Inclassical antiquity, theTriboci orTribocci were aGermanic people of easternGaul, inhabiting much of what is nowAlsace.
Besides the forms Triboci and Tribocci, Schneider has the form “Triboces” in the accusative plural.[1]Pliny has Tribochi, and StraboΤριβόκχοι(Tribokchoi). In the passage of Caesar, it is said that all manuscripts have “Tribucorum”.[2] "Threebeeches" (Celtictri, Germanicboc) has been suggested as anetymology, as has Germanicdribòn ("drivers [of cattle, livestock]").[3][4][5]
Ptolemy places the Tribocci inGermania Superior, but he incorrectly places theVangiones between theNemetes and the Tribocci, for the Nemetes bordered on the Tribocci. However he places the Tribocci next to theRauraci, and he names Breucomagus (Brocomagus, today'sBrumath) and Elcebus (Helcebus) as the two towns of the Tribocci, making Argentoratum (Strasbourg) a city of the Vangiones.[6] D'Anville supposes that the territory of the Tribocci corresponded to the mediaevaldiocese of Strasbourg. Consequently, a Tribocci burial ground was excavated in Diersheim on the right bank of the Rhine in today's Germany.http://dl.ub.uni-freiburg.de/diglit/ortenau1977/0011/ocr?sid=9959984406c34fcd88a0a3f26001cbdf Saletio (Seltz), we may suppose, belonged to the Nemetes, as in modern times it belonged to thediocese of Speyer; and it is near the northern limits of the diocese of Strasbourg. On the south towards the Rauraci, a place namedMarckolsheim, on the southern limit of the diocese of Strasbourg and bordering onthat of Basel, indicates a boundary by a Teutonic name (mark), asfines does in those parts of Gaul where theRoman tongue prevailed. The name of the Tribocci does not appear in theNotitia provinciarum Galliae, though the names of the Nemetes and Vangiones are there; but instead of the Tribocci we haveCivitasArgentoratum (Strasbourg), the chief place of the Tribocci.
The Triboci were in the army of the Germanic kingAriovistus in the great battle in whichJulius Caesar defeated him; and though Caesar does not say directly that they were Germans, his narrative shows that he considered them to be Germans.[7] In another passage Caesar places the Triboci on the Rhine between theMediomatrici and theTreviri, and he means to place them on the left or Gallic side of theRhine.[8]Strabo, after mentioning theSequani and Mediomatrici as extending to the Rhine, says, “Among them a German people has settled, the Tribocchi, who have passed over from their native land.”[9]Pliny andTacitus say that the Tribocci are Germans.[10][11] The true conclusion from Caesar is that he supposed the Tribocci to be settled in Gallia before 58 BCE.
Nero Claudius Drusus established a military camp atArgentorate (Strasbourg) in 12 BCE, near which there had already been a civilianLa Tène settlement since around 100 BCE.[12]
The Triboci joined therevolt of Civilis in 70 CE, sending reinforcements to theTreveran rebel commanderJulius Tutor along with theCaeracates, Vangiones and dissident Romans. This combined force defeated a Roman cohort, but at the approach of the main body of the Roman army, these new reinforcements, including the Triboci, defected to the Roman side.[13]
The city of Argentorate was rebuilt in 97 underTrajan after a fire.[12]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)