The Marcomanni were a Germanic people who lived close to the border of the Roman empire , north of the River Danube . They were one of the most important members of the powerful cluster of related Suebian peoples in this region, which also included the Hermunduri , Varisti , and Quadi along the Danube, and the Semnones and Langobardi to their north, and they were particularly important to the Romans. They appear in Roman records from approximately 60 BC until about 400 AD.
129-606: After a major defeat to the Romans in about 9 BC, the Marcomanni somehow received a new king named Maroboduus , who had grown up in Rome. He subsequently led his people and several others into a region surrounded by forests and mountains in the present day Czech Republic . Before 9 BC the homeland of the Marcomanni is not known, but archaeological evidence suggests that they lived near the central Elbe river and Saale , or possibly to
258-573: A siege of Gergovia , a fortified town in the center of Gaul. Caesar's alliances with many Gallic clans broke. Even the Aedui, their most faithful supporters, threw in their lot with the Arverni but the ever-loyal Remi (best known for its cavalry) and Lingones sent troops to support Caesar. The Germani of the Ubii also sent cavalry, which Caesar equipped with Remi horses. Caesar captured Vercingetorix in
387-672: A Germania campaign, and knew that Italy itself was threatened by these pressures, but were deliberately diplomatic while they were occupied with the Parthian campaign in the Middle East, and badly affected by the Antonine plague . However, the Historia Augusta especially blames the Marcomanni and Victohali for throwing everything into confusion while other tribes had been driven on by the more distant barbarians. Although
516-477: A Roman offensive could not start in 167 AD, two new legions were raised and in 168 AD the two emperors, Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius, set out to cross the alps. Either in 167 AD, before the Romans setting, or in 169 AD, after the Romans came to a stop when Verus died, the Marcomanni and Quadi led a crossing of the Danube, and an attack into Italy itself. They destroyed Opitergium (present-day Oderzo ) and put
645-586: A bird symbolizing the carnage in battle. Maroboduus was born into a noble family of the Marcomanni. As a young man, he lived in Italy and enjoyed the favour of the Emperor Augustus . The Marcomanni had been beaten utterly by the Romans in 10 BC. About 9 BC, Maroboduus returned to Germania and became ruler of his people. To deal with the threat of Roman expansion into the Rhine - Danube basin, he led
774-564: A buffer state with this settlement, but there is no consensus about this. The area where Vannius ruled over the Marcomanni exiles is generally considered to have been a state distinct from the old Quadi kingdom itself. Unfortunately the Cusus river has not been identified with certainty. However, Slovak archaeological research locates a core area of the Vannius kingdom was probably in the fertile southwestern Slovakian lowlands around Trnava , east of
903-680: A combination of Roman and Celtic practice, with Celtic deities such as Cobannus and Epona subjected to interpretatio romana . The imperial cult and Eastern mystery religions also gained a following. Eventually, after it became the official religion of the Empire and paganism became suppressed, Christianity won out in the twilight days of the Western Roman Empire (while the Christianized Eastern Roman Empire lasted another thousand years, until
1032-610: A country where the Marcomanni had recently lived was settled by the Hermunduri in 7 BC with Roman permission, and this was apparently west of the Elbe, if we can assume that the events he described happened in one campaign. However this area is also not easy to identify. This is partly because the Hermunduri themselves were pushed east of the Elbe soon after, by the time of Strabo , who was writing around 20 AD. (Generations later, in
1161-516: A form of excommunication from the assembly of worshippers, which in ancient Gaul meant a separation from secular society as well. Thus the Druids were an important part of Gallic society. The nearly complete and mysterious disappearance of the Celtic language from most of the territorial lands of ancient Gaul, with the exception of Brittany, can be attributed to the fact that Celtic druids refused to allow
1290-851: A large alliance. The name appears in Latin and Greek texts spelt variously: Maroboduus, Marobodus, Maraboduus, Meroboduus, Morobuduus, Moroboduus, Marbodus and Marabodus in Latin sources; Maroboudos and Baroboudos in Greek ones. According to linguist Xavier Delamarre , the personal name Maroboduus is a latinized form of Gaulish Maro-boduos , from maro - ('great') attached to boduos ('crow'; cf. Middle Irish bodb 'scald-crow, war-divinity', Old Breton bodou ' ardea '; also Common Brittonic Boduoci ). The Celtic personal names Boduus , Teuto-boduus , Ate-boduus , Soli-boduus , Boduo-genus , and Buduo-gnatus are related. Philologist John T. Koch argues that Middle Irish bodb must be understood as
1419-603: A major series of bloody wars against the Marcomanni and their allies which are called the Marcomannic wars . At one point the Marcomanni and their allies invaded Italy itself. The Marcomanni were weakened, and many were moved into the Roman empire, but the tensions behind this war were never resolved, and their neighbours such as the Quadi continued to come into conflict with Rome. This ended only when Goths, Alans and Huns moved from
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#17327655094471548-558: A migration into southern Britain in the Bronze Age, during the 500-year period from 1300 to 800 BC. The newcomers were genetically most closely related to ancient individuals from Gaul. The authors describe this as a "plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain". The major source of early information on the Celts of Gaul was Poseidonios of Apamea , whose writings were quoted by Timagenes , Julius Caesar ,
1677-641: A more remote area surrounded by mountains and forests. In the Res Gestae Divi Augusti which celebrates the reign of Augustus, it is boasted that among the many kings who took refuge with Augustus as suppliants, there was a king of the Marcomanni Suebi. The name of this king is no longer legible on the Monumentum Ancyranum , but it ended with "-rus". The Roman historians Florus , and Orosius reported that Drusus
1806-439: A name of France in modern Greek (Γαλλία) and modern Latin (besides the alternatives Francia and Francogallia ). The Greek and Latin names Galatia (first attested by Timaeus of Tauromenium in the 4th century BC) and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal(a)-to- . The Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic etymology connected
1935-672: A number of early centers along the Seine , the Middle Rhine and the upper Elbe . By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spread rapidly across the entire territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC) not only in France but also what is now Switzerland , northern Italy , Austria , southern Germany , Bohemia , Moravia , Slovakia and Hungary . A major archaeogenetics study uncovered
