meted out to tribes and families as the government sees fit. “For this enactment they advance many reasons - lest seduced by long continued custom, they may exchange their ardor in the waging of war for agriculture; lest they may be anxious to acquire extensive estates, and the more powerful drive the weaker from their possessions; lest they construct their houses with too great a desire to avoid cold and heat; lest the desire of wealth spring up, from which cause divisions and discords arise; and that they may keep the common people in a contented state of mind, when each sees his own means placed on an equality with [those of] the most powerful.” Caesar clearly respects the rationale behind the Germanic custom of central apportionment of land, mostly centralizing around the idea that their people, if left to their own means for too long will grow complacent in war and turn their attention to furthering decadence. This decadence, if allowed to fester unchecked could severely impair the function of the populace, especially the poor, and therefore the state. However, coming long after the Punic Wars, he did not draw the parallel of state-sponsored apportionment of land between the Germans and the Roman
