"Suebians" redirects here and is not to be confused withSwabians.
The approximate positions of someGermanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and otherIrminones in purple.
AlthoughTacitus specified that the Suebian group was not an old tribal group itself, the Suebian peoples are associated byPliny the Elder with theIrminones, a grouping of Germanic peoples who claimed ancestral connections. Tacitus mentions Suebian languages, and a geographical "Suevia".
The Suevians were first mentioned byJulius Caesar in connection with theinvasion of Gaul led by the Germanic kingAriovistus during theGallic Wars. Unlike Strabo and Tacitus who wrote later, he described them as a single people, distinct from the Marcomanni, within the larger Germanic category, who he saw as a growing threat to Gaul and Italy in the first century BC, as they had been moving southwards aggressively, at the expense ofGallic tribes, and establishing a Germanic presence in the immediate areas north of theDanube. In particular, Caesar saw the Suebians as the most warlike of the Germanic peoples.
During the reign ofAugustus the first emperor, Rome made aggressive campaigns intoGermania, east of the Rhine and north of the Danube, pushing towards the Elbe. After suffering a major defeat to the Romans in 9 BC,Maroboduus became king of a Suevian kingdom which was established within the protective mountains and forests ofBohemia. The Suevians did not join the alliance led byArminius.[2]
In 69 AD the Suebian kingsItalicus andSido provided support to the Flavian faction underVespasian.[3]
By the late 4th century AD, the Middle Danubian frontier inhabited by the Quadi and Marcomanni received large numbers of Gothic and other eastern peoples escaping disturbances associated with theHuns. In 406 AD, Suebian tribes led byHermeric, together with other Danubian groups including Alans and Vandals,crossed the Rhine and overranGaul andHispania. They eventually established theKingdom of the Suebi inGalicia. With the breaking up of Hunnic power after theBattle of Nedao there was also a short-lived Kingdom of the Suebi on the Danube, underHunimund. They were defeated by theOstrogoths, one of the peoples of eastern origin who had been allies of the Huns. In the sixth century the SuevicLongobards moved from the Elbe to become one of the major powers of the MiddleDanube, in competition with the dynasties from the east such as theHerules,Gepids andOstrogoths.
The Alamanni,Bavarii andThuringii who remained inGermania gave their names to the still-existingGerman regions ofSwabia,Bavaria andThuringia respectively.[7] Suebian languages are thought to be a main source of the laterHigh German languages, especially the Upper-German dialects predominant in Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria, which experienced theSecond consonant shift some time after about 600 AD.[8]
Etymologists trace the name fromProto-Germanic *swēbaz based on the Proto-Germanicroot *swē- found in the third-personreflexive pronoun, giving the meaning "one's own" people,[9] in turn from an earlierIndo-European root*swe- (Polishswe, swój, swoi, Latinsui, Italiansuo, Sanskritswa, each meaning "one's own").[10]
The etymological sources list the following ethnic names as being from the same root:Suiones (whence also the name of theSwedes),Samnites,Sabellians,Sabines, and, according to one of the hypotheses,Slavs, indicating the possibility of a prior more extended and common Indo-European ethnic name, "our own people". Notably, theSemnones, known to classical authors as one of the largest Suebian groups, also seem to have a name with this same meaning, but recorded with a different pronunciation by the Romans.
Alternatively, it may be borrowed from aCeltic word for "vagabond".[11]
Mušov Cauldron, a Roman bronze cauldron found in 1988 in a Germanic chieftain's grave inMušov, Czech Republic, dating to the 2nd century A.D. The cauldron is decorated by four cast heads of Germanic men wearing aSuebian knot hairstyle
Caesar placed the Suebi east of theUbii apparently near modernHesse, in the position where later writers mention theChatti, and he distinguished them from their allies theMarcomanni. Some commentators believe that Caesar's Suebi were the later Chatti or possibly theHermunduri, orSemnones.[12] Later authors use the termSuebi more broadly, "to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany".[13]
While Caesar treated them as one Germanic tribe within an alliance, albeit the largest and most warlike one, later authors, such asTacitus,Pliny the Elder andStrabo, specified that the Suevi "do not, like theChatti orTencteri, constitute a single nation. They actually occupy more than half of Germania, and are divided into a number of distinct tribes under distinct names, though all generally are called Suebi".[14] Although no classical authors explicitly call the Chatti Suevic,Pliny the Elder (23 AD – 79 AD), reported in hisNatural History that the Irminones were a large grouping of related Germanicgentes or "tribes" including not only the Suebi, but also the Hermunduri, Chatti andCherusci.[15] Whether or not the Chatti were ever considered Suevi, both Tacitus and Strabo distinguish the two partly because the Chatti were more settled in one territory, whereas Suevi remained less settled.[16]
The definitions of the greater ethnic groupings withinGermania were apparently not always consistent and clear, especially in the case of mobile groups such as the Suevi. Whereas Tacitus reported three main kinds of German peoples, Irminones,Istvaeones, andIngaevones, Pliny specifically adds two moregenera or "kinds", theBastarnae and the Vandili (Vandals). The Vandals were tribes east of the Elbe, including the well-knownSilingi,Goths, andBurgundians, an area that Tacitus treated as Suebic. That the Vandals might be a separate type of Germanic people, corresponding to the modern concept ofEast Germanic, is a possibility that Tacitus also noted, but for example theVarini are named as Vandilic by Pliny, and specifically Suebic by Tacitus.