2064-427: A peace mission to the governor of Roman Pannonia. Oaths were sworn and the envoys returned home. Some scholars think the Quadi may have been involved in this raid, or at least allowed it to happen. However the Quadi and their neighbours were facing their own problems with raiders from further north, and had been trying for some time to get more support from the empire. On their side, the Romans were apparently planning for
2193-579: A period of conflict with the Quadi in 375 AD, and after the great Roman defeat to the Goths, Alans and Huns at the Battle of Adrianople in 380 AD. It seems that the Rugii and Heruli may have already moved into the Marcomanni's traditional region during this period. The Laterculus Veronensis shows that Heruli and Rugii were already present somewhere in western Europe in about 314. Similar listings from later in
2322-586: A powerful kingdom there that Augustus came to perceive as a threat to the Roman Empire . The archaeological evidence of this period, including both a number of cremation and inhumation burials, hints at a stratified society which gave special importance to its warrior class. Maroboduus built up a Rome-aligned Suebian empire. According to Strabo it included the Lugii , Semnones, and Hermunduri, and he also mentioned otherwise unknown peoples: Zumi, Butones (perhaps
2451-602: A previous homeland shortly before that year. According to the accounts of Tacitus , Velleius Paterculus , and Strabo the Marcomanni eventually moved into a part of the large area that had been occupied by the Boii , a region called Baiohaemum , where their allies and fellow Suevi lived, the Quadi . Scholars interpret this placename as clear early evidence of a Germanic language being used. Haemum corresponds to English "home" and German " Heim " ( Proto-Germanic *haimaz ), while
2580-527: Is also the origin of the English words march and mark , meaning "frontier", or "border", as for example in the term " Welsh marches ". They were therefore "border men". The Marcomanni already had this name before they encountered the Romans in Gaul in 58 BC, where both the Romans and the Marcomanni were foreigners. Their homeland up until that time, and therefore the frontier or march they originally lived near,
2709-413: Is no certainty concerning the origin of the druids, but it is clear that they vehemently guarded the secrets of their order and held sway over the people of Gaul. Indeed, they claimed the right to determine questions of war and peace, and thereby held an "international" status. In addition, the Druids monitored the religion of ordinary Gauls and were in charge of educating the aristocracy. They also practiced
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#17327655094472838-511: Is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French (cf. guerre "war", garder "ward", Guillaume "William"), and the historic diphthong au is the regular outcome of al before a following consonant (cf. cheval ~ chevaux ). French Gaule or Gaulle cannot be derived from Latin Gallia , since g would become j before a (cf. gamba > jambe ), and the diphthong au would be unexplained;
2967-559: Is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France (except for the Alps and the extreme north-west). Out of this Hallstatt background, the La Tène culture arose during the 7th and 6th century BC, presumably representing an early form of Continental Celtic culture and likely under Mediterranean influence from the Greek , Phoenician , and Etruscan civilizations . This culture spread out in
3096-526: Is that it was closer to the Cherusci, in the area of northeastern Hesse and western Thuringia . There are also scholars who propose that the Suebi defeated in the 9 BC campaign were in fact the same as the Marcomanni. A later Roman historian, Cassius Dio , implies that the Romans settled the Hermunduri in a place where the Marcomanni had previously been living in 7 BC, suggesting that the Marcomanni had left
3225-655: Is that they came from the Mainfranken [ de ] region in northeastern Bavaria . It is generally accepted that they lived near to, or even among the Suebi, because later Roman writers connect them, and archaeological evidence indicates such Elbe Germanic peoples later entered the Bohemian area at the right time to match the Marcomanni. Caesar understood the country of the Suebi he faced to be in or near present day Hesse , Franconia , and Thuringia . Caesar himself made no mention of any special connection between
3354-673: Is therefore considered very likely that the Baiuvarii included Marcomanni. Possibly distinct from the Suebi led by Hunimund, the Ravenna Cosmography , a much later document which used sources which are in many cases now lost, indicates that a Marcannori people ( Marcannorum gens ) lived in the mountainous southwest of Pannonia near the Sava river. A Sava or Suavia province between the Sava and Drava rivers, continued to exist during
3483-479: Is unknown. The Marcomanni first appear in historical records among the confederates of Ariovistus who fought against Julius Caesar in Gaul . Ariovistus led a large group of Germani settlers who had crossed the Rhine from what is now Germany, into what is now France. Caesar's report of his battles mentions the Marcomanni among them only once, in his account of his victory in 58 BC. Caesar wrote that he approached
3612-587: The Battle of Alesia , which ended the majority of Gallic resistance to Rome. As many as a million people (probably 1 in 5 of the Gauls) died, another million were enslaved , 300 clans were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed during the Gallic Wars. The entire population of the city of Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) were slaughtered. Before Julius Caesar's campaign against the Helvetii (Switzerland),
3741-400: The Battle of Frigidus only a few months early, was beginning his famous rebellion, and started leading his army south, first towards Constantinople, and later towards Greece. This was triggered by internal Roman conflicts after the death of Theodosius. Claudian claimed that they were all incited by an Eastern Roman consul and enemy of Stilicho, Rufinus . The exact connection between Alaric and
3870-876: The Belgae in the north (roughly between the Rhine and the Seine), the Celtae in the center and in Armorica , and the Aquitani in the southwest, the southeast being already colonized by the Romans. While some scholars believe the Belgae north of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. In addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as
3999-577: The Gutones ), Mugilones and Sibini. Velleius and Tacitus made it clear that by 5 AD it also included the Langobardi. According to Velleius he could call upon 70,000 experienced infantry and 4,000 cavalry, although these were probably not only Marcomanni. In 6 AD Augustus aimed to eliminate the last power center in Germania and sent two Roman army groups under Sentius Saturninus and Tiberius to attack
