TheEstiones were an ancient tribe living in the modernBavaria region during theRoman period.
They are mentioned asEstiōnēs (Ἐστίωνες) byStrabo (early 1st c. AD).[1]
Several scholars have proposed emending Strabo's attestation toEskones, deriving from a stem *eskon- that is attested in the toponymScongowa (modernSchongau).[2] The same stem also appears in several other names from the region. Thestatio Esc(onensis) is believed to have been located near Ischl an der Alz in theChiemgau region. TheTabula Peutingeriana likewise records a localityEscone, betweenKempten andEpfach, whose name reflects a nominativeEsco. It is also thought to underlie the ethnonymScutt(arenses) on a votive inscription fromNassenfels (district ofEichstätt), near the river Schutter, which is itself attested asScutara.[2]
Stabo writes that the Estiones, just like theBrigantii, belonged to theVindelici, withCambodunum (modernKempten) as their chief town.[3] However, no archaeological evidence for a preceding Celtic settlement atCambodunum has been identified so far.[4]
According to K. Dietz, the absence of the Estiones from theTropaeum Alpium may indicate that they voluntarily joined theRoman Empire, which "could offer an explanation for the rapid rise of Kempten in the 1st century".[3]