At one time, classical ethnography had applied the nameSuevi to so many Germanic tribes that it appeared as if, in the first centuries AD, that native name would replace the foreign name "Germans".[17]
The modern term "Elbe Germanic" similarly covers a large grouping of Germanic peoples that at least overlaps with the classical terms "Suevi" and "Irminones". However, this term was developed mainly as an attempt to define the ancient peoples who must have spoken the Germanic dialects that led to modernUpper German dialects spoken in Austria,Bavaria,Thuringia,Alsace,Baden-Württemberg and German speaking Switzerland. This was proposed byFriedrich Maurer as one of five majorKulturkreise or "culture-groups" whose dialects developed in the southern German area from the first century BC through to the fourth century AD.[18] Apart from his own linguistic work with modern dialects, he also referred to the archaeological and literary analysis of Germanic tribes done earlier byGustaf Kossinna[19] In terms of these proposed ancient dialects, the Vandals, Goths and Burgundians are generally referred to as members of the Eastern Germanic group, distinct from the Elbe Germanic.
In the time of Caesar, southern Germany had a mixture ofCeltic and Germanic tribes and was increasingly coming under pressure from Germanic groups led by the Suebi. As described later by Tacitus, what is today southern Germany between theDanube, theMain, and the Rhine had been deserted by the departure of two large Celtic nations, theHelvetii in modernSchwaben and theBoii further east near theHercynian forest.[20] In addition, near the Hercynian forest Caesar believed that the CelticTectosages had once lived. All of these peoples had for the most part moved by the time of Tacitus. Nevertheless,Cassius Dio wrote that the Suebi, who dwelt across the Rhine, were called Celts.[21] This may follow a Greek tradition of labelling all barbarian people north of the Alps as Celtic.
Strabo (64/63 BC – c. 24 AD), in Book IV (6.9) of hisGeography also associates the Suebi with theHercynian Forest and the south of Germania north of the Danube. He describes a chain of mountains north of the Danube that is like a lower extension of the Alps, possibly theSwabian Alps, and further east theGabreta Forest, possibly the modernBohemian forest. In Book VII (1.3) Strabo specifically mentions as Suevic peoples theMarcomanni, who under KingMarobodus had moved into the same Hercynian forest as theColdui (possibly theQuadi), taking over an area called "Boihaemum". This king "took the rulership and acquired, in addition to the peoples aforementioned, theLugii (a large tribe), theZumi, theButones, theMugilones, theSibini, and also theSemnones, a large tribe of the Suevi themselves". Some of these tribes were "inside the forest" and some "outside of it".[22] Tacitus confirms the name "Boiemum", saying it was a survival marking the old traditional population of the place, the CelticBoii, though the population had changed.[20]
Tacitus describes a series of very powerful Suebian states in his own time, running along the north of the Danube which was the frontier with Rome, and stretching into the lands where the Elbe originates in the modern dayCzech Republic. Going from west to east the first were theHermunduri, living near the sources of theElbe and stretching across the Danube into RomanRhaetia.[23] Next came theNaristi, theMarcomanni, and then theQuadi. The Quadi are on the edge of greater Suebia, having theSarmatians to the southeast.[24]
Suebi Germanic with nodus found in Apt, France
Claudius Ptolemy the geographer did not always state which tribes were Suebi, but along the northern bank of the Danube, from west to east and starting at the "desert" formerly occupied by theHelvetii, he names theParmaecampi, then theAdrabaecampi, and then a "large people" known as theBaemoi (whose name appears to recall theBoii again), and then theRacatriae. North of the Baemoi, is theLuna forest which has iron mines, and which is south of the Quadi. North of the Adrabaecampi, are theSudini and then the Marcomanni living in the Gambreta forest. North of them, but south of the Sudetes mountains (which are not likely to be the same as the modern ones of that name) are theVaristi, who are probably the same as Tacitus' "Naristi" mentioned above.
Jordanes writes that in the early 4th century the Vandals had moved to the north of the Danube, but with the Marcomanni still to their west, and the Hermunduri still to their north. A possible sign of confusion in this comment is that he equates the area in question to laterGepidia, which was further south, in Pannonia, modern Hungary, and east of the Danube.[25] In general, as discussed below, the Danubian Suebi, along with the neighbours such as the Vandals, apparently moved southwards into Roman territories, both south and east of the Danube, during this period.
Caesar describes the Suebi as pressing the German tribes of the Rhine, such as theTencteri,Usipetes andUbii, from the east, forcing them from their homes. While emphasizing their warlike nature he writes as if they had a settled homeland somewhere between theCherusci and theUbii, and separated from the Cherusci by a deep forest called the Silva Bacenis. He also describes the Marcomanni as a tribe distinct from the Suebi, and also active within the same alliance. But he does not describe where they were living.
Strabo wrote that the Suebi "excel all the others in power and numbers."[26] He describes Suebic peoples (Greekethnē) as having come to dominate Germany between the Rhine and Elbe, with the exception of the Rhine valley, on the frontier with the Roman empire, and the "coastal" regions north of the Rhine.
