TheRauraci orRaurici were a smallGallic tribe dwelling in theUpper Rhine region, around the present-day city ofBasel, during theIron Age and theRoman period.
They are mentioned asRauracis andRauracorum byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1]Raurici (var. -aci) byPliny (1st c. AD),[2] and asRauracense in theNotitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).[3][4]
TheethnonymRauraci derives from the ancient Celtic name of the riverRuhr,Raura.[5][6]
The city ofAugst, attested in the 2nd century AD asAugoústa Rhauríkōn (Αὐγούστα Ῥαυρίκων), is indirectly named after the tribe.[4][7]
Their name seems to indicate an original homeland near theriver Ruhr, further north of their attested territory.[6] After their failed migration towards southwestern Gaul was repelled by the Romans in 58 BC, the Rauraci settled in theUpper Rhine area, with a territory stretching from the foothills of theJura Massif, around the modern city ofBasel, to the regions ofUpper Alsace andSouth Baden.[8][9][10]
The Rauraci dwelled south of theLeuci andBrisigavi, north of theHelvetii, east of theLingones, and west of theLentienses.[11] They were probably clients of the larger Helvetii.[9]
The oppidum ofBasel-Münsterhügel, occupied since at least the mid-1st century BC, was their pre-Roman chief town.[9] The archaeological site of Basel-Gasfabrik (ca. 150–80 BC) is also attributed to the Rauraci.[10]
In 44 BC, the Roman consulL. Munatius Plancus founded within their territory the settlement ofAugusta Raurica (orColonia Raurica; modernAugst andKaiseraugst).[8] The city was located at the crossroad of two trading routes: between theGreat St Bernard Pass and the Rhine, and between Gaul and the Danube. It reached 106ha at its height in 200 AD.[12] A great part of Augusta Raurica was destroyed by an earthquake in 240–250. UnderDiocletian (284–295), it was incorporated into the province ofMaxima Sequanorum. The Castrum Rauracense, erected in 290–300, became the core of the city in Late Antiquity.[13]
Another town, known as Argentovaria (modern Oedenburg, inBiesheim) and mentioned by Ptolemy ca. 150 AD, probably served as the capital of thecivitas Rauricorum, or else of an unattestedpagus of the Rauraci.[10]
The temple at the forum of Augusta Raurica was dedicated to Romae et Augusto. The temple of Schönbühl replaced indigenous shrines around 70 AD. Inscriptions give evidence of theImperial cult and of dedications to various Graeco-Roman deities. Native Gaulish deities includeEpona,Sirona and the quadruviae. The cult of the snake was popular in Augusta Raurica. The Oriental cults ofMithra,Sabatius andHarpocrates are also attested.[12]
In 58 BC, the Raurici were part of a failed migration attempt towards southwestern Gaul, alongside theHelvetii,Tulingi andLatobrigi. After their defeat by Caesar at theBattle of Bibracte in the same year, they were sent back as afoederati (allies bound by a treaty), probably to their territory of departure.[10]
In 52 BC, they provided 1,000 men to the Gallic coalition againstCaesar.[9]