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4128-754: The Iazyges , who lived in what is now Hungary. This revolt by Vibilius was coordinated with the nephews of Vannius, Vangio and Sido , who then divided his realm between themselves as loyal Roman client kings. Vannius was defeated and fled with his followers across the Danube, where they were assigned land in Roman Pannonia . This settlement is associated with Germanic finds from the 1st century AD in Burgenland , west of Lake Neusiedl . The Marcomanni are not specifically mentioned much in subsequent generations, possibly because they were now politically part of
4257-715: The Little Carpathians . On the other hand, at the same time there were similar increases in activity west of the Little Carpathians near the Morava. Vannius personally benefitted from the new situation and became very wealthy and unpopular. He was himself eventually also deposed by Vibilius and the Hermunduri, working together with the Lugii from the north, in 50/51 AD. Vannius's soldiers during this conflict are described here as infantry, but he also called for cavalry from his Sarmatian allies and neighbours,
4386-599: The Marcomanni Honoriani seniores and iuniores for Italy, as well as the Equites Marcomanni for the mobile army in North Africa. Some of the Marcomanni may have been among the Suebi who invaded Iberia in about 409, and established the kingdom in the Roman province of Gallaecia . These Suevi were probably a mix of Suevian groups from the area north of Danube and Pannonian basin such as
4515-580: The Ostrogoths recruited an army of these Suebi to launch an attack against areas held by the Eastern Roman empire. In 540 Ostrogothic rule in the Sava region came to an end, and the Suebi came under the authority of Eastern Roman emperor Justinian . In the 530s the Langobardi (Lombards), who had been moving southwards in steps over several generations, entered the Sava area, and in the 540s
4644-568: The Przeworsk culture from further east in present day Poland. The variant which subsequently developed in the old Boii lands is called the Plaňany-Group, and shows the influence of their older Celtic La Tène culture associated with earlier Celtic peoples of these regions, such as the Boii and Volcae Tectosages . The present day Czech region had itself already come under Przeworsk influence in
4773-490: The Sava and Drava rivers in what is now Slovenia and Croatia . More generally, although the details are now unclear, many Marcomanni and other Suebian communities from the region of the Elbe and Danube are believed to have joined the Langobardi who moved southwards into the Middle Danube region, replacing the short-lived kingdoms which arose after Attila's death, and subsequently moved into Italy under pressure from
4902-660: The Sicilian Greek Diodorus Siculus , and the Greek geographer Strabo . In the 4th and early 3rd century BC, Gallic clan confederations expanded far beyond the territory of what would become Roman Gaul (which defines usage of the term "Gaul" today), into Pannonia, Illyria, northern Italy, Transylvania and even Asia Minor. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina . In his Gallic Wars , Julius Caesar distinguishes among three ethnic groups in Gaul:
5031-449: The 'bird on the battlefield and manifestation of the war-goddess'. The second element of the name, boduos , is a term shared by Celtic and Germanic languages, where it is found as the common noun * badwō ('battle'; cf. ON bǫð , OE beado , OS badu - , OHG batu- ) and in the name of the war goddess Baduhenna . The original meaning of Celtic–Germanic * b od wo - must have been 'battle, fight', later metaphorised in Celtic as 'crow',
5160-468: The 150s or 160s AD, 6000 Langobardi ( Lombards originally from present-day north Germany) and Obii (whose identity is uncertain) crossed the Lower Danube into Roman territory where they were quickly defeated. Dio Cassius reports that these events worried several of the barbarian nations. A group of them selected Ballomarius, king of the Marcomanni, and ten other representatives of the other nations, in
5289-759: The 4th century, the Cosmographia of Julius Honorius , and probably also the Liber Generationis , both listed the Heruli together with the Marcomanni and Quadi, in whose traditional region the Herule kingdom would later be found. The defeat at Adrianople had a major impact upon the Pannonian/Danubian region. Although there is no consensus about the details, the Romans now quickly tried new approaches to settling newcomers in large numbers. One of
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5418-627: The Biturigian capital of Avaricum ( Bourges ), Cenabum ( Orléans ), Autricum ( Chartres ) and the excavated site of Bibracte near Autun in Saône-et-Loire, along with a number of hill forts (or oppida ) used in times of war. The prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia , who found themselves under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC. Whereas on
5547-417: The Bohemian area after Caesar's victories, and before the Marcomanni defeat in 9 BC. In the time of Augustus (reigned 27 BC – 14 AD), major invasions of Germania were launched, giving the Romans effective control of the part between the Rhine and Elbe rivers, until the rebellion of Arminius in 9 AD. During this period the Marcomanni suffered at least one major defeat and subsequently moved themselves into
5676-439: The Celtic language group once spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish . There is little written information concerning the peoples that inhabited the regions of Gaul, save what can be gleaned from coins. Therefore, the early history of the Gauls is predominantly a matter of archaeology, and the relationships between their material culture , genetic relationships (the study of which has been aided, in recent years, through
5805-409: The Danube. He also took Pipa or Pipara , the daughter of the Marcomanni king, Attalus, as a concubine. Although the details are not clear, the emperor Diocletian claimed a triumph over the Marcomanni in 299 AD. Although the Quadi and other allies continued to be mentioned by historians in the fourth century, the records say little about the Marcomanni until after the death of Valentinian I during
5934-449: The Eastern empire ceded control of it to them. The Suebi of the Sava region were among the peoples who were allowed to assimilate into Lombard society, if they accepted to live as Lombards under Lombard law. The Lombards, facing pressure from the arrival of the Avars into the area, moved into Italy and began taking control of it, bit by bit. There is a runic alphabet called the Marcomannic runes, but they are not believed to be related to
6063-407: The Franks to the north and east, and in the northwest to the lower valley of the Loire , where Gallo-Roman culture interfaced with Frankish culture in a city like Tours and in the person of that Gallo-Roman bishop confronted with Merovingian royals, Gregory of Tours . The Druids were not the only political force in Gaul, however, and the early political system was complex, if ultimately fatal to
