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125-563: Although Tacitus specified that 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

250-561: 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

375-671: A "Prince of Swabia" and integrated the Shrievalty of Swabia in the realm of Further Austria . The Swabian League of Cities was first formed on 20 November 1331, when twenty-two imperial cities of the former Duchy of Swabia banded together in support of the Emperor Louis IV , who in return promised not to mortgage any of them to any imperial vassal . Among the founding cities were Augsburg , Heilbronn , Reutlingen , and Ulm . The counts of Württemberg , Oettingen , and Hohenberg were induced to join in 1340. The defeat of

500-525: A classical ethnographic tradition which includes authors such as Herodotus and Julius Caesar . The book begins (chapters 1–27) with a description of the lands, laws, and customs of the various tribes. Later chapters focus on descriptions of particular tribes, beginning with those who lived closest to the Roman empire, and ending with a description of those who lived on the shores of the Baltic Sea , such as

625-513: A few days later that Tacitus had spoken "with all the majesty which characterizes his usual style of oratory". A lengthy absence from politics and law followed while he wrote the Histories and the Annals . In 112 to 113, he held the highest civilian governorship, that of the Roman province of Asia in western Anatolia , recorded in the inscription found at Mylasa mentioned above. A passage in

750-620: 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

875-413: A lawyer and as an orator ; his skill in public speaking ironically counterpoints his cognomen , Tacitus ("silent"). He served in the provinces from c.  89 to c.  93 , either in command of a legion or in a civilian post. He and his property survived Domitian 's reign of terror (81–96), but the experience left him jaded and perhaps ashamed at his own complicity, instilling in him

1000-842: A main source of the later High German languages , especially 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

1125-623: 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

1250-523: A scrupulous historian who paid careful attention to his sources. Swabia Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany . The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia , one of the German stem duchies , representing the historic settlement area of the Germanic tribe alliances named Alemanni and Suebi . This territory would include all of

1375-531: 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

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1500-530: 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

1625-441: Is dedicated to Fabius Iustus, a consul in 102 AD. Tacitus's writings are known for their dense prose that seldom glosses the facts, in contrast to the style of some of his contemporaries, such as Plutarch . When he writes about a near defeat of the Roman army in Annals I,63, he does so with brevity of description rather than embellishment. In most of his writings, he keeps to a chronological narrative order, only seldom outlining

1750-548: Is possible that this refers to a brother—if Cornelius was indeed his father. The friendship between the younger Pliny and Tacitus leads some scholars to conclude that they were both the offspring of wealthy provincial families. The province of his birth remains unknown, though various conjectures suggest Gallia Belgica , Gallia Narbonensis , or Northern Italy . His marriage to the daughter of Narbonensian senator Gnaeus Julius Agricola implies that he came from Gallia Narbonensis. Tacitus's dedication to Lucius Fabius Justus in

1875-587: Is the later historian whose work most closely approaches him in style. Tacitus makes use of the official sources of the Roman state: the Acta Senatus (the minutes of the sessions of the Senate) and the Acta Diurna (a collection of the acts of the government and news of the court and capital). He also read collections of emperors' speeches, such as those of Tiberius and Claudius. He is generally seen as

2000-450: Is uncertainty about when Tacitus wrote Dialogus de oratoribus . Many characteristics set it apart from the other works of Tacitus, so that its authenticity has at various times been questioned. It is likely to be early work, indebted to the author's rhetorical training, since its style imitates that of the foremost Roman orator Cicero . It lacks (for example) the incongruities that are typical of his mature historical works. The Dialogus

2125-467: Is well known: inde consilium mihi ... tradere ... sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo. my purpose is ... to relate ... without either anger or zeal, motives from which I am far removed. There has been much scholarly discussion about Tacitus's "neutrality". Throughout his writing, he is preoccupied with the balance of power between the Senate and the emperors , and the increasing corruption of