The geographerPtolemy (c. AD 90 – c. AD 168), in a fairly extensive account of Greater Germany,[27] makes several unusual mentions of Suebi between the Rhine and the Elbe. He describes their position as stretching out in a band from the Elbe, all the way to the northern Rhine, near theSugambri. The "SueviLangobardi" are the Suevi located closest to the Rhine, far to the east of where most sources report them. To the east of the Langobardi, are the "SueviAngili", extending as far north as the middle Elbe, also to the east of the position reported in other sources. It has been speculated that Ptolemy may have been confused by his sources, or else that this position of the Langobardi represented a particular moment in history.[28]
As discussed below, in the third century a large group of Suebi, also referred to as theAllemanni, moved up to the Rhine bank in modernSchwaben, which had previously been controlled by the Romans. They competed in this region with Burgundians who had arrived from further east.
Strabo does not say much about the Suebi east of the Elbe, saying that this region was still unknown to Romans,[29] but mentions that a part of the Suebi live there, naming only specifically theHermunduri and theLangobardi. But he mentions these are there because of recent defeats at Roman hands which had forced them over the river. (Tacitus mentions that the Hermunduri were later welcomed on to the Roman border at the Danube.) In any case he says that the area near the Elbe itself is held by the Suebi.[30]
From Tacitus and Ptolemy we can derive more details:
TheSemnones are described by Tacitus as "the oldest and noblest of the Suebi", and, like the Suebi described by Caesar, they have 100 cantons. Tacitus says that "the vastness of their community makes them regard themselves as the head of the Suevic race".[31] According to Ptolemy the "Suevi Semnones" live upon the Elbe and stretch as far east as a river apparently named after them, the Suevus, probably theOder. South of them he places theSilingi, and then, again upon the Elbe, theCalucones. To the southeast further up the upper Elbe he places not the Hermunduri mentioned by other authors (who had possibly moved westwards and become Ptolemy's "Teuriochaemai", and the laterThuringii), but theBaenochaemae (whose name appears to be somehow related to the modern nameBohemia, and somehow derived from the older placename mentioned by Strabo and Tacitus as the capital of KingMarobodus after he settled his Marcomanni in theHercynian forest). A monument confirms that theJuthungi, who fought the Romans in the 3rd century, and were associated with the Alamanni, were Semnones.
TheLangobardi live a bit further from Rome's borders, in "scanty numbers" but "surrounded by a host of most powerful tribes" and kept safe "by daring the perils of war" according to Tacitus.[32]
Tacitus names seven tribes who live "next" after the Langobardi, "fenced in by rivers or forests" stretching "into the remoter regions of Germany". These all worshipedNertha, or Mother Earth, whose sacred grove was on an island in the Ocean (presumably the Baltic Sea):Reudigni,Aviones,Anglii,Varini,Eudoses,Suarini andNuitones.[32]
At the mouth of the Elbe (and in the Danish peninsula), the classical authors do not place any Suevi, but rather theChauci to the west of the Elbe, and theSaxons to the east, and in the "neck" of the peninsula.
Note that while various errors and confusions are possible, Ptolemy places the Angles and Langobardi west of the Elbe, where they may indeed have been present at some points in time, given that the Suebi were often mobile.
It is already mentioned above that stretching between the Elbe and the Oder, the classical authors place the Suebic Semnones. Ptolemy places theSilingi to their south in the stretch between these rivers. These Silingi appear in later history as a branch of the Vandals, and were therefore likely to be speakers ofEast Germanic dialects. Their name is associated with medievalSilesia. Further south on the Elbe are the Baenochaemae and between them and the Askibourgian mountains Ptolemy names a tribe called theBatini (Βατεινοὶ), apparently north and/or east of the Elbe.
According to Tacitus, around the north of the Danubian Marcomanni and Quadi, "dwelling in forests and on mountain-tops", live theMarsigni, andBuri, who "in their language and manner of life, resemble the Suevi".[33] (Living partly subject to the Quadi are theGotini andOsi, who Tacitus says speak respectivelyGaulish andPannonian, and are therefore not Germans.) Ptolemy also places the "Lugi Buri" in mountains, along with a tribe called theCorconti. These mountains, stretching from near the upperElbe to the headwaters of theVistula, he calls theAskibourgian mountains. Between these mountains and the Quadi he adds several tribes, from north to south these are theSidones,Cotini (possibly Tacitus' Gotini) and theVisburgi. There is then the Orcynian (Hercyian) forest, which Ptolemy defines with relatively restricted boundaries, and then the Quadi.
Beyond this mountain range (probably the modernSudetes) where the Marsigni and Buri lived, in the area of modern southwest Poland, Tacitus reported a multitude of tribes, the most widespread name of which was theLugii. These included theHarii,Helveconae,Manimi,Helisii andNaharvali.[33] (Tacitus does not mention the language of the Lugii.) As mentioned above, Ptolemy categorizes the Buri amongst the Lugii, and concerning the Lugii north of the mountains, he named two large groups, the Lougoi Omanoi and the Lougoi Didounoi, who live between the "Suevus" river (probably theSaale (Sorbian:Solawa) orOder river) and the Vistula, south of theBurgundi.
Suebi Captive Representation in Roman bronze figure
These Burgundians who according to Ptolemy lived between the Baltic sea Germans and the Lugii, stretching between the Suevus and Vistula rivers, were described by Pliny the Elder (as opposed to Tacitus) as being not Suevic butVandili, amongst whom he also included the Goths, and the Varini, both being people living north of them near the Baltic coast. Pliny's "Vandili" are generally thought to be speakers of what modern linguists refer to asEastern Germanic. Between the coastal Saxons and inland Suebi, Ptolemy names theTeutonari and the "Viruni" (presumably the Varini of Tacitus), and further east, between the coastal Farodini and the Suebi are theTeutones and then theAvarni. Further east again, between the Burgundians and the coastal Rugiclei were the "Aelvaeones" (presumably the Helveconae of Tacitus).
