They are divided into three large branches, the Ingaevones, the Irminones, and the Istaevones, deriving their ancestry from three sons of Mannus, son of Tuisto, their common forefather. In chapter 4, he mentions that they all have common physical characteristics, blue eyes ("truces et caerulei oculi" = "sky-coloured, azure, dark blue, dark green), reddish hair (" rutilae comae" = "red, golden-red, reddish yellow"), and large bodies, vigorous at the first onset but not tolerant of exhausting labour, tolerant of hunger and cold, but not of heat or thirst. In chapter 7, Tacitus describes their government and leadership as somewhat merit-based and egalitarian, with leadership by example rather than authority, and punishments are carried out by the priests. He mentions (chapter 8) that the opinions of women are given respect. In chapter 11, Tacitus describes a form of folk assembly rather similar to the public Things recorded in later Germanic sources: in these public deliberations, the final decision rests with the men of the tribe as a whole. Tacitus further discusses the role of women in chapters 7 and 8, mentioning that they often accompany the men to battle and offer encouragement. He says that the men are often highly motivated to fight for the women because of an extreme fear of losing them to captivity. Tacitus says (chapter 18) that the Germans are mainly content with one wife, except for a few political marriages, and specifically and explicitly compares this practice favorably to other barbarian cultures, perhaps since monogamy was a shared value between Roman and Germanic cultures. He also records (chapter 19) that adultery is very rare, and that an adulterous woman is shunned afterward by the community regardless of her beauty. In chapter 45, Tacitus mentions that the tribe to the north of the Germans, the Sitones, "resemble [the Suevi Scandinavians] in all respects but one - woman is the ruling sex." "This," Tacitus comments, "is the measure of their decline, I will not say below freedom, but even below decent slavery." The latter chapters of the books describe the various Germanic tribes, their relative locations, and some of their characteristics. Many of the tribes named correspond with other (and later) historical records and traditions, while the fate of others is less clear. Ethnography had a long and distinguished heritage in classical literature, and the "Germania" fits squarely within the tradition established by authors from Herodotus to Julius Caesar.