2250-452: The Dialogus may indicate a connection with Spain, and his friendship with Pliny suggests origins in northern Italy. No evidence exists, however, that Pliny's friends from northern Italy knew Tacitus, nor do Pliny's letters hint that the two men had a common background. Pliny Book 9, Letter 23, reports that when asked whether he was Italian or provincial, he gave an unclear answer and so

2375-818: The Histories (Latin: Historiae )—examine the reigns of the emperors Tiberius , Claudius , Nero , and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD). These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the death of Domitian (96 AD), although there are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts. Tacitus's other writings discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see Dialogus de oratoribus ), Germania (in De origine et situ Germanorum ), and

2500-523: The Agricola , Tacitus asserts that he wishes to speak about the years of Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In the Histories the scope has changed; Tacitus says that he will deal with the age of Nerva and Trajan at a later time. Instead, he will cover the period from the civil wars of the Year of the Four Emperors and end with the despotism of the Flavians . Only the first four books and twenty-six chapters of

2625-626: The Alemannic German area, but the modern concept of Swabia is more restricted, due to the collapse of the duchy of Swabia in the thirteenth century. Swabia as understood in modern ethnography roughly coincides with the Swabian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire as it stood during the early modern period , now divided between the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg . Swabians ( Schwaben , singular Schwabe ) are

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2750-464: The Annals fixes 116 as the terminus post quem of his death, which may have been as late as 125 or even 130. It seems that he survived both Pliny (died c.  113 ) and Trajan (died 117). It remains unknown whether Tacitus had any children. The Augustan History reports that Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus (r. 275–276) claimed him for an ancestor and provided for the preservation of his works, but this story may be fraudulent, like much of

2875-485: The Augustan History . Five works ascribed to Tacitus have survived (albeit with gaps), the most substantial of which are the Annals and the Histories . This canon (with approximate dates) consists of: The Annals and the Histories , published separately, were meant to form a single edition of thirty books. Although Tacitus wrote the Histories before the Annals , the events in the Annals precede

3000-893: The Baltic Sea the Mare Suevicum ("Suebian Sea") after the Suiones , and ends his description of the Suiones and Sitones with "Here Suebia ends" ( Hic Suebiae finis ). By the mid-3rd century, groups of the Suebi form the core element of the new tribal alliance known as the Alamanni , who expanded towards the Roman Limes east of the Rhine and south of the Main. The Alamanni were sometimes referred to as Suebi even at this time, and their new area of settlement came to be known as Suebia. In

3125-894: The Battle of Nedao there was also a short-lived Kingdom of the Suebi on the Danube, under Hunimund . They were defeated by 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

3250-630: 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

3375-674: The British Royal Family that has ruled since 1714. Smaller feudal dynasties eventually disappeared, however; for example, branches of the Montforts and Hohenems lived until modern times, and the Fürstenberg survive still. The region proved to be one of the most divided in the empire, containing, in addition to these principalities, numerous free cities , ecclesiastical territories, and fiefdoms of lesser counts and knights . A new Swabian League ( Schwäbischer Bund )

3500-465: The Ciceronian period , where sentences were usually the length of a paragraph and artfully constructed with nested pairs of carefully matched sonorous phrases, this is short and to the point. But it is also very individual. Note the three different ways of saying and in the first line ( -que , et , ac ), and especially the matched second and third lines. They are parallel in sense but not in sound;

3625-888: The Crisis of the Third Century , new Suebian groups had emerged, and Italy was invaded again by 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

3750-520: The Fenni . Tacitus had written a similar, albeit shorter, piece in his Agricola (chapters 10–13). The Agricola (written c.  98 ) recounts the life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general and Tacitus's father-in-law; it also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain . As in the Germania , Tacitus favorably contrasts the liberty of the native Britons with

3875-586: The Franconian War . The Reformation caused the league to be disbanded in 1534. The territory of Swabia as understood today emerges in the early modern period. It corresponds to the Swabian Circle established in 1512. The Old Swiss Confederacy was de facto independent from Swabia from 1499 as a result of the Swabian War , while the Margraviate of Baden had been detached from Swabia since