6192-437: The French Gaule , itself deriving from the Old Frankish *Walholant (via a Latinized form *Walula ), literally the "Land of the Foreigners/Romans". *Walho- is a reflex of the Proto-Germanic * walhaz , "foreigner, Romanized person", an exonym applied by Germanic speakers to Celts and Latin-speaking people indiscriminately. It is cognate with the names Wales , Cornwall , Wallonia , and Wallachia . The Germanic w-
6321-477: The Gallic tongue". Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French. The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti, which evolved into the Gallo-Romance dialects which include French and its closest relatives. The influence of substrate languages may be seen in graffiti showing sound changes that matched changes that had earlier occurred in
6450-421: The Gauls occupy, takes its beginning at the river Rhone; it is bounded by the river Garonne, the ocean, and the territories of the Belgae; it borders, too, on the side of the Sequani and the Helvetii, upon the river Rhine, and stretches toward the north. The Belgae rises from the extreme frontier of Gaul, extend to the lower part of the river Rhine; and look toward the north and the rising sun. Aquitania extends from
6579-434: The Gauls unite under a single leader like Vercingetorix. Even then, however, the faction lines were clear. The Romans divided Gaul broadly into Provincia (the conquered area around the Mediterranean), and the northern Gallia Comata ("free Gaul" or "long-haired Gaul"). Caesar divided the people of Gallia Comata into three broad groups: the Aquitani ; Galli (who in their own language were called Celtae ); and Belgae . In
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#17327655094476708-470: The Gauls was identified by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico with the Roman god Dis Pater . Perhaps the most intriguing facet of Gallic religion is the practice of the Druids . The druids presided over human or animal sacrifices that were made in wooded groves or crude temples. They also appear to have held the responsibility for preserving the annual agricultural calendar and instigating seasonal festivals which corresponded to key points of
6837-461: The Germani, "urging them to complete the destruction of the now broken power of Maroboduus". This was all in line with the new foreign policy of the emperor Tiberius . Already in 19 AD, Maroboduus was deposed and exiled by Catualda , who was a prince who had been living in exile among the Gutones on the Baltic coast, in what is now northern Poland. Maroboduus went into exile among the Romans and lived another 18 years in Ravenna. Catualda's victory
6966-404: The Germanic camp and forced them to draw up their forces. They "arranged them by tribe ( generatim , by gens ), at equal distances, the Harudes , Marcomanni, Tribocci , Vangiones , Nemetes , Sedusii , Suebi ; and surrounded their whole army with their chariots and wagons, that no hope might be left in flight. On these they placed their women, who, with outstretched hand and in tears, entreated
7095-517: The Germanic population just north of the Danube after the fall of Vannius, in present day Lower Austria, Moravia and western Slovakia. At the same time this region also received increasing amounts of imports from within the empire. The organization of the Marcomanni and Quadi states into different kingdoms is not made clear by surviving evidence, but it is believed that by this time the Marcomanni kingdom now came to stretch into this Danubian area, probably including areas in Moravia and Lower Austria, west of
7224-419: The Goths. During the reign of Valerian (253-260 AD) the historian Zosimus reported that the Marcomanni made excursions at the same time as " Scythians " (Goths and allied peoples from Ukraine), making inroads into all the countries adjacent to the empire, laying Thessalonica waste. Valerian's son Gallienus (reigned 253-268 AD) settled the Marcomanni within the Roman province of Pannonia Superior , south of
7353-412: The Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia (present-day Marseille ) along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern French Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto- Ligurian culture. In the 2nd century BC Mediterranean Gaul had an extensive urban fabric and was prosperous. Archeologists know of cities in northern Gaul including
7482-428: The Grossromstedter archaeological culture of the Middle Elbe and Saale river regions. The area of this culture expanded southwest into the region between the Rhine and Werra before the Roman empire entered the region. And after the Roman conquests began it can be found expanding southeast into the Bohemian region. It was influenced not only by the older Jastorf culture of the central Elbe region, but notably also by
7611-416: The Helvetians had numbered 263,000, but afterwards only 100,000 remained, most of whom Caesar took as slaves . After Gaul was absorbed as Gallia , a set of Roman provinces, its inhabitants gradually adopted aspects of Roman culture and assimilated, resulting in the distinct Gallo-Roman culture . Citizenship was granted to all in 212 by the Constitutio Antoniniana . From the third to 5th centuries, Gaul
7740-435: The Little Carpathians. In 69 AD, the " Year of the Four Emperors ", two kings Sido and Italicus, the latter perhaps the son of Vangio, fought on the side of Vespasian in a Roman civil war. Tacitus described them as kings of the Suebians, and emphasized their loyalty to Rome. They were present at the second battle of Bedriacum in 69 AD at Cremona . The Quadi and Marcomanni had a long and relatively stable relationship with
7869-401: The Marcomanni and other Suebi during Attila's time, after he died in 453 a Suebian kingdom appeared which was ruled by a man named Hunimund and existed in or near north-eastern Pannonia. This may have been made up of Quadi, or a mixture of Suebians. After being defeated by the Ostrogoths, Hunimund and some of his people seem to have moved west and joined the Alemanni . The record which mentions
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#17327655094477998-465: The Marcomanni by name: There are doubts, therefore, about the exact sequence of events, and also about the locations of the battles. Scholars are not unanimous about whether the victory over the Marcomanni happened in 9 BC, which was the year of the victory over the Cherusci, Suebi and Sugambri, and also the year that Drusus died after reaching the Elbe. The location of the Marcomanni battle is often assumed to be in Franconia but an alternative hypothesis
8127-417: The Marcomanni in a pincer movement starting from Roman camps or bases which were in or near in present day Marktbreit to the west and Carnuntum on the Danube. This did not go ahead because a major revolt started in Pannonia , south of the Danube, which had also only recently been conquered. Maroboduus remained neutral. In 9 AD, Arminius of the Cherusci began his major revolt against the Romans. He sent
8256-452: The Marcomanni to the area later known as Bohemia to be outside the range of the Roman influence. There, he took the title of king and organized a confederation of several neighboring Germanic tribes. He was the first documented ruler of Bohemia with a government. Augustus planned in 6 AD to destroy the kingdom of Maroboduus, which he considered to be too dangerous for the Romans. The future emperor Tiberius commanded 12 legions to attack
