Thesubject，howevervariousandimportant，hasalreadybeensofrequently，soably，andsosuccessfullydiscussed，thatitisnowgrownfamiliartothereader，anddifficulttothewriter。
Weshallthereforecontentourselveswithobserving，andindeedwithrepeating，someofthemostimportantcircumstancesofclimate，ofmanners，andofinstitutions，whichrenderedthewildbarbariansofGermanysuchformidableenemiestotheRomanpower。
[Footnote*:TheScythians，evenaccordingtotheancients，arenotSarmatians。ItmaybedoubtedwhetherGibbonintendedtoconfoundthem。—M。]TheGreeks，afterhavingdividedtheworldintoGreeksandbarbarians。dividedthebarbariansintofourgreatclasses，theCelts，theScythians，theIndians，andtheEthiopians。TheycalledCeltsalltheinhabitantsofGaul。
ScythiaextendedfromtheBalticSeatotheLakeAral:thepeopleenclosedintheangletothenorth—east，betweenCelticaandScythia，werecalledCelto—Scythians，andtheSarmatianswereplacedinthesouthernpartofthatangle。ButthesenamesofCelts，ofScythians，ofCelto—Scythians，andSarmatians，wereinvented，saysSchlozer，bytheprofoundcosmographicalignoranceoftheGreeks，andhavenorealground；theyarepurelygeographicaldivisions，withoutanyrelationtothetrueaffiliationofthedifferentraces。ThusalltheinhabitantsofGaularecalledCeltsbymostoftheancientwriters；yetGaulcontainedthreetotallydistinctnations，theBelgae，theAquitani，andtheGauls，properlysocalled。Hiomneslinguainstitutis，legibusqueintersedifferunt。Caesar。Com。c。i。
ItisthustheTurkscallallEuropeansFranks。Schlozer，AllgemeineNordischeGeschichte，p。289。1771。BayerdeOrigineetpriscisSedibusScytharum，inOpusc。p。64says，Primuseorum，dequibusconstat，Ephorus，inquartohistoriarumlibro，orbemterraruminterScythas，Indos，AethiopasetCeltasdivisit。