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4000-611: The Great Interregnum . In the following years, the original duchy gradually broke up into many smaller units. Rudolf I of Habsburg , elected in 1273 as emperor, tried to restore the duchy, but met the opposition of the higher nobility who aimed to limit the power of the emperor. Instead, he confiscated the former estates of the Hohenstaufen as imperial property of the Holy Roman Empire, and declared most of

4125-509: The Histories . The second half of book 16 is missing, ending with the events of 66. It is not known whether Tacitus completed the work; he died before he could complete his planned histories of Nerva and Trajan, and no record survives of the work on Augustus and the beginnings of the Roman Empire , with which he had planned to finish his work. The Annals is one of the earliest secular historical records to mention Jesus of Nazareth , which Tacitus does in connection with Nero's persecution of

4250-546: The Histories ; together they form a continuous narrative from the death of Augustus (14) to the death of Domitian (96). Though most has been lost, what remains is an invaluable record of the era. The first half of the Annals survived in a single manuscript from Corvey Abbey in Germany, and the second half in a single manuscript from Monte Cassino in Italy; it is remarkable that they survived at all. In an early chapter of

4375-795: The Kingdom of Württemberg , the Grand Duchy of Baden , and the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as sovereign states. Much of Eastern Swabia became part of Bavaria , forming what is now the Swabian administrative region of Bavaria. The Kings of Bavaria assumed the title Duke in Swabia , with the in indicating that only parts of the Swabian territory was ruled by them, unlike their other title Duke of Franconia which made clear that

4500-911: 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

4625-616: 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

4750-428: The Vosges Mountains in the west to the broad Lech river in the east: Like all of Southern Germany , what is now Swabia was part of the La Tène culture , and as such has a Celtic (Gaulish) substrate. In the Roman era, it was part of the Raetia province. The name Suebia is derived from that of the Suebi . It is used already by Tacitus in the 1st century, albeit in a different geographical sense: He calls

4875-411: The migration period , the Suebi (Alamanni) crossed the Rhine in 406 and some of them established the Kingdom of the Suebi in Galicia. Another group settled in parts of Pannonia , after the Huns were defeated in 454 in the Battle of Nedao . The Alemanni were ruled by independent kings throughout the 4th to 5th centuries but fell under Frankish domination in the 6th ( Battle of Tolbiac 496). By

5000-497: The persecution of Christians and one of the earliest extra-Biblical references to the crucifixion of Jesus . Details about the personal life of Tacitus are scarce. What little is known comes from scattered hints throughout his work, the letters of his friend and admirer Pliny the Younger , and an inscription found at Mylasa in Caria . Tacitus was born in 56 or 57 to an equestrian family. The place and date of his birth, as well as his praenomen (first name) are not known. In

5125-406: 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

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5250-399: 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

5375-419: 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 the Romans from entering into Gaul. Caesar on

5500-402: 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

5625-458: 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

5750-409: 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

5875-442: The Christians . Tacitus wrote three works with a more limited scope: Agricola , a biography of his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola; the Germania , a monograph on the lands and tribes of barbarian Germania; and the Dialogus , a dialogue on the art of rhetoric. The Germania ( Latin title: De Origine et situ Germanorum ) is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. The Germania fits within

6000-422: 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

6125-419: The Duke of Württemberg was soon restored. The region was quite divided by the Reformation. While secular princes such as the Duke of Württemberg and the Margrave of Baden-Durlach , as well as most of the Free Cities, became Protestant , the ecclesiastical territories (including the bishoprics of Augsburg , Konstanz and the numerous Imperial abbeys ) remained Catholic , as did the territories belonging to

6250-402: 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

6375-403: 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

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6500-402: The Germanic king Ariovistus during 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

6625-436: The Habsburgs ( Further Austria ), the Sigmaringen branch of the House of Hohenzollern , and the Margrave of Baden-Baden . In the wake of the territorial reorganization of the empire of 1803 by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , the shape of Swabia was entirely changed. All the ecclesiastical estates were secularized, and most of the smaller secular states, and almost all of the free cities, were mediatized , leaving only