8385-440: The Marcomanni, Quadi and Buri . In the Danubian area, Attila came to be acknowledged as ruler. There is no direct contemporary evidence that any Marcomanni or Quadi continued to exist as his subjects or allies under their old names. However, centuries later Paulus Diaconus listed the subject peoples who Attila could call upon, in addition to the better-known Goths and Gepids, and mentioned "Marcomanni, Suebi, Quadi", alongside
8514-421: The Marcomanni, Quadi and Sarmatians. The relationship then stabilized again in the time of emperor Nerva (reigned 96-98). The relationship between the Romans and the Quadi and their neighbours was far more seriously and permanently disrupted during the long series of conflicts called the Marcomannic or Germanic wars, which were fought mainly during the rule of emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161-180 AD). In
8643-418: The Marcomanni, but the outbreak of a revolt in Illyria , and the need for troops there, forced Tiberius to conclude a treaty with Maroboduus and to recognize him as king. His rivalry with Arminius , the Cheruscan leader who inflicted the devastating defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest on the Romans under Publius Quinctilius Varus in 9 AD, prevented a concerted attack on Roman territory across
8772-418: The Marcomanni. Maroboduus Maroboduus (d. AD 37), also known as Marbod , was a king of the Marcomanni , who were a Germanic Suebian people. He spent part of his youth in Rome, and returning, found his people under pressure from invasions by the Roman Empire between the Rhine and Elbe . He led them into the forests of Bohemia , near to the Quadi who already lived nearby, and established
8901-448: The Middle East, and in 176 AD Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus held a triumph as victors over Germania and Sarmatia . The situation remained disturbed in subsequent years. The Romans declared a new war in 177 AD and set off in 178 AD, naming the Marcomanni, Hermunduri, Sarmatians, and Quadi as specific enemies. Rome executed a successful and decisive battle against them in 179 AD at Laugaricio (present-day Trenčín in Slovakia) under
9030-483: The Pannonian and Danubian area went into a long period of turmoil, under the influence of peoples from the east including the Huns, Goths and Alans. Nevertheless, there are records indicating that Marcomanni continued to exist within Roman territory, where it seems that they were given initially responsibility for defence of parts of the Upper Danube. The Notitia Dignitatum which describes the Roman military of around 420 AD also lists palatine auxiliaries (court troops) of
9159-457: The Quadi had rebelled again, and they expelled their Roman-approved king Furtius , replacing with Ariogaisos. In a major battle between 172 and 174 AD, a Roman force was almost defeated, until a sudden rainstorm allowed them to defeat the Quadi. The incident is well-known because of the account given by Dio Cassius , and on the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome. By 175 AD the cavalry from the Marcomanni, Naristae, and Quadi were forced to travel to
9288-599: The Rhine in the north (by Arminius) and in the Danube basin in the south (by Maroboduus). However, according to the first-century AD historian Marcus Velleius Paterculus , Arminius sent Varus's head to Maroboduus, but the king of the Marcomanni sent it to Augustus. In the revenge war of Tiberius and Germanicus against the Cherusci, in 16 AD, Maroboduus stayed neutral. In 17 AD, war broke out between Arminius and Maroboduus, and after an indecisive battle, Maroboduus withdrew into
9417-506: The Roman military. After the death of emperor Theodosius I in 395, Saint Jerome listed the Marcomanni, Quadi, Vandals and Sarmatians, together with several of the new eastern peoples causing devastation in the Roman provinces stretching from Constantinople to the Julian Alps , including Dalmatia, and all the provinces of Pannonia: "Goths and Sarmatians, Quadi and Alans, Huns and Vandals and Marcomanni". Claudian describes them crossing
9546-469: The Romans but this was interrupted under emperor Domitian during the years 89-97 AD, after the Quadi and Marcomanni refused to assist in a conflict against the Dacians. In 89 AD, according to Dio Cassius, Domitian entered Pannonia to make war, killed the peace envoys sent to him, and was then defeated by the Marcomanni. This campaign was referred to as the war against the Suebi, or the Suebi and Sarmatians, or
9675-405: The Romans reject him. According to Tacitus the Romans claimed that Maroboduus "had no right to invoke the aid of Roman arms against the Cherusci, when he had rendered no assistance to the Romans in their conflict with the same enemy". After an indecisive battle, Maroboduus withdrew into the hilly forests of Bohemia in 18 AD. According to Tacitus, the Romans reacted by deliberately sowing discord among
9804-403: The Suebi and Marcomanni, because he only mentioned the Marcomanni once in a list. It is nevertheless possible the Marcomanni were already seen as a branch of the Suebi, although this categorization is only made explicit in much later authors such as Strabo and Tacitus . Alternatively, between Caesar and Strabo there may have been changes in the relationship between the Suebi and Marcomanni, or in
9933-463: The Suebi joining the Alemanni is also one of the first records mentioning the early Bavarians , or Baiuvarii , who were also living south of the Danube, to the east of the Alemanni, in what had been Roman territory. It is generally believed that their name is Germanic, and that it indicates an origin in the nearby regions to the east, including Roman Pannonia, which were once inhabited by the Boii. It
10062-579: The Vannian regime which was centred around the Quadian powerbases closer to the Danube. Archaeological and other evidence indicates that the Marcomanni population also more generally moved, or at least became more active, to the southeast near the Morava river, while the Quadi and the Vannian kingdom expanded further east in the direction of what is now Hungary. Archaeological evidence shows further increase in
10191-495: The armed groups responsible for the defeat, led by Alatheus and Saphrax , were settled into the Pannonian part of the Roman empire, near the Marcomanni homeland, and expected to do military service for Rome. In effect however, Rome seems to have lost effective control of the region. The Goths, Alans and Huns suddenly came to dominate several such regions, supposedly still within the empire, and also became massively important within
10320-622: The arrival of the Avars from the east. Other Marcomanni are likely to have joined the Alemanni , and Bavarians to their west, or even to have left the region entirely with the Suebi who founded the Kingdom of the Suebi in what is now Portugal and Spain . It is believed that the name of the Marcomanni comes from a Germanic language . The first part derives from a Proto-Germanic word reconstructed as *markō meaning "border, boundary", which