Tacitus called the Baltic sea the Suebian sea.Pomponius Mela wrote in hisDescription of the World (III.3.31) beyond the Danish isles are "the farthest people of Germania, the Hermiones".
North of the Lugii, near theBaltic Sea, Tacitus places theGothones (Goths),Rugii, andLemovii. These three Germanic tribes share a tradition of having kings, and also similar arms – round shields and short swords.[33] Ptolemy says that east of the Saxons, from the "Chalusus" river to the "Suevian" river are theFarodini, then theSidini up to the "Viadua" river, and after these the "Rugiclei" up to the Vistula river (probably referring to the "Rugii" of Tacitus). He does not specify if these are Suevi.
In the sea, the states of theSuiones, "powerful in ships" are, according to Tacitus, Germans with the Suevic (Baltic) sea on one side and an "almost motionless" sea on the other more remote side. Modern commentators believe this refers toScandinavia.[34] Closely bordering on the Suiones and closely resembling them, are the tribes of theSitones.[35] Ptolemy describes Scandinavia as being inhabited byChaedini in the west,Favonae andFiraesi in the east,Finni in the north,Gautae andDauciones in the south, andLevoni in the middle. He does not describe them as Suebi.
Tacitus describes the non-GermanicAestii on the eastern shore of the "Suevic Sea" (Baltic), "whose rites and fashions and style of dress are those of the Suevi, while their language is more like the British."[35] After giving this account, Tacitus says: "Here Suebia ends."[36] Therefore, for Tacitusgeographic "Suebia" comprises the entire periphery of theBaltic Sea, including within it tribes not identified as Suebi or even Germanic. On the other hand, Tacitus does clearly consider there to be not only a Suebian region, but also Suebian languages, and Suebian customs, which all contribute to making a specific tribe more or less "Suebian".[37]
Caesar noted that rather than grain crops, they spent time on animal husbandry and hunting. They wore animal skins, bathed in rivers, consumed milk and meat products, and prohibited wine, allowing trade only to dispose of their booty and otherwise they had no goods to export. They had no private ownership of land and were not permitted to stay resident in one place for more than one year. They were divided into 100 cantons, each of which had to provide and support 1000 armed men for the constant pursuit of war.
Captive with Suebian knot National Museum of Romanian History
Strabo describes the Suebi and people from their part of the world as highly mobile and nomadic, unlike more settled and agricultural tribes such as theChatti andCherusci:
...they do not till the soil or even store up food, but live in small huts that are merely temporary structures; and they live for the most part off their flocks, as the Nomads do, so that, in imitation of the Nomads, they load their household belongings on their wagons and with their beasts turn whithersoever they think best.
Notable in classical sources, the Suebi can be identified by their hair style called the "Suebian knot", which "distinguishes the freeman from the slave";[38] or in other words served as a badge of social rank. The same passage points out that chiefs "use an even more elaborate style".
Tacitus mentions the sacrifice of humans practiced by theSemnones in a sacred grove[31] and the murder of slaves used in the rites ofNerthus practiced by the tribes ofSchleswig-Holstein.[32] The chief priest of theNaharvali dresses as a woman and that tribe also worships in groves. TheHarii fight at night dyed black. TheSuiones own fleets of rowing vessels with prows at both ends.
While there is debate possible about whether all tribes identified by Romans as Germanic spoke aGermanic language, the Suebi are generally agreed to have spoken one or more Germanic languages. Tacitus refers to Suebian languages, implying there was more than one by the end of the first century. In particular, the Suebi are associated with the concept of an "Elbe Germanic" group of early dialects spoken by theIrminones, entering Germany from the east, and originating on the Baltic. In late classical times, these dialects, by now situated to the south of the Elbe, and stretching across the Danube into the Roman empire, experienced theHigh German consonant shift that defines modernHigh German languages, and in its most extreme form,Upper German.[39]
Julius Caesar (100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) describes the Suebi in his firsthand account,De Bello Gallico,[41] as the "largest and the most warlike nation of all the Germans".
Caesar confronted a large army led by a Suevic King namedAriovistus in 58 BC who had been settled for some time in Gaul already, at the invitation of the GaulishArverni andSequani as part of their war against the Aedui. He had already been recognized as a king by the Roman senate. Ariovistus forbade the Romans from entering into Gaul. Caesar on the other hand saw himself and Rome as an ally and defender of the Aedui.
The forces Caesar faced in battle were composed of "Harudes,Marcomanni,Tribocci,Vangiones,Nemetes,Sedusii, and Suevi". While Caesar was preparing for conflict, a new force of Suebi was led to the Rhine by two brothers, Nasuas and Cimberius, forcing Caesar to rush in order to try to avoid the joining of forces.
Caesar defeated Ariovistus in battle, forcing him to escape across the Rhine. When news of this spread, the fresh Suebian forces turned back in some panic, which led local tribes on the Rhine to take advantage of the situation and attack them.
Also reported within Caesar's accounts of the Gallic wars, the Suebi posed another threat in 55 BC.[42] The GermanicUbii, who had worked out an alliance with Caesar, were complaining of being harassed by the Suebi, and the Tencteri and Usipetes, already forced from their homes, tried to cross the Rhine and enter Gaul by force. Caesar bridged the Rhine, the first known to do so, with apile bridge, which though considered a marvel, was dismantled after only eighteen days. The Suebi abandoned their towns closest to the Romans, retreated to the forest and assembled an army. Caesar moved back across the bridge and broke it down, stating that he had achieved his objective of warning the Suebi. They in turn supposedly stopped harassing the Ubii. The Ubii were later resettled on the west bank of the Rhine, in Roman territory.
