The Aesti (also Aestii , Astui or Aests ) were an ancient people first described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise Germania (circa 98 AD). According to Tacitus, the territory of Aesti was located somewhere east of the Suiones (Swedes).
85-643: According to Tacitus, the Aesti live Upon the right of the Suevian Sea and have the same customs and attire as the Germanic Suevi . It has been suggested that the Aesti worshipped the mother of the gods, similar to the Nerthus cult among northern Germanic peoples. Though they were most likely of Baltic origin, they had extensively intermingled with the neighbouring Gothic Tribes. Tacitus wrote that
170-617: A Germanic 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 the Irminones , entering Germany from the east, and originating on the Baltic. In late classical times, these dialects, by now situated to
255-752: A large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic . In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names such as the Marcomanni , Quadi , Hermunduri , Semnones , and Lombards . New groupings formed later, such as the Alamanni and Bavarians , and two kingdoms in the Migration Period were simply referred to as Suebian. Although Tacitus specified that
340-620: 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 modern Upper German dialects spoken in Austria, Bavaria , Thuringia , Alsace , Baden-Württemberg and German speaking Switzerland. This was proposed by Friedrich Maurer as one of five major Kulturkreise or "culture-groups" whose dialects developed in
425-566: A name with this same meaning, but recorded with a different pronunciation by the Romans. Alternatively, it may be borrowed from a Celtic word for "vagabond". Caesar placed the Suebi east of the Ubii apparently near modern Hesse , in the position where later writers mention the Chatti , and he distinguished them from their allies the Marcomanni . Some commentators believe that Caesar's Suebi were
510-623: A number of alpine roads, concentrating around the capital city Bern and probably originating from the banks of the Rhône and Rhine . A small section, including Baarn , Barneveld , Amersfoort and Amerongen , connected the North Sea with the Lower Rhine . A small section led southwards from Antwerp and Bruges to the towns Braine-l'Alleud and Braine-le-Comte , both originally named "Brennia-Brenna". The route continued by following
595-659: A price with wonder. The placement of the Tacitean Aestii is based primarily on their association with amber, a popular luxury item during the life of Tacitus, with known sources at the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea . The Baltic amber trade , which appears to have extended to the Mediterranean Sea , has been traced by archaeologists back to the Nordic Bronze Age ; its major center was in
680-584: 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". Although no classical authors explicitly call the Chatti Suevic, Pliny the Elder (23 AD – 79 AD), reported in his Natural History that the Irminones were a large grouping of related Germanic gentes or "tribes" including not only
765-531: A specific tribe more or less "Suebian". 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
850-523: A trade secret. The sending of presents and the promise to show future favors were in ancient times a cordial way of giving de jure recognition to another power. Sixth Century historian Jordanes makes two references to the Aesti in his book "The Origins and the Deeds of the Goths", which was a treatment of Cassiodorus' longer book (which no longer survives) on the history of the Goths. The first quote places
935-505: A transparent softness, sometimes blushing with the color of saffron, sometimes glowing with flame-like clearness. Then, gliding down to the margin of sea, and further purified by the rolling of the tides, it is at length transported to your shores to be cast upon them. We have thought it better to point this out to you, lest you should imagine that your supposed secrets have escaped our knowledge . We sent you some presents by our ambassadors, and shall be glad to receive further visits from you by
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#17327729729081020-519: Is the safeguard of all, and by this every worshipper of the Goddess is secured even amidst his foes. Rare amongst them is the use of weapons of iron, but frequent that of clubs. In producing of grain and the other fruits of the earth, they labour with more assiduity and patience than is suitable to the usual laziness of Germans. Nay, they even search the deep, and of all the rest are the only people who gather amber. They call it glesum , and find it amongst
1105-684: The Boii further east near the Hercynian forest . In addition, near the Hercynian forest Caesar believed that the Celtic Tectosages 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. This may follow a Greek tradition of labelling all barbarian people north of
1190-603: The Gallic 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 of Gallic tribes, and establishing a Germanic presence in the immediate areas north of the Danube . In particular, Caesar saw
