From the time of Julius Cæsar to the fall of the Roman Empire, a period
of more than four hundred years, the greater part of the Germans were
subject to Roman rule, a rule maintained only by military force. But
the struggle against Rome never entirely ceased—and as Roman power
gradually declined the Germans seized every opportunity to recover
their liberty and in their turn became conquerors. To trace the
succession of their vicissitudes during this period would be to give
the narrative of a bold, vigorous, war-like people in their rude
barbaric condition. We should discover even in those early times those
race characteristics of strength, bravery and persistence which became
so marked in later centuries; we should recognize in Hermann, the first
German leader, the prophecy of the Great Charles who steps upon the
scene nearly eight centuries later.