or advantage. The money and negotiations of Rome insinuated
themselves into the heart of Germany; and every art of seduction was
used with dignity, to conciliate those nations whom their proximity to
the Rhine or Danube might render the most useful friends as well as the
most troublesome enemies. Chiefs of renown and power were flattered
by the most trifling presents, which they received either as marks of
distinction, or as the instruments of luxury. In civil dissensions the
weaker faction endeavored to strengthen its interest by entering into
secret connections with the governors of the frontier provinces. Every
quarrel among the Germans was fomented by the intrigues of Rome; and
every plan of union and public good was defeated by the stronger bias of
private jealousy and interest. [81]

[Footnote 771: The Bructeri were a non-Suevian tribe, who dwelt below the
duchies of Oldenburgh, and Lauenburgh, on the borders of the Lippe, and
in the Hartz Mountains. It was among them that the priestess Velleda
obtained her renown.--G.]

[Footnote 78: They are mentioned, however, in the ivth and vth centuries
by Nazarius, Ammianus, Claudian, &c., as a tribe of Franks. See Cluver.
Germ. Antiq. l. iii. c. 13.]

[Footnote 79: Urgentibus is the common reading; but good sense, Lipsius,
and some Mss. declare for Vergentibus.]

[Footnote 80: Tacit Germania, c. 33. The pious Abbe de la Bleterie is
very angry with Tacitus, talks of the devil, who was a murderer from the
beginning, &c., &c.]

[Footnote 81: Many traces of this policy may be discovered in Tacitus
and Dion: and many more may be inferred from the principles of human
nature.]

The general conspiracy which terrified the Romans under the reign of
Marcus Antoninus, comprehended almost all the nations of Germany, and
even Sarmatia, from the mouth of the Rhine to that of the Danube. [82]
It is impossible for us to determine whether this hasty confederation
was formed by necessity, by reason, or by passion; but we may rest
assured, that the barbarians were neither allured by the indolence, nor
provoked by the ambition, of the Roman monarch. This dangerous invasion
required all the firmness and vigilance of Marcus. He fixed generals of
ability in the several stations of attack, and assumed in person the
conduct of the most important province on the Upper Danube. After a long
and doubtful conflict, the spirit of the barbarians was subdued. The
Quadi and the Marcomanni, [83] who h