10449-638: The autumn of 169. He established a Danubian headquarters in Carnuntum between present-day Vienna and Bratislava. From here he could receive embassies from the different peoples north of the Danube. Some were given the possibility to settle in the empire, others were recruited to fight on the Roman side. The Quadi were pacified, and in 171 AD they agreed to leave their coalition, and returned deserters, and 13,000 prisoners of war. They supplied horses and cattle as war contributions, and promised not to allow Marcomanni or Iazyges passage through their territory. By 173 AD
10578-481: The basis of France's eventual division into ecclesiastical bishoprics and dioceses , which would remain in place—with slight changes—until the French Revolution . Although the clans were moderately stable political entities, Gaul as a whole tended to be politically divided, there being virtually no unity among the various clans. Only during particularly trying times, such as the invasion of Caesar, could
10707-415: The centuries the Romans sought to control their leaders, and disrupt their relationships with neighbouring peoples. Despite long periods of peace and prosperity there were also several periods of intense warfare between them, often triggered by the actions of peoples living further from the Roman frontier. In the second century AD, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and his co-emperors, the Romans pursued
10836-597: The change from boi - to bai - corresponds to normal evolutions in Germanic languages. This ancient term is the origin of the modern regional name Bohemia , although the boundaries of this region were likely quite different from medieval and modern versions. These classical authors place the new settlement area of the Marcomanni within the Hercynian Forest , in an area near present day Bohemia and probably within it. By 6 BC, their king, Maroboduus , had established
10965-588: The city of Rome in 387 BC, becoming the only time Rome was conquered by a foreign enemy in 800 years. However, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered by the Romans in 204 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons , who were in turn defeated by the Romans by 103 BC. Julius Caesar finally subdued the largest part of Gaul in his campaigns of 58 to 51 BC. Roman control of Gaul lasted for five centuries, until
11094-502: The command of legate and procurator Marcus Valerius Maximianus . By 180 AD the Quadi and Marcomanni were in a state of occupation, with Roman garrisons of 20,000 men each permanently stationed in both countries. The Romans even blocked the mountain passes so that they could not migrate north to live with the Semnones . Marcus Aurelius was considering the creation of a new imperial province called Marcomannia when he died in 180. Commodus
11223-751: The conquered tribes. As a direct result of these conquests, Rome now controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river, and in the east up the Rhône valley to Lake Geneva . By 121 BC Romans had conquered the Mediterranean region called Provincia (later named Gallia Narbonensis ). This conquest upset the ascendancy of the Gaulish Arverni peoples. The Roman proconsul and general Julius Caesar led his army into Gaul in 58 BC, ostensibly to assist Rome's Gaullish allies against
11352-418: The council. The regional ethnic groups, or pagi as the Romans called them (singular: pagus ; the French word pays , "region" [a more accurate translation is 'country'], comes from this term), were organized into larger multi-clan groups, which the Romans called civitates . These administrative groupings would be taken over by the Romans in their system of local control, and these civitates would also be
11481-469: The east into the Middle Danube region and took effective control of it in the late 4th century. The region subsequently came under the rule of Attila , who died in 453. By this time many Marcomanni apparently already lived within Pannonia in the Roman empire, and at least some of these had converted to Christianity. There are indications that a significant number apparently came to live to the south between
11610-541: The elder almost wiped out the Marcomanni as part of a bloody and difficult campaign, and then erected a mound of Marcomanni spoils. This was during his campaigns of 12–9 BC, after he had defeated the Tencteri and Chatti , and before next turning to confront an alliance of the Cherusci , Suevi , and Sicambri . Another Roman source, Cassius Dio , describes the sequence of events somewhat differently, but does not mention
11739-468: The expected "Herules, Thuringi and Rugii". This implies that the Marcomanni might for example have been present at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451. However, modern scholars have doubts about whether the Marcomanni or Quadi would still have been identified under those names under Attila in 451, because contemporary sources don't mention them. While it is not clear what happened to
11868-555: The field of archaeogenetics ) and linguistic divisions rarely coincide. Before the rapid spread of the La Tène culture in the 5th to 4th centuries BC, the territory of eastern and southern France already participated in the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture ( c. 12th to 8th centuries BC) out of which the early iron-working Hallstatt culture (7th to 6th centuries BC) would develop. By 500 BC, there
11997-637: The first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. In 122 BC Domitius Ahenobarbus managed to defeat the Allobroges (allies of the Salluvii ), while in the ensuing year Quintus Fabius Maximus "destroyed" an army of the Arverni led by their king Bituitus , who had come to the aid of the Allobroges. Rome allowed Massilia to keep its lands, but added to its own territories the lands of
12126-522: The frozen Danube with wagons, and then setting wagons around themselves like a wall at the approach of the Roman commander Stilicho . He says that all the fertile lands between the Black Sea and Adriatic were subsequently like uninhabited deserts, specifically including Dalmatia and Pannonia. At the same time, the Gothic general Alaric I , who had loyally served with his Gothic troops under Theodosius I at
12255-531: The generations before the Germanic influx. The name of the Marcomanni, which refers to a frontier, may echo an earlier demarcation somewhere between such Germanic and Celtic cultures. The Marcomanni are archaeologically difficult to distinguish among the various Suebian groups such as the Quadi and Hermunduri who were bringing the Grossromstedter culture southwards and westwards. Furthermore, the Grossromstedter culture already began to have some influence in
12384-495: The groups who crossed the Danube at the same time remains unclear. Soon after this, Ambrose , bishop of Milan 374-397, corresponded with a Christian Marcomanni queen named Fritigil , initiating a peace treaty between the Marcomanni and the western Roman military leader Stilicho . That was the last clear evidence of the Marcomanni having a polity, which was probably now on the Roman side of the Danube, in Pannonia. Soon afterward,
