though the sovereign was usually chosen from among the
royal family, he was directed in every measure by the common consent
of the nation over whom he presided. When any important affairs were
transacted, all the warriors met in arms; the men of greatest authority
employed persuasion to engage their consent; the people expressed their
approbation by rattling their armor, or their dissent by murmurs; there
was no necessity for a nice scrutiny of votes among a multitude, who
were usually carried with a strong current to one side or the other;
and the measure, thus suddenly chosen by general agreement, was executed
with alacrity, and prosecuted with vigor. Even in war, the princes
governed more by example than by authority, but in peace, the civil
union was in a great measure dissolved, and the inferior leaders
administered justice, after an independent manner, each in his
particular district. These were elected by the votes of the people in
their great councils; and though regard was paid to nobility in the
choice, their personal qualities, chiefly their valor, procured
them, from the suffrages of their fellow-citizens, that honorable but
dangerous distinction. The warriors of each tribe attached themselves
to the[**possibly this word is their] leader, with the most devoted
affection and most unshaken constancy. They attended him as his ornament
in peace, as his defence in war, as his council in the administration of
justice. Their constant emulation in military renown dissolved not that
inviolable friendship which they professed to their chieftain and to
each other. To die for the honor of their band was their chief ambition;
to survive its disgrace, or the death of their leader, was infamous.
They even carried into the field their women and children, who adopted
all the martial sentiments of the men: and being thus impelled by every
human motive, they were invincible; where they were no[**possibly the
word is not] opposed, either by the similar manners and institutions
of the neighboring Germans, or by the superior discipline, arms, and
numbers of the Romans.[*]

[* Caesar, lib. vi.]

The leaders and their military companions were maintained by the labor
of their slaves, or by that of the weaker and less warlike part of the
community whom they defended. The contributions which they levied went
not beyond a bare subsistence; and the honors, acquired by a superior
rank, were the only reward of their superior danger