41. If we now follow the course of the Danube, as we before did that of the Rhine, we first meet with the Hermunduri;  219 a people faithful to the Romans,  220 and on that account the only Germans who are admitted to commerce, not on the bank alone, but within our territories, and in the flourishing colony  221 established in the province of Rhaetia. They pass and repass at pleasure, without being attended by a guard; and while we exhibit to other nations our arms and camps alone, to these we lay open our houses and country seats, which they behold without coveting. In the country of the Hermunduri rises the Elbe;  222 a river formerly celebrated and known among us, now only heard of by name.