12513-472: The head of the defeated Roman general Publius Quinctilius Varus to Maroboduus, but Maroboduus sent it to Rome. The Langobardi and Semnones, Suebians living near to the Cherusci on the Elbe, defected from this kingdom in the name of freedom, both because Maroboduus did not support the revolt, and because he held royal power. In 17 AD war broke out among these two alliances of Germanic peoples, led by Arminius and Maroboduus. Maroboduus requested help from Rome but
12642-541: The hilly forests of Bohemia in 18 AD. In the next year, Catualda , a young Marcomannic nobleman living in exile among the Gutones , returned, perhaps by a subversive Roman intervention, and defeated Maroboduus. The deposed king had to flee to Italy, and Tiberius detained him for 18 years in Ravenna . There, Maroboduus died in 37 AD. Catualda was, in turn, defeated by the Hermunduri Vibilius , after which
12771-513: The important town of Aquileia under siege. Whatever the exact sequence of events, the Historia Augusta says that with the Romans in action several kings of the barbarians retreated, and some of the barbarians put anti-Roman leaders to death. In particular, the Quadi, having lost their king, announced they would not confirm an elected successor without approval from the emperors. Marcus Aurelius returned to Rome but headed north again in
12900-478: The increased importance of the Quadi, and the decreased importance of the Marcomanni. During the reign of the Roman emperor Philip the Arab (reigned 244-249 AD), who cut off gifts which were being paid to Ukrainian Goths under the rule of Ostrogotha , the 6th century writer Jordanes believed that the Marcomanni were also paying tribute to this same Gothic king, and the princes of the Quadi were effectively slaves of
13029-622: The indigenous languages, especially Gaulish. The Vulgar Latin in the north of Gaul evolved into the langues d'oïl and Franco-Provencal , while the dialects in the south evolved into the modern Occitan and Catalan tongues. Other languages held to be "Gallo-Romance" include the Gallo-Italic languages and the Rhaeto-Romance languages . Following Frankish victories at Soissons (AD 486) , Vouillé (AD 507) and Autun (AD 532) , Gaul (except for Brittany and Septimania ) came under
13158-542: The invasion of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453); a small but notable Jewish presence also became established. The Gaulish language is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture. The last record of spoken Gaulish deemed to be plausibly credible concerned the destruction by Christians of a pagan shrine in Auvergne "called Vasso Galatae in
13287-715: The last Roman rump state , the Domain of Soissons , fell to the Franks in AD 486. While the Gauls shifted from a primarily Celtic culture during Late Antiquity , becoming amalgamated into a Gallo-Roman culture , Gallia remained the conventional name of the territory throughout the Early Middle Ages , until it acquired a new identity as the Capetian Kingdom of France in the high medieval period. Gallia remains
13416-533: The lunar-solar calendar. The religious practices of druids were syncretic and borrowed from earlier pagan traditions, with probably indo-European roots. Julius Caesar mentions in his Gallic Wars that those Celts who wanted to make a close study of druidism went to Britain to do so. In a little over a century later, Gnaeus Julius Agricola mentions Roman armies attacking a large druid sanctuary in Anglesey in Wales. There
13545-507: The migrating Helvetii . With the help of various Gallic clans (e.g., the Aedui ) he managed to conquer nearly all of Gaul. While their military was just as strong as the Romans', the internal division between the Gallic tribes guaranteed an easy victory for Caesar, and Vercingetorix 's attempt to unite the Gauls against Roman invasion came too late. Julius Caesar was checked by Vercingetorix at
13674-455: The mind; and they are the nearest to the Germans, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually waging war; for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valor, as they contend with the Germans in almost daily battles, when they either repel them from their own territories, or themselves wage war on their frontiers. One part of these, which it has been said that
13803-560: The modern sense, Gaulish peoples are defined linguistically, as speakers of dialects of the Gaulish language. While the Aquitani were probably Vascons , the Belgae would thus probably be a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements. Julius Caesar, in his book, The Gallic Wars , wrote All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in our Gauls,
13932-542: The name of the Galatians (Γαλάται, Galátai ) to the supposedly "milk-white" skin (γάλα, gála "milk") of the Gauls. Modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu , Cornish : galloes , "capacity, power", thus meaning "powerful people". Despite its superficial similarity, the normal English translation of Gallia since the Middle Ages, Gaul , has a different origin than the Latin term. It stems from
14061-555: The new non-Romans, the Goths. Unusually, they were legally permitted to marry the provincial residents, and could therefore become part of the land owning class. Some scholars believe these were descendants of the Christian Marcomanni of Queen Fritigil. During the time of Theoderic the Great a group of Alemanni crossed the alps with cattle and wagons to seek refuge with these antiqui barbari . Procopius noted that in 537,
14190-601: The public events and cultural responsibilities of urban life in the res publica and the sometimes luxurious life of the self-sufficient rural villa system, took longer to collapse in the Gallo-Roman regions, where the Visigoths largely inherited the status quo in the early 5th century. Gallo-Roman language persisted in the northeast into the Silva Carbonaria that formed an effective cultural barrier, with
14319-737: The realm was ruled by the Quadian Vannius . Vannius was himself also deposed by Vibilius, in coordination with his nephews Vangio and Sido , who then ruled as Roman client kings. Gaul Gaul ( Latin : Gallia ) was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Romans , encompassing present-day France , Belgium , Luxembourg , and parts of Switzerland , the Netherlands , Germany , and Northern Italy . It covered an area of 494,000 km (191,000 sq mi). According to Julius Caesar , who took control of
14448-400: The rebellion of Arminius against Rome. The subsequent war among the Germanic peoples was damaging to both sides. This damaged Maroboduus's reputation, and he was eventually toppled from power, and died in exile in Ravenna . This suited the empire because despite their neutrality towards Rome, Roman rulers saw the Marcomanni as a potential threat to them, within striking distance of Italy. Over
14577-653: The recklessness, greed, and treachery of the Germans by deceit, since these qualities could not be conquered by force", and he was proud of the "enmity with the Vandili and the Marcomani, who had been friends, and in having executed Gaïobomarus". The centre of activity of the Suebians along the Danube shifted east during the third century, towards what is now the Slovakia-Hungary border. This apparently reflects
