Geranthræ, a town of Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 2.
Geresticus, a harbour of Teios in Ionia. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 27.
Gergithum, a town near Cumæ in Æolia Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 30.
Gergōvia, a town of Gaul. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 9.
Gerion, an ancient augur.
Germānia, an extensive country of Europe, at the east of Gaul. Its inhabitants were warlike, fierce, and uncivilized, and always proved a watchful enemy against the Romans. Cæsar first entered their country, but he rather checked their fury than conquered them. His example was followed by his imperial successors or their generals, who sometimes entered the country to chastise the insolence of the inhabitants. The ancient Germans were very superstitious, and, in many instances, their religion was the same as that of their neighbours the Gauls; whence some have concluded that these two nations were of the same origin. They paid uncommon respect to their women, who, as they believed, were endowed with something more than human. They built no temples to their gods, and paid great attention to the heroes and warriors whom the country had produced. Their rude institutions gradually gave rise to the laws and manners which still prevail in the countries of Europe, which their arms invaded or conquered. Tacitus, in whose age even letters were unknown among them, observed their customs with nicety, and has delineated them with the genius of an historian and the reflection of a philosopher. Tacitus, Germania.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 3; bk. 3, ch. 3.—Cæsar, Gallic War.—Strabo, bk. 4.
Germānĭcus Cæsar, a son of Drusus and Antonia the niece of Augustus. He was adopted by his uncle Tiberius, and raised to the most important offices of the state. When his grandfather Augustus died, he was employed in a war in Germany, and the affection of the soldiers unanimously saluted him emperor. He refused the unseasonable honour, and appeased the tumult which his indifference occasioned. He continued his wars in Germany, and defeated the celebrated Arminius, and was rewarded with a triumph at his return to Rome. Tiberius declared him emperor of the east, and sent him to appease the seditions of the Armenians. But the success of Germanicus in the east was soon looked upon with an envious eye by Tiberius, and his death was meditated. He was secretly poisoned at Daphne near Antioch by Piso, A.D. 19, in the 34th year of his age. The news of his death was received with the greatest grief and the most bitter lamentations, and Tiberius seemed to be the only one who rejoiced in the fall of Germanicus. He had married Agrippina, by whom he had nine children, one of whom, Caligula, disgraced the name of his illustrious father. Germanicus has been commended not only for his military accomplishments, but also for his learning, humanity, and extensive benevolence. In the midst of war, he devoted some moments to study, and he favoured the world with two Greek comedies, some epigrams, and a translation of Aratus in Latin verse. Suetonius.——This name was common in the age of the emperors, not only to those who had obtained victories over the Germans, but even to those who had entered the borders of their country at the head of an army. Domitian applied the name of Germanicus, which he himself had vainly assumed, to the month of September, in honour of himself. Suetonius, Domitian, ch. 13.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 2, li. 4.
Germanii, a people of Persia. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 125.
Geronthræ, a town of Laconia, where a yearly festival, called Geronthræa, was observed in honour of Mars. The god had there a temple with a grove, into which no woman was permitted to enter during the time of the solemnity. Pausanias, Laconia.
[♦]Gerrhæ, a people of Scythia, in whose country the Borysthenes rises. The kings of Scythia were generally buried in their territories. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 71.