1275-678: The Huns . In 406 AD, Suebian tribes led by Hermeric , together with other Danubian groups including Alans and Vandals, crossed the Rhine and overran Gaul and Hispania . They eventually established the Kingdom of the Suebi in Galicia . With the breaking up of Hunnic power after the Battle of Nedao there was also a short-lived Kingdom of the Suebi on the Danube, under Hunimund . They were defeated by
1360-850: The Juthungi , while the Alamanni ravaged Gaul and settled the Agri Decumates . The Alamanni continued exerting pressure on Gaul, while the Alamannic chieftain Chrocus played an important role in elevating Constantine the Great to Roman emperor . 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
1445-564: The Kitan/Liao Period . There is a tourist route stretching along the Baltic coast from Kaliningrad to Latvia called "Amber Road". "Amber Road" sites are: In Poland, the north–south motorway A1 is officially named Amber Highway. EV9 The Amber Route is a long-distance cycling route between Gdańsk , Poland and Pula , Croatia which follows the course of the Amber Road. The modern Baltic–Adriatic Corridor connects
1530-532: The Lombardic language spoken by the Lombards of Italy, and standard "High German" itself, are also at least partly derived from the dialects spoken by the Suebi. (The only non-Suebian name among the major groups of Upper Germanic dialects is High Franconian German , but this is on the transitional frontier with Central German , as is neighboring Thuringian.) Julius Caesar (100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) describes
1615-911: The Marcomanni , who under King Marobodus had moved into the same Hercynian forest as the Coldui (possibly the Quadi ), taking over an area called "Boihaemum". This king "took the rulership and acquired, in addition to the peoples aforementioned, the Lugii (a large tribe), the Zumi , the Butones , the Mugilones , the Sibini , and also the Semnones , a large tribe of the Suevi themselves". Some of these tribes were "inside
1700-565: The Marsigni , and Buri , who "in their language and manner of life, resemble the Suevi". (Living partly subject to the Quadi are the Gotini and Osi , who Tacitus says speak respectively Gaulish and Pannonian , and are therefore not Germans.) Ptolemy also places the " Lugi Buri " in mountains, along with a tribe called the Corconti . These mountains, stretching from near the upper Elbe to
1785-689: The Meuse towards Bern in Switzerland. Routes connected amber finding locations at Ambares (near Bordeaux ), leading to Béarn and the Pyrenees . Routes connecting the amber finding locations in northern Spain and in the Pyrenees were a trading route to the Mediterranean Sea. Sources of archaeological finds suggest that routes may also have connected Mongolia to eastern Europe during
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#17327729729081870-880: The Ostrogoths , one of the peoples of eastern origin who had been allies of the Huns. In the sixth century the Suevic Longobards moved from the Elbe to become one of the major powers of the Middle Danube , in competition with the dynasties from the east such as the Herules , Gepids and Ostrogoths . During the last years of the decline of the Western Roman Empire , the Suebian general Ricimer
1955-612: The Vistula Lagoon , Aīstinmari and Aistmarės , respectively, appear to derive from Aesti and mari (" lagoon " or "fresh-water bay"), which suggests that the area around the lagoon had links with the Aesti. The ancient writers, beginning with Tacitus, who was the first Roman author to mention them in his Germania , provide very little information on the Aestii. Although Tacitus never travelled to Magna Germania himself and only recorded information he had obtained from others,
2040-456: The road which you have thus opened up , and to show you future favors. The style of the letter proves that the nation was at that time independent, not ruled by the Ostrogoths . Apparently Cassiodorus considered it politically essential to establish friendly relations with the Nordic region. The letter also indicates that the Aesti were fully confident of the value of amber and had made out of it
2125-569: 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 the Suiones , "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 to Scandinavia . Closely bordering on
2210-455: The "coastal" regions north of the Rhine. The geographer Ptolemy (c. AD 90 – c. AD 168), in a fairly extensive account of Greater Germany, 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 the Sugambri . The "Suevi Langobardi " are the Suevi located closest to
2295-735: The Adrabaecampi, are the Sudini 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 the Varisti , 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