14706-585: The region on behalf of the Roman Republic , Gaul was divided into three parts: Gallia Celtica , Belgica , and Aquitania . Archaeologically, the Gauls were bearers of the La Tène culture during the 5th to 1st centuries BC. This material culture was found not only in all of Gaul but also as far east as modern-day southern Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. Warbands led by the Gaul Brennos sacked
14835-468: The regular outcome of Latin Gallia is Jaille in French, which is found in several western place names, such as, La Jaille-Yvon and Saint-Mars-la-Jaille . Proto-Germanic *walha is derived ultimately from the name of the Volcae . Also unrelated, in spite of superficial similarity, is the name Gael . The Irish word gall did originally mean "a Gaul", i.e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning
14964-465: The river Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains and to that part of the ocean which is near Spain: it looks between the setting of the sun, and the north star. The Gauls practiced a form of animism , ascribing human characteristics to lakes, streams, mountains, and other natural features and granting them a quasi-divine status. Also, worship of animals was not uncommon; the animal most sacred to the Gauls
15093-672: The rule of the Merovingians , the first kings of France . Gallo-Roman culture, the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire, persisted particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into Occitania , Gallia Cisalpina and to a lesser degree, Aquitania . The formerly Romanized north of Gaul, once it had been occupied by the Franks, developed into Merovingian culture instead. Roman life, centered on
15222-422: The society as a whole. The fundamental unit of Gallic politics was the clan, which itself consisted of one or more of what Caesar called pagi . Each clan had a council of elders, and initially a king. Later, the executive was an annually-elected magistrate. Among the Aedui, a clan of Gaul, the executive held the title of Vergobret , a position much like a king, but his powers were held in check by rules laid down by
15351-473: The soldiers, as they went forward to battle, not to deliver them into slavery to the Romans." According to Caesar the Tribocci, Vangiones and Nemetes came from homelands nearby on the Rhine itself, but the others apparently came from further east. The exact position of the Marcomanni homelands east of the Rhine at this time is not known. Although there is no scholarly consensus, one of the most common proposals
15480-579: The son of Marcus Aurelius made peace soon after the death of his father in 180 AD, but he did not go ahead with plans to create a new Roman province. Some Marcomanni were subsequently settled in Italy and other parts of the empire, while others were forced to serve in the military. Around 214/215 AD, Dio Cassius reports that because of raids into Pannonia, the emperor Caracalla invited the Quadi king Gaiobomarus to meet him, and then had him executed. According to this report Caracalla "claimed that he had overcome
15609-523: The southwest of this region in Franconia . The Marcomanni were first reported by Julius Caesar among the Germanic peoples who were attempting to settle in Gaul in 58 BC under the leadership of Ariovistus , but he did not explain where their homeland was. From his base in Bohemia, Maroboduus built up a Rome-aligned Suebian empire, but the Langobardi and Semnones left when Maroboduus failed to support
15738-604: The terminology that was used. Caesar described the Suebi he encountered as the largest and the most warlike Germanic people ( gens ), who were divided into 100 districts ( pagi ) which supplied 1000 men each during war. The forces of these pagi were distinct within the Suevi forces, and it is sometimes suggested that the Marcomanni could have been one of these pagi . The Suebi were also able to call upon other countries ( nationes ) to supply infantry and cavalry reinforcements. A later Roman historian, Cassius Dio , mentioned that part of
15867-510: The third. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae. Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest from the civilization and refinement of [our] Province, and merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate
15996-572: The time of Tacitus around 100 AD, the Hermunduri were again friendly with Rome, and once again living west of the Elbe, stretching to the Danube in Raetia , apparently near present day Regensburg and Passau , to the "sources" of the Elbe, which may include the Vltava . However, it can't be assumed that this is the same region they settled in 7 BC.) In terms of archaeological evidence the Marcomanni and their Suebian neighbours are strongly associated with
16125-540: The time when the Ostrogoths ruled Italy, and may have been named after these Suebi (Suavi). It is possible that the Suebi moved into this more southern area after the defeat of Hunimund, or they may have been a separate group. During the Ostrogothic period, these Suebi were legally distinguished from the native populations under the term "old barbarians" ( antiqui barbari ), which also distinguished them legally from
16254-489: Was exposed to raids by the Franks . The Gallic Empire , consisting of the provinces of Gaul, Britannia , and Hispania , including the peaceful Baetica in the south, broke away from Rome from 260 to 273. In addition to the large number of natives, Gallia also became home to some Roman citizens from elsewhere and also in-migrating Germanic and Scythian tribes such as the Alans . The religious practices of inhabitants became
16383-510: Was later widened to "foreigner", to describe the Vikings , and later still the Normans . The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, for instance in the 12th-century book Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib . As adjectives, English has the two variants: Gaulish and Gallic . The two adjectives are used synonymously, as "pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls", although
16512-409: Was short-lived. He was in turn deposed by Vibilius of the Hermunduri that same year he came to power, 19 AD. The subjects of Maroboduus and Catualda, presumably mainly Marcomanni, were moved by the Romans to an area near the Danube, between the Morava and "Cusus" rivers, and placed under the control of the Quadian king Vannius . There are proposals that the Romans were deliberately trying to create
16641-498: Was the boar which can be found on many Gallic military standards, much like the Roman eagle . Their system of gods and goddesses was loose, there being certain deities which virtually every Gallic person worshipped, as well as clan and household gods. Many of the major gods were related to Greek gods; the primary god worshipped at the time of the arrival of Caesar was Teutates , the Gallic equivalent of Mercury . The "ancestor god" of
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