Cassius Dio (c. 150 – 235 AD) wrote the history of Rome for a Greek audience. He reported that, shortly before 29 BC, the Suebi crossed the Rhine, only to be defeated byGaius Carrinas who, along with the youngOctavian Caesar, celebrated a triumph in 29 BC.[43] Shortly after, they turn up fighting a group ofDacians in a gladiatorial display at Rome celebrating the consecration of the Julian hero-shrine.
Suetonius (c. 69 AD – after 122 AD), gives the Suebi brief mention in connection with their defeat againstNero Claudius Drusus in 9 BC. He says that the Suebi andSugambri "submitted to him and were taken into Gaul and settled in lands near the Rhine" while the other Germani were pushed "to the farther side of theriver Albis" (Elbe).[44] He must have meant the temporary military success of Drusus, as it is unlikely the Rhine was cleared of Germans. Elsewhere he identifies the settlers as 40,000 prisoners of war, only a fraction of the yearly draft of militia.[45]
Florus (c. 74 AD – c. 130 AD), gives a more detailed view of the operations of 9 BC. He reports that theCherusci, Suebi andSicambri formed an alliance by crucifying twenty Roman centurions, but that Drusus defeated them, confiscated their plunder and sold them into slavery.[46] Presumably only the war party was sold, as the Suebi continue to appear in the ancient sources.
Florus's report of the peace brought to Germany by Drusus is glowing but premature. He built "more than five hundred forts" and two bridges guarded by fleets. "He opened a way through theHercynian Forest", which implies but still does not overtly state that he had subdued the Suebi. "In a word, there was such peace in Germany that the inhabitants seemed changed ... and the very climate milder and softer than it used to be."
In theAnnales of Tacitus, it is mentioned that after the defeat of 9 BC the Romans made peace withMaroboduus, who is described as king of the Suevians. This is the first mention of any permanent king of the Suebi.[47] However, Maroboduus was in most sources referred to as the king of theMarcomanni, a tribal name that had already been distinct from the Suebi in Caesar's time. (As discussed above, it is not sure which Suebi were the Suebi of Caesar, but at least they were distinguished from the Marcomanni.) However, Maroboduus was also described as Suebian, and his association with the Marcomanni more specifically comes after the Langobards and Semnones were specifically said to have left his kingdom, having previously been under his rule. At some point in this period the Marcomanni had come to be settled in the forested regions once inhabited by theBoii, in and aroundBohemia, under his rule.
Augustus planned in 6 AD to destroy the kingdom of Maroboduus, which he considered to be too dangerous for the Romans. The later emperorTiberius commanded twelve legions to attack the Marcomanni, but the outbreak of arevolt inIllyria, and the need for troops there, forced Tiberius to conclude a treaty with Maroboduus and to recognize him as king.[48]
After the death of Drusus, theCherusci annihilated three legions at theBattle of Teutoburg Forest and thereafter "... the empire ... was checked on the banks of the Rhine." While elements of the Suevi may have been involved, this was an alliance mainly made up of non-Suebic tribes from northwestern Germany, the Cherusci,Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci, and Sicambri. The kingdom of the Marcomanni and their allies stayed out of the conflict and when Maroboduus was sent the head of the defeated Roman leaderVarus, he sent it on to Rome for burial. Within his own alliance were various Suebic peoples, Hermunduri, Quadi, Semnones, Lugii, Zumi, Butones, Mugilones, Sibini and Langobards.
Subsequently, Augustus placedGermanicus, the son of Drusus, in charge of the forces of the Rhine and he, after dealing with a mutiny among his troops, proceeded against theCherusci and their allies, breaking their power finally at the battle of Idistavisus, a plain on theWeser. All eight legions and supporting units of Gauls were required in order to accomplish this.[49] Germanicus' zeal led finally to his being replaced (17 AD) by his cousin Drusus, Tiberius' son, asTiberius thought it best to follow his predecessor's policy of limiting the empire. Germanicus certainly would have involved the Suebi, with unpredictable results.[47]
Arminius, leader of theCherusci and allies, now had a free hand. He accused Maroboduus of hiding in theHercynian Forest while the other Germans fought for freedom, and of being the only king among the Germans. The two groups "turned their arms against each other." The SuebicSemnones andLangobardi rebelled against their king and went over to the Cherusci. Left with only theMarcomanni and Herminius' uncle, who had defected, Maroboduus appealed toDrusus, now governor ofIllyricum, and was given only a pretext of aid.[50]
The resulting battle was indecisive but Maroboduus withdrew to Bohemia and sent for assistance to Tiberius. He was refused on the grounds that he had not moved to helpVarus. Drusus encouraged the Germans to finish him off. A force ofGoths underCatualda, a Marcomannian exile, bought off the nobles and seized the palace. Maroboduus escaped toNoricum and the Romans offered him refuge inRavenna where he remained the rest of his life.[51] He died in 37 AD. After his expulsion the leadership of the Marcomanni was contested by their Suebic neighbours and allies, the Hermunduri and Quadi.