2380-756: The Aesti were "the only people who collect amber— glaesum is their own word for it—in the shallows or even on the beach". Glaesum , an apparently Latinised word for amber (in Latin, sucinum ), is the only surviving example of the Aestian language. The word is quoted of being of Germanic origin, given its similarity to the Gothic word glas . Tacitus, however, describes the language of Aestii as closer to that spoken in Britain than that spoken by other neighbouring tribes. The Old Prussian and modern Lithuanian names for
2465-643: The Aestii beyond the Vidivarii, on the shore of the Baltic: "a subject race, likewise hold the shore of Ocean." The next quote concerns the subjugation of the Aesti by Hermanaric , king of the Gothic Greuthungi : "This ruler also subdued by his wisdom and might the race of the Aesti, who dwell on the farthest shore of the German Ocean ". In an 11th-century manuscript of King Alfred 's account of
2550-458: The Alps as Celtic. Strabo (64/63 BC – c. 24 AD), in Book IV (6.9) of his Geography also associates the Suebi with the Hercynian 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 the Swabian Alps , and further east the Gabreta Forest , possibly the modern Bohemian forest . In Book VII (1.3) Strabo specifically mentions as Suevic peoples
2635-457: The Amber Road to the south of the Danube, noted in the myth about the Argonauts , used the rivers Sava and Kupa , ending with a short continental road from Nauportus to Tarsatica in Rijeka on the coast of the Adriatic. Several roads connected the North Sea and Baltic Sea, especially the city of Hamburg to the Brenner Pass , proceeding southwards to Brindisi (nowadays Italy) and Ambracia (nowadays Greece). The Swiss region indicates
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2720-409: 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 the Silingi to their south in the stretch between these rivers. These Silingi appear in later history as a branch of
2805-401: The Baltic coastline (nowadays Lithuania and Poland ), through Biskupin, Milicz , Wrocław , the Kłodzko Valley (less often through the Moravian Gate ), crossed the Danube near Carnuntum in the Noricum province , headed southwest past Poetovio , Celeia , Emona , Nauportus , and reached Patavium and Aquileia at the Adriatic coast. One of the oldest directions of the last stage of
2890-422: The Danube, during this period. Caesar describes the Suebi as pressing the German tribes of the Rhine, such as the Tencteri , Usipetes and Ubii , from the east, forcing them from their homes. While emphasizing their warlike nature he writes as if they had a settled homeland somewhere between the Cherusci and the Ubii , and separated from the Cherusci by a deep forest called the Silva Bacenis. He also describes
2975-402: The Elbe Germanic. In the time of Caesar, southern Germany had a mixture of Celtic 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 the Danube , the Main , and the Rhine had been deserted by the departure of two large Celtic nations, the Helvetii in modern Schwaben and
3060-403: The Elder (as opposed to Tacitus) as being not Suevic but Vandili , 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 as Eastern Germanic . Between the coastal Saxons and inland Suebi, Ptolemy names the Teutonari and the "Viruni" (presumably
3145-410: The Hermiones". North of the Lugii, near the Baltic Sea , Tacitus places the Gothones (Goths) , Rugii , and Lemovii . These three Germanic tribes share a tradition of having kings, and also similar arms – round shields and short swords. Ptolemy says that east of the Saxons, from the "Chalusus" river to the "Suevian" river are the Farodini , then the Sidini up to the "Viadua" river, and after these
3230-413: 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 the Saale ( Sorbian : Solawa ) or Oder river) and the Vistula, south of the Burgundi . 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
3315-409: 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." He describes Suebic peoples (Greek ethnē ) 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
3400-434: 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 later Gepidia , which was further south, in Pannonia, modern Hungary, and east of the Danube. 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
3485-428: 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"; 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
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3570-411: The Rhine, far to the east of where most sources report them. To the east of the Langobardi, are the "Suevi Angili ", 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. As discussed below, in
3655-427: 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
3740-412: The Royal Tomb of Qatna , Syria, is unparalleled among known second millennium BC sites in the Levant and the Ancient Near East . Amber was sent from the North Sea to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi as an offering. From the Black Sea , trade could continue to Asia along the Silk Road , another ancient trade route. In Roman times, a main route ran south from the Baltic coast (modern Lithuania ),