6750-409: 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

6875-445: 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 the Suebi in his firsthand account, De Bello Gallico , as

7000-413: 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

7125-408: 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

7250-433: 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

7375-427: 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

7500-410: The Quadi and Marcomanni received large numbers of Gothic and other eastern peoples escaping disturbances associated with 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

7625-447: 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 the bridge and broke it down, stating that he had achieved his objective of warning the Suebi. They in turn supposedly stopped harassing

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7750-410: 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

7875-471: 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 the Suebi, and the Tencteri and Usipetes, already forced from their homes, tried to cross

8000-451: The Roman invasion were famous for their skill in oratory and had been subjugated by Rome. As a young man, Tacitus studied rhetoric in Rome to prepare for a career in law and politics; like Pliny, he may have studied under Quintilian ( c.  35 AD – c.  100 ). In 77 or 78, he married Julia Agricola, daughter of the famous general Agricola . Little is known of their domestic life, save that Tacitus loved hunting and

8125-502: 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

8250-420: 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

8375-453: 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

8500-438: 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

8625-466: 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

8750-516: The Ubii. The Ubii were later resettled on the west bank of the Rhine, in Roman territory. Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus , known simply as Tacitus ( / ˈ t æ s ɪ t ə s / TAS -it-əs , Latin: [ˈtakɪtʊs] ; c.  AD 56 – c.  120 ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals (Latin: Annales ) and

8875-451: 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

9000-820: 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,

9125-508: The atrocities which he ordered; with Domitian it was the chief part of our miseries to see and to be seen, to know that our sighs were being recorded... From his seat in the Senate , he became suffect consul in 97 during the reign of Nerva , being the first of his family to do so. During his tenure, he reached the height of his fame as an orator when he delivered the funeral oration for the famous veteran soldier Lucius Verginius Rufus . In

9250-604: The bigger picture, leaving the readers to construct that picture for themselves. Nonetheless, where he does use broad strokes, for example, in the opening paragraphs of the Annals , he uses a few condensed phrases which take the reader to the heart of the story. Tacitus's historical style owes some debt to Sallust . His historiography offers penetrating—often pessimistic—insights into the psychology of power politics, blending straightforward descriptions of events, moral lessons, and tightly focused dramatic accounts. Tacitus's own declaration regarding his approach to history ( Annals I,1)

9375-471: The cities formerly belonging to Hohenstaufen to be Free Imperial Cities , and the more powerful abbeys within the former duchy to be Imperial Abbeys. The rural regions were merged into the Imperial Shrievalty ( Reichslandvogtei ) of Swabia, which was given as Imperial Pawn to Duke Leopold III of Austria in 1379 and again to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria in 1473/1486. He took the title of

9500-494: The city league by Count Eberhard II of Württemberg in 1372 led to the formation of a new league of fourteen Swabian cities on 4 July 1376. The emperor refused to recognise the newly revitalised Swabian League, seeing it as a rebellion, and this led to an " imperial war " against the league. The renewed league defeated an imperial army at the Battle of Reutlingen on 14 May 1377. Burgrave Frederick V of Hohenzollern finally defeated

9625-469: 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

9750-399: The empire. Nonetheless, the image he builds of Tiberius throughout the first six books of the Annals is neither exclusively bleak nor approving: most scholars view the image of Tiberius as predominantly positive in the first books, and predominantly negative after the intrigues of Sejanus . The entrance of Tiberius in the first chapters of the first book is dominated by the hypocrisy of

9875-491: The fifth book survive, covering the year 69 and the first part of 70. The work is believed to have continued up to the death of Domitian on September 18, 96. The fifth book contains—as a prelude to the account of Titus's suppression of the First Jewish–Roman War —a short ethnographic survey of the ancient Jews , and it is an invaluable record of Roman attitudes towards them. The Annals , Tacitus's final work, covers