In the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including theQuadi, Vandals, andSarmatians, against the Roman Empire. The war began in 166, when the Marcomanni overwhelmed the defences betweenVindobona andCarnuntum, penetrated along the border between the provinces ofPannonia andNoricum, laid waste toFlavia Solva, and could be stopped only shortly before reachingAquileia on theAdriatic sea. The war lasted until Marcus Aurelius' death in 180.
In the third century Jordanes claims that the Marcomanni paid tribute to the Goths, and that the princes of the Quadi were enslaved. The Vandals, who had moved south towards Pannonia, were apparently still sometimes able to defend themselves.[52]
Alemanni expansion and Roman-Alemannic battle sites, 3rd to 5th century
In 259/60, one or more groups of Suebi appear to have been the main element in the formation of a new tribal alliance known as theAlemanni who came to occupy the Roman frontier region known as theAgri Decumates, east of the Rhine and south of the Main. The Alamanni were sometimes simply referred to as Suebi by contemporaries, and the region came to be known asSwabia – a name which survives to this day. People in this region of Germany are still calledSchwaben, a name derived from the Suebi. One specific group in the region in the 3rd century, sometimes distinguished from the Alamanni, were theJuthungi, which a monument found in Augsburg refers to as Semnones.
A large group of Suebi, whose origins are unclear, breached the Roman frontier bycrossing the Rhine, perhaps atMainz, at about the same time as the Vandals andAlans (31 December 406), thus launching an invasion of northernGaul. It is thought that this group probably contained a significant amount ofQuadi, moving out of their homeland under pressure fromRadagaisus. This group later invaded Spain and became rulers of Roman Gaellicia.
Other Suebi apparently remained in or near to the original homeland areas near the Elbe and the modern Czech Republic, occasionally still being referred to by this term. Another group of Suebi, the so-called "northern Suebi" were described as a part of the Saxons in 569 under theFrankish kingSigebert I in areas of today'sSaxony-Anhalt. An area known asSchwabengau or Suebengau existed at least until the 12th century.
Further south, a group of Suebi established a kingdom in parts ofPannonia, which appears in records after theHuns were defeated in 454 at theBattle of Nedao. Their kingHunimund fought against theOstrogoths in thebattle of Bolia in 469. The Suebian coalition lost the battle, and Hunimund appear to have migrated towards southern Germany.[53] TheMarcomanni probably made up one significant part of these Suebi, who lived in at least two distinct areas.[54] Later, the Lombards, a Suebic group long known on the Elbe, came to dominate the Pannonian region before successfully invading Italy.
Suebi under kingHermeric, probably coming from the Alemanni, the Quadi, or both,[55] worked their way into the south of France, eventually crossing thePyrenees and entering theIberian Peninsula which was no longer under Imperial rule since the rebellion ofGerontius andMaximus in 409.
Passing through theBasque country, they settled in the Roman province ofGallaecia, in north-westernHispania (modernGalicia,Asturias, and the northern half ofPortugal), where, swearing fealty to EmperorHonorius, they were accepted asfoederati and permitted to settle under their own autonomous governance. Contemporaneously with the self-governing province ofBritannia, the kingdom of the Suebi in Gallaecia became the first of the sub-Roman kingdoms to be formed in the disintegrating territory of the Western Roman Empire. Suebic Gallaecia was the first kingdom separated from the Roman Empire to mint coins.
The Suebic kingdom inGallaecia and northernLusitania was established in 409 and lasted until 585. Smaller than theOstrogothic kingdom of Italy or theVisigothic kingdom inHispania, it reached a relative stability and prosperity—and even expanded military southwards—despite the occasional quarrels with the neighbouring Visigothic kingdom.
The Germanic invaders and immigrants settled mainly in rural areas, asIdacius clearly stated: "The Hispanic, spread over cities andoppida..." and the "Barbarians, govern over the provinces". According toDan Stanislawski, thePortuguese way of living in Northern regions is mostly inherited from the Suebi, in which small farms prevail, distinct from the large properties of Southern Portugal. Bracara Augusta, the modern city ofBraga and former capital of Roman Gallaecia, became the capital of the Suebi.Orosius, at that time resident in Hispania, shows a rather pacific initial settlement, the newcomers working their lands[56] or serving as bodyguards of the locals.[57] Another Germanic group that accompanied the Suebi and settled in Gallaecia were theBuri. They settled in the region between the riversCávado andHomem, in the area known asTerras de Bouro (Lands of the Buri), Portugal.[58]
As the Suebi quickly adopted the locallanguage, few traces were left of their Germanic tongue, but for some words and fortheir personal and land names, adopted by most of the Gallaeci.[59] In Galicia fourparishes and six villages are namedSuevos orSuegos, i.e.Sueves, after old Suebic settlements.