3825-435: The Suebi in his firsthand account, De Bello Gallico , as the "largest and the most warlike nation of all the Germans". Caesar confronted a large army led by a Suevic King named Ariovistus in 58 BC who had been settled for some time in Gaul already, at the invitation of the Gaulish Arverni and Sequani as part of their war against the Aedui. He had already been recognized as a king by the Roman senate. Ariovistus forbade
3910-503: The Suebi live there, naming only specifically the Hermunduri and the Langobardi . 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. From Tacitus and Ptolemy we can derive more details: Note that while various errors and confusions are possible, Ptolemy places
3995-400: 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 a pile 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
4080-422: The Suebi, but also the Hermunduri, Chatti and Cherusci . 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. The definitions of the greater ethnic groupings within Germania were apparently not always consistent and clear, especially in the case of mobile groups such as
4165-404: The Suebian group was not an old tribal group itself, the Suebian peoples are associated by Pliny the Elder with the Irminones , a grouping of Germanic peoples who claimed ancestral connections. Tacitus mentions Suebian languages, and a geographical "Suevia". The Suevians were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with the invasion of Gaul led by the Germanic king Ariovistus during
4250-434: The Suebians as the most warlike of the Germanic peoples. During the reign of Augustus the first emperor, Rome made aggressive campaigns into Germania , 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 of Bohemia . The Suevians did not join
4335-455: The Suevi, while their language is more like the British." After giving this account, Tacitus says: "Here Suebia ends." Therefore, for Tacitus geographic "Suebia" comprises the entire periphery of the Baltic 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
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#17327729729084420-438: The Suevi. Whereas Tacitus reported three main kinds of German peoples, Irminones, Istvaeones , and Ingaevones , Pliny specifically adds two more genera or "kinds", the Bastarnae and the Vandili ( Vandals ). The Vandals were tribes east of the Elbe, including the well-known Silingi , Goths , and Burgundians , an area that Tacitus treated as Suebic. That the Vandals might be a separate type of Germanic people, corresponding to
4505-467: The Suiones and closely resembling them, are the tribes of the Sitones . Ptolemy describes Scandinavia as being inhabited by Chaedini in the west, Favonae and Firaesi in the east, Finni in the north, Gautae and Dauciones in the south, and Levoni in the middle. He does not describe them as Suebi. Tacitus describes the non-Germanic Aestii on the eastern shore of the "Suevic Sea" (Baltic), "whose rites and fashions and style of dress are those of
4590-538: The Upper-German dialects predominant in Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria, which experienced the Second consonant shift some time after about 600 AD. Etymologists trace the name from Proto-Germanic * swēbaz based on the Proto-Germanic root * swē- found in the third-person reflexive pronoun , giving the meaning "one's own" people, in turn from an earlier Indo-European root *swe- (Polish swe, swój, swoi, Latin sui, Italian suo, Sanskrit swa , each meaning "one's own"). The etymological sources list
4675-451: The Vandals, and were therefore likely to be speakers of East Germanic dialects. Their name is associated with medieval Silesia . Further south on the Elbe are the Baenochaemae and between them and the Askibourgian mountains Ptolemy names a tribe called the Batini (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
4760-436: The Varini of Tacitus), and further east, between the coastal Farodini and the Suebi are the Teutones and then the Avarni . 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 his Description of the World (III.3.31) beyond the Danish isles are "the farthest people of Germania,
4845-409: The alliance led by Arminius . In 69 AD the Suebian kings Italicus and Sido provided support to the Flavian faction under Vespasian . Under the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni, perhaps under pressure from East Germanic tribes to their north, invaded Italy. By the Crisis of the Third Century , new Suebian groups had emerged, and Italy was invaded again by
4930-439: The amber trade. As an important commodity, sometimes dubbed "the gold of the north", amber was transported from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts overland by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy , Greece , the Black Sea , Syria and Egypt over a period of thousands of years. The oldest trade in amber started from Sicily . The Sicilian amber trade was directed to Greece, North Africa and Spain. Sicilian amber
5015-418: The amber which you have sent us. You say that you gather this lightest of all substances from the shores of ocean, but how it comes thither you know not. But as an author named Cornelius (Tacitus) informs us, it is gathered in the innermost islands of the ocean, being formed originally of the juice of a tree (whence its name succinum), and gradually hardened by the heat of the sun. Thus it becomes an exuded metal,
