TheTeutons (Latin:Teutones,Teutoni;Ancient Greek:Τεύτονες) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned byRoman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with theCimbri and other groups, in theCimbrian War with theRoman Republic in the late second century BC.[1]
Some generations later,Julius Caesar compared them to theGermanic peoples of his own time, and used this term for all northern peoples located east of theRhine. Later Roman authors followed his identification. However, there is no direct evidence about whether or not they spoke aGermanic language. Evidence such as the tribal name, and the names of their rulers, as they were written up by Roman historians, indicates a strong influence fromCeltic languages. On the other hand, the indications that classical authors gave about the homeland of the Teutones is considered by many scholars to show that they lived in an area associated with early Germanic languages, and not in an area associated with Celtic languages.
The ethnonym appears in Latin asTeutonēs orTeutoni in the plural, and less commonly asTeuton orTeutonus in the singular.[2] It transparently originates from theProto-Indo-European stem *tewtéh₂-, meaning "people, tribe, crowd," with the addition of the suffix-ones, which is frequently found in both Celtic (e.g.,Lingones,Senones) and Germanic (e.g.,Ingvaeones,Semnones) tribal names during the Roman period. The term conveys the idea of a "mass of people," in contrast to distinguished individuals—such as leaders or heroes—or those belonging to a more elite group. It may have originally meant "people under arms" in Proto-Indo-European, as suggested by theHittitetuzzi- and theLuwiantuta ("army").[3]
The nameTeutones can be interpreted either as Celtic, from theProto-Celtic *towtā ("people, tribe)", or aspre-Germanic. Its recorded spellings do not match the laterProto-Germanic form *þeudō- ("nation, people, folk," cf. Gothicþiuda), which suggests that if it is indeed Germanic, it must derive from an earlier stage of the language (prior to thefirst consonantal shift), unless the Greek and Latin renditions are corrupt and do not accurately represent the original form. The stemtewtéh₂- is so widespread in Indo-European languages that linking the ethnonym to other names with the same origin, such as theTeutoburg Forest (Teutoburgensis saltus), is challenging.[3]
Later on, beginning with ninth-century monastic Latin texts, the termTeuton came to refer specifically to speakers ofWest Germanic languages—a usage that has persisted into modern times. Originally, it was used as a learned alternative to the similar-sounding termtheodiscus, which was a Latinized form of the contemporary West Germanic word meaning "of the people."[4] By extension, the adjective "Teutonic" has often been used more broadly to mean the same as "Germanic."[2]
The Teutons commonly are classified as aGermanic tribe and thought probably to have spoken a Germanic language, although the evidence is fragmentary. However, because of the non-Germanic, possibly Celtic, form of the names of both the Teutones and their associates theCimbri, as well as the personal names known from these tribes, some historians have suggested aCeltic origin for the Teutones.[5][6]
The earliest classical writers classified the Teutones asCelts; more generally, they did not distinguish between Celtic and Germanic peoples. Apparently, this distinction was first made by Julius Caesar, whose main concern was to argue that raids into southern Gaul and Italy by northern peoples who were less softened by Mediterranean civilization, should be seen in Rome as a systematic problem that can repeat in the future, and thereby demanded pre-emptive military action. This was his justification for invading northern Gaul.[7]
After Caesar,Strabo (died circa AD 24)[8] andMarcus Velleius Paterculus (died circa AD 31)[9] classify Teutons asGermanic peoples.[10] Pliny also classified them this way and specified that they were among theIngaevones, related to the Cimbri andChauci.[11]
Plutarch in his biography of Marius, who fought the Teutones, wrote that they and the Cimbri "had not had intercourse with other peoples, and had traversed a great stretch of country, so that it could not be ascertained what people it was nor whence they had set out". He reported that there were different conjectures: that they were "some of the German peoples which extended as far as the northern ocean"; that they were "Galloscythians", a mixture ofScythians and Celts who had lived as far east as the Black Sea, or that the Cimbri wereCimmerians, from even farther east.[12]
The Fourth Century BC traveller,Pytheas, as reported byPliny the Elder (died AD 79), described the Teutones as neighbours of the northern island ofAbalus where amber washed up in the spring, and was traded by the Teutones. Abalus was one day's sail from atidal marsh or estuary facing the ocean (aestuarium) calledMetuonis inhabited by another Germanic people, theGuiones (probably either theInguaeones, orGutones).[13]
Pomponius Mela (died circa 45 CE) stated that the Teutons lived on a large island,Codannovia, which was one of a group of islands in a large bay calledCodanus, open to the ocean. Most scholars have interpreted this bay as being theBaltic Sea,[14] andCodannovia as being Scandinavia.
Surviving texts based on the work of the geographerPtolemy mentioned both Teutones and "Teutonoaroi" inGermania, but this is in a part of his text that has become garbled in surviving copies. Gudmund Schütte proposed that the two peoples should be understood as one, but that different versions of works based on that of Ptolemy used literary sources such as Pliny and Mela to place them in different positions somewhere near the Cimbri, in a part of the landscape they did not have good information for – either inZealand or Scandinavia, or else somewhere on the southern Baltic coast.[16]
According to scholar Stefan Zimmer (2005), since both the name of the Teutones and Crimbri left traces in place names fromJutland (inThy andHimmerland, respectively), "there is no reason to doubt the ancient accounts of the origins of the two tribes".[3]
After achieving decisive victories over the Romans atNoreia andArausio in 105 BC, the Cimbri and Teutones divided their forces.Gaius Marius then defeated them separately in 102 BC and 101 BC respectively, ending theCimbrian War. The defeat of the Teutones occurred at theBattle of Aquae Sextiae (near present-dayAix-en-Provence).
According to the writings ofValerius Maximus andFlorus, the king of the Teutones, Teutobod, was taken in irons after the Teutones were defeated by the Romans. Under the conditions of the surrender, three hundred married women were to be handed over to the victorious Romans asconcubines andslaves. When thematrons of the Teutones heard of this stipulation, they begged the consul that they might instead be allowed to minister in the temples ofCeres andVenus. When their request was denied, the Teutonic women slew their own children. The next morning, all the women were found dead in each other's arms, having strangled each other during the night. Their joint martyrdom passed into Roman legends ofTeutonic fury.[17]
Reportedly, some surviving captives participated as the rebellinggladiators in theThird Servile War of 73-71 BC.[18]
Teutones, a Germanic tribe, known chiefly from their migration with the Cimbri...
The Cimbri are generally believed to have been a tribe of GERMANICS
It was the Cimbri, along with their allies the Teutones and Ambrones, who for half a score of years kept the world in suspense. All three peoples were doubtless of Germanic stock. We may take it as established that the original home of the Cimbri was on the Jutish peninsula, that of the Teutones somewhere between the Ems and the Weser, and that of the Ambrones in the same neighbourhood, also on the North Sea coast.
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Beck, Frederick George Meeson (1911). "Teutoni". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 673.