TheVisigoths were sent in 416 by the emperor Honorius to fight the Germanic invaders in Hispania, but they were re-settled in 417 by the Romans asfoederati in Aquitania after completely defeating theAlans and theSilingi Vandals. The absence of competition permitted first, theAsdingi Vandals, and later, the Suebi, to expand south and east. After the departure of the Vandals for Africa in 429 Roman authority in the peninsula was reasserted for 10 years except in northwest where the Suevi were confined. In its heyday Suebic Gallaecia extended as far south asMérida andSeville, capitals of the Roman provinces ofLusitania andBetica, while their expeditions reachedZaragoza andLleida after taking the Roman capital, Mérida, in 439. The previous year 438Hermeric ratified the peace with theGallaeci, the local and partially romanized rural population, and, weary of fighting, abdicated in favour of his sonRechila, who proved to be a notable general, defeating first Andevotus,Romanae militiae dux,[60] and laterVitusmagister utriusque militiae. In 448,Rechila died, leaving the crown to his sonRechiar who had converted to Roman Catholicism c. 447. Soon, he married a daughter of the Gothic kingTheodoric I, and began a wave of attacks on theTarraconense, still a Roman province. By 456 the campaigns ofRechiar clashed with the interests of the Visigoths, and a large army of Roman federates (Visigoths under the command ofTheodoric II,Burgundians directed by kingsGundioc andChilperic) crossed thePyrenees into Hispania, and defeated the Suebi near modern-dayAstorga. Rechiar was executed after being captured by his brother-in-law, the Visigothic king Theodoric II. In 459, the Roman emperorMajorian defeated the Suebi, briefly restoring Roman rule in northernHispania. Nevertheless, the Suebi became free of Roman control forever after Majorian was assassinated two years later. The Suebic kingdom was confined in the northwest in Gallaecia and northern Lusitania where political division and civil war arose among several pretenders to the royal throne. After years of turmoil,Remismund was recognized as the sole king of the Suebi, bringing forth a politic of friendship with the Visigoths, and favoring the conversion of his people toArianism.
The Suebic kingdom of Gallaecia (green), c. 550, (with borders of the former Roman provinces of Hispania)
In 561 king Ariamir called the catholicFirst Council of Braga, which dealt with the old problem of thePriscillianism heresy. Eight years after, in 569, king Theodemir called theFirst Council of Lugo,[61] in order to increase the number of dioceses within his kingdom. Its acts have been preserved through a medieval resume known asParrochiale Suevorum orDivisio Theodemiri.
In 570 the Arian king of the Visigoths,Leovigild, made his first attack on the Suebi. Between 572 and 574, Leovigild invaded the valley of theDouro, pushing the Suebi west and northwards. In 575 the Suebic king,Miro, made a peace treaty with Leovigild in what seemed to be the beginning of a new period of stability. Yet, in 583 Miro supported the rebellion of the Catholic Gothic princeHermenegild, engaging in military action against king Leovigild, although Miro was defeated in Seville when trying to break on through the blockade on the Catholic prince. As a result, he was forced to recognize Leovigild as friend and protector, for him and for his successors, dying back home just some months later. His son, kingEboric, confirmed the friendship with Leovigild, but he was deposed just a year later by his brother-in-lawAudeca, giving Leovigild an excuse to attack the kingdom. In 585 AD, first Audeca and laterMalaric, were defeated and the Suebic kingdom was incorporated into the Visigothic one as its sixth province. The Suebi were respected in their properties and freedom, and continued to dwell in Gallaecia, finally merging with the rest of the local population during the early Middle Ages.
The Suebi remained mostly pagan, and their subjectsPriscillianist until anArian missionary namedAjax, sent by the Visigothic king Theodoric II at the request of the Suebic unifierRemismund, in 466 converted them and established a lasting Arian church which dominated the people until the conversion to Trinitarian Catholicism the 560s.
Mutually incompatible accounts of the conversion of the Suebi to Orthodox Catholic Trinitarian Christianity of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils are presented in the primary records:
The minutes of theFirst Council of Braga—which met on 1 May 561—state explicitly that the synod was held at the orders of a king namedAriamir. Of the eight assistant bishops, just one bears a Suebic name: Hildemir. While the Catholicism of Ariamir is not in doubt, that he was the first Chalcedonian monarch of the Suebi since Rechiar has been contested on the grounds that his Catholicism is not explicitly stated.[clarification needed][62] He was, however, the first Suebic monarch to hold a Catholic synod, and when theSecond Council of Braga was held at the request of kingMiro, a Catholic himself,[63] in 572, of the twelve assistant bishops five bears Suebic names: Remisol ofViseu, Adoric ofIdanha, Wittimer ofOurense, Nitigis ofLugo and Anila ofTui.
According to theFrankish historianGregory of Tours, on the other hand, an otherwise unknown sovereign namedChararic, having heard ofMartin of Tours, promised to accept the beliefs of the saint if only his son would be cured ofleprosy. Through the relics and intercession of Saint Martin the son was healed; Chararic and the entire royal household converted to theNicene faith.[65]
By 589, when theThird Council of Toledo was held, and the Visigoth Kingdom of Toledo converted officially from Arianism to Catholicism, kingReccared I stated in its minutes that also "an infinite number of Suebi have converted", together with the Goths, which implies that the earlier conversion was either superficial or partial. In the same council, four bishops from Gallaecia abjured of their Arianism. And so, the Suebic conversion is ascribed, not to a Suebe, but to a Visigoth byJohn of Biclarum, who puts their conversion alongside that of the Goths, occurring under Reccared I in 587–589.