5100-489: 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. Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea . Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by
5185-416: The constant pursuit of war. 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 the Chatti and Cherusci : ...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
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#17327729729085270-407: The early Baltic region. As this road was a lucrative trade route connecting the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, Roman military fortifications were constructed along the route to protect merchants and traders from Germanic raids. The Old Prussian towns of Kaup and Truso on the Baltic were the starting points of the route to the south. In Scandinavia the amber road probably gave rise to
5355-484: The entire north–south length of modern-day Poland (likely through the Iron Age settlement of Biskupin ), through the land of the Boii (modern Czech Republic and Slovakia ) to the head of the Adriatic Sea ( Aquileia by the modern Gulf of Venice ). Other commodities were exported to the Romans along with amber, such as animal fur and skin, honey, and wax, in exchange for Roman glass , brass , gold , and non-ferrous metals such as tin and copper imported into
5440-408: The following ethnic names as being from the same root: Suiones (whence also the name of the Swedes ), 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, the Semnones , known to classical authors as one of the largest Suebian groups, also seem to have
5525-419: The forest" and some "outside of it". Tacitus confirms the name "Boiemum", saying it was a survival marking the old traditional population of the place, the Celtic Boii , though the population had changed. 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
5610-400: The headwaters of the Vistula , he calls the Askibourgian mountains. Between these mountains and the Quadi he adds several tribes, from north to south these are the Sidones , Cotini (possibly Tacitus' Gotini) and the Visburgi . There is then the Orcynian (Hercyian) forest, which Ptolemy defines with relatively restricted boundaries, and then the Quadi. Beyond this mountain range (probably
5695-474: 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. The Germanic Ubii , who had worked out an alliance with Caesar, were complaining of being harassed by
5780-494: The land Witland - "the Vistula is a very large river, and near it lie Witland and Weonodland ; and Witland belongs to the Esthonians ["belimpedh to Estum"]." During the 11th century Adam of Bremen , citing Einhard (who in the Vita Caroli Magni states "the Slavs and the Aisti live on the shores of the Eastern Sea"), mentions the coastal tribe as the Haisti, and refers to today's Estonia as Aestland. Suevi The Suebi (also spelled Suavi , Suevi or Suebians ) were
5865-423: The later Chatti or possibly the Hermunduri , or Semnones . Later authors use the term Suebi more broadly, "to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany". While Caesar treated them as one Germanic tribe within an alliance, albeit the largest and most warlike one, later authors, such as Tacitus , Pliny the Elder and Strabo , specified that the Suevi "do not, like the Chatti or Tencteri , constitute
5950-404: The modern Sudetes ) 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 the Lugii . These included the Harii , Helveconae , Manimi , Helisii and Naharvali . (Tacitus does not mention the language of the Lugii.) As mentioned above, Ptolemy categorizes the Buri amongst the Lugii, and concerning
6035-432: The modern concept of East Germanic , is a possibility that Tacitus also noted, but for example the Varini are named as Vandilic by Pliny, and specifically Suebic by Tacitus. At one time, classical ethnography had applied the name Suevi to so many Germanic tribes that it appeared as if, in the first centuries AD, that native name would replace the foreign name "Germans". The modern term "Elbe Germanic" similarly covers
6120-598: The modern day Czech Republic . Going from west to east the first were the Hermunduri , living near the sources of the Elbe and stretching across the Danube into Roman Rhaetia . Next came the Naristi , the Marcomanni , and then the Quadi . The Quadi are on the edge of greater Suebia, having the Sarmatians to the southeast. Claudius Ptolemy the geographer did not always state which tribes were Suebi, but along
6205-785: The northern bank of the Danube, from west to east and starting at the " desert " formerly occupied by the Helvetii , he names the Parmaecampi , then the Adrabaecampi , and then a "large people" known as the Baemoi (whose name appears to recall the Boii again), and then the Racatriae . North of the Baemoi, is the Luna forest which has iron mines, and which is south of the Quadi. North of