Most scholars have attempted to meld these stories. It has been alleged that Chararic and Theodemir must have been successors of Ariamir, since Ariamir was the first Suebic monarch to lift the ban on Catholic synods; Isidore therefore gets the chronology wrong.[66][67] Reinhart suggested that Chararic was converted first through therelics of Saint Martin and that Theodemir was converted later through the preaching of Martin of Dumio.[62] Dahn equated Chararic with Theodemir, even saying that the latter was the name he took upon baptism.[62] It has also been suggested that Theodemir and Ariamir were the same person and the son of Chararic.[62] In the opinion of some historians, Chararic is nothing more than an error on the part of Gregory of Tours and never existed.[68] If, as Gregory relates, Martin of Dumio died about the year 580 and had been bishop for about thirty years, then the conversion of Chararic must have occurred around 550 at the latest.[65] Finally, Ferreiro believes the conversion of the Suebi was progressive and stepwise and that Chararic's public conversion was only followed by the lifting of a ban on Catholic synods in the reign of his successor, which would have been Ariamir; Thoedemir was responsible for beginning a persecution of the Arians in his kingdom to root out their heresy.[69]
The name of the Suebi also appears inNorse mythology and in early Scandinavian sources. The earliest attestation is theProto-Norse nameSwabaharjaz ("Suebian warrior") on theRö runestone and in the place name Svogerslev.[9]Sváfa, whose name means "Suebian",[70] was aValkyrie who appears in the eddic poemHelgakviða Hjörvarðssonar. The kingdomSváfaland also appears in this poem and in theÞiðrekssaga.
^abPeterson, Lena."Swābaharjaz"(PDF).Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn. Institutet för språk och folkminnen, Sweden. p. 16. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2011-05-18. Retrieved2007-10-11. (Text inSwedish); for an alternative meaning, as "free, independent" seeRoom, Adrian (2006). "Swabia, Sweden".Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites: Second Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 363, 364.ISBN0786422483.; compareSuiones
^Pokorny, Julius."Root/Lemma se-".Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Indo-European Etymological Dictionary (IEED), Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, Leiden University. pp. 882–884. Archived fromthe original on 2011-08-09. (German language text); locate by searching the page number.Köbler, Gerhard (2000)."*se-"(PDF).Indogermanisches Wörterbuch: 3. Auflage. p. 188. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2007-10-25. (German language text); the etymology in English is inWatkins, Calvert (2000)."s(w)e-".Appendix I: Indo-European Roots. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. Some related English words aresibling, sister, swain, self.
^Schrijver, Peter (2003). "The etymology of Welsh chwith and the semantics and morphology of PIE *k(w)sweibh-". In Russell, Paul (ed.).Yr Hen Iaith: Studies in Early Welsh. Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications.ISBN978-1-891271-10-6.
^Chambers, R. W. (1912).Widseth: a Study in Old English Heroic Legend. Cambridge: University Press. pp. 194, note on line 22 of Widsith. Republished in 2006 by Kissinger Publishing asISBN1-4254-9551-6.
^TacitusGermania Section 8, translation by H. Mattingly.
^Maurer, Friedrich (1952) [1942].Nordgermanen und Alemannen: Studien zur germanischen und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes – und Volkskunde. Bern, München: A. Franke Verlag, Leo Lehnen Verlag.
^Kossinna, Gustaf (1911).Die Herkunft der Germanen. Leipzig: Kabitsch.
^Tacitus' modern editor Arthur J. Pomeroy concludes "it is clear that there is no monolithic 'Suebic' group, but a series of tribes who may share some customs (for instance, warrior burials) but also vary considerably."Pomeroy, Arthur J. (1994). "Tacitus' Germania".The Classical Review. New Series.44 (1):58–59.doi:10.1017/S0009840X00290446.S2CID246879432. A review in English ofNeumann, Gunter; Henning Seemann.Beitrage zum Verstandnis der Germania des Tacitus, Teil II: Bericht uber die Kolloquien der Kommission fur die Altertumskunde Nord- und Mitteleuropas im Jahre 1986 und 1987. A German-language text.
^"chapt 16". Romansonline.com. Archived fromthe original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved2014-05-01.
^Geschichte der Goten. Entwurf einer historischen Ethnographie, C.H. Beck, 1. Aufl. (München 1979), 2. Aufl. (1980), unter dem Titel: Die Goten. Von den Anfängen bis zur Mitte des sechsten Jahrhunderts. 4. Aufl. (2001)
^"the barbarians, detesting their swords, turn them into ploughs",Historiarum Adversum Paganos, VII, 41, 6.
^"anyone wanting to leave or to depart, uses these barbarians as mercenaries, servers or defenders",Historiarum Adversum Paganos, VII, 41, 4.
^Domingos Maria da Silva,Os Búrios, Terras de Bouro, Câmara Municipal de Terras de Bouro, 2006. (inPortuguese)
^Medieval Galician records show more than 1500 different Germanic names in use for over 70% of the local population. Also, in Galicia, Northern and Central Portugal, there are more than 5.000 toponyms (villages and towns) based on personal Germanic names (Mondariz < *villa *Mundarici;Baltar < *villa *Baldarii;Gomesende < *villa *Gumesenþi;Gondomar < *villa *Gunþumari...); and several toponyms not based on personal names, mainly in Galicia (Malburgo,Samos < Samanos "Congregated", near a hundred Saa/Sá < *Sala "house, palace"...); and some lexical influence on theGalician language andPortuguese language, such as: laverca "lark" < protogermanic *laiwarikō "lark" brasa "torch; ember" < protogermanic *blasōn "torch" britar "to break" < protogermanic *breutan "to break" lobio "vine gallery" < protogermanic *laubjōn "leaves" ouva "elf" < protogermanic *albaz "elf" trigar "to urge" < protogermanic *þreunhan "to urge" maga "guts (of fish)" < protogermanic *magōn "stomach"
Thompson, E. A. "The Conversion of the Spanish Suevi to Catholicism."Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. ed.Edward James. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.ISBN0-19-822543-1.