6290-744: The place of Sicilian amber throughout the Iberian Peninsula from around 1000 BC. The new evidence comes from various archaeological and geological locations on the Iberian Peninsula. From at least the 16th century BC, amber was moved from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean area. The breast ornament of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen ( c. 1333–1324 BC) contains large Baltic amber beads. Schliemann found Baltic amber beads at Mycenae, as shown by spectroscopic investigation. The quantity of amber in
6375-680: The region of Sambia . This trade probably existed before the historical Trojan War in the 13th century BCE, as amber is one of the substances in which the palace of Menelaus at Sparta was said to be rich in Homer 's The Iliad . Cassiodorus ' Variae , published in 537, contains a letter written by Cassiodorus in the name of Theodoric the Great , addressed to the Aesti: It is gratifying to us to know that you have heard of our fame, and have sent ambassadors who have passed through so many strange nations to seek our friendship. We have received
6460-531: The sacrifice of humans practiced by the Semnones in a sacred grove and the murder of slaves used in the rites of Nerthus practiced by the tribes of Schleswig-Holstein . The chief priest of the Naharvali dresses as a woman and that tribe also worships in groves. The Harii fight at night dyed black. The Suiones 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
6545-459: The shallows and upon the very shore. But, according to the ordinary incuriosity and ignorance of Barbarians, they have neither learnt, nor do they inquire, what is its nature, or from what cause it is produced. In truth it lay long neglected amongst the other gross discharges of the sea; till from our luxury, it gained a name and value. To themselves it is of no use: they gather it rough, they expose it in pieces coarse and unpolished, and for it receive
6630-597: The short ethnographic excursus below is the most detailed ancient account of the Aestii that we have: "Upon the right of the Suevian Sea the Aestian nations reside, who use the same customs and attire with the Suevians ; their language more resembles that of Britain. They worship the Mother of the Gods. As the characteristic of their national superstition, they wear the images of wild boars . This alone serves them for arms, this
6715-568: The south of the Elbe, and stretching across the Danube into the Roman empire, experienced the High German consonant shift that defines modern High German languages , and in its most extreme form, Upper German . Modern Swabian German , and Alemannic German more broadly, are therefore "assumed to have evolved at least in part" from Suebian. However, Bavarian , the Thuringian dialect ,
6800-486: The southern German area from the first century BC through to the fourth century AD. Apart from his own linguistic work with modern dialects, he also referred to the archaeological and literary analysis of Germanic tribes done earlier by Gustaf Kossinna 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
6885-459: The third century a large group of Suebi, also referred to as the Allemanni , moved up to the Rhine bank in modern Schwaben , 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, but mentions that a part of
6970-671: The thriving Nordic Bronze Age culture, bringing influences from the Mediterranean Sea to the northernmost countries of Europe. Kaliningrad Oblast is occasionally referred to in Russian as Янтарный край , which means "the amber region" (see Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum ). Old coastal Amber road route goes along E67 highway from Reiu in Häädemeeste Parish of Pärnumaa South, where it continues as 331 local road between Rannametsa and Ikla villages. The shortest (and possibly oldest) road avoids alpine areas and led from
7055-503: The voyage from Hedeby to Truso by Wulfstan , held by the British Museum , includes ethnographic information on the medieval Aestii, in which the terms Esti , Est-mere and Eastland are used referring to Old Prussians . In the text, a summary description of the country and its riches is followed by a very detailed account of the people's funeral customs. It mentions the old trading port Truso of Old Prussians and also calls
7140-620: Was also discovered in Mycenae by the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann , and it appeared in sites in southern Spain and Portugal. Its distribution is similar to that of ivory, so it is possible that amber from Sicily reached the Iberian Peninsula through contacts with North Africa. After a decline in the consumption and trade of amber at the beginning of the Bronze Age , around 2000 BC, the influence of Baltic amber gradually took
7225-494: Was its de facto ruler. The Lombards, with many Danubian peoples both Suebian and eastern, later settled Italy and established the Kingdom of the Lombards . The Alamanni, Bavarii and Thuringii who remained in Germania gave their names to the still-existing German regions of Swabia , Bavaria and Thuringia respectively. Suebian languages are thought to be a main source of the later High German languages , especially
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