10000-460: 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

10125-495: The following year, he wrote and published the Agricola and Germania , foreshadowing the literary endeavors that would occupy him until his death. Afterward, he absented himself from public life, but returned during Trajan 's reign (98–117). In 100, he and his friend Pliny the Younger prosecuted Marius Priscus  [ la ] ( proconsul of Africa) for corruption. Priscus was found guilty and sent into exile; Pliny wrote

10250-477: 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

10375-673: The former state of Württemberg (with the Prussian Hohenzollern Province ), or the modern districts of Tübingen (excluding the former Baden regions of the Bodenseekreis district), Stuttgart , and the administrative region of Bavarian Swabia . In the Middle Ages , the term Swabia indicated a larger area, covering all the lands associated with the Frankish stem duchy of Alamannia stretching from

10500-432: The frivolous prosecutions which resulted ( Annals , 1.72). Elsewhere ( Annals 4.64–66) he compares Tiberius's public distribution of fire relief to his failure to stop the perversions and abuses of justice which he had begun. Although this kind of insight has earned him praise, he has also been criticized for ignoring the larger context. Tacitus owes most, both in language and in method, to Sallust, and Ammianus Marcellinus

10625-480: The governing classes of Rome as they adjusted to the ever-growing wealth and power of the empire. In Tacitus's view, senators squandered their cultural inheritance—that of free speech —to placate their (rarely benign) emperor. Tacitus noted the increasing dependence of the emperor on the goodwill of his armies. The Julio-Claudians eventually gave way to generals, who followed Julius Caesar (and Sulla and Pompey ) in recognizing that military might could secure them

10750-653: The hatred of tyranny evident in his works. The Agricola , chs. 44 – 45 , is illustrative: Agricola was spared those later years during which Domitian, leaving now no interval or breathing space of time, but, as it were, with one continuous blow, drained the life-blood of the Commonwealth... It was not long before our hands dragged Helvidius to prison, before we gazed on the dying looks of Mauricus and Rusticus , before we were steeped in Senecio 's innocent blood. Even Nero turned his eyes away, and did not gaze upon

10875-679: 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

11000-483: The historian's mother was a daughter of Aulus Caecina Paetus , suffect consul of 37, and sister of Arria, wife of Thrasea. His father may have been the Cornelius Tacitus who served as procurator of Belgica and Germania ; Pliny the Elder mentions that Cornelius had a son who aged rapidly ( NH 7.76 ), which implies an early death. There is no mention of Tacitus's suffering such a condition, but it

11125-511: The immediate areas north of the Danube . In particular, Caesar saw 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

11250-506: The imperial system (see Tacitean studies , Black vs. Red Tacitists). His Latin style is highly praised. His style, although it has a grandeur and eloquence (thanks to Tacitus's education in rhetoric), is extremely concise, even epigrammatic —the sentences are rarely flowing or beautiful, but their point is always clear. The style has been both derided as "harsh, unpleasant, and thorny" and praised as "grave, concise, and pithily eloquent". A passage of Annals 1.1 , where Tacitus laments

11375-649: The last years of the decline of the Western Roman Empire , the Suebian general Ricimer 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

11500-713: The late 5th century, the area settled by the Alemanni extended to Alsace and the Swiss Plateau , bordering on the Bavarii to the east, the Franks to the north, the remnants of Roman Gaul to the west, and the Lombards and Goths , united in the Kingdom of Odoacer , to the south. The name Alamannia was used by the 8th century, and from the 9th century, Suebia was occasionally used for Alamannia , while Alamannia

11625-659: The later Carolingian period , Swabia became once again de facto independent, by the early 10th century mostly ruled by two dynasties, the Hunfriding counts in Raetia Curiensis and the Ahalolfings ruling the Baar estates around the upper Neckar and Danube rivers. The conflict between the two dynasties was decided in favour of Hunfriding Burchard II at the Battle of Winterthur (919). Burchard's rule as duke

11750-479: 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

11875-769: The league in 1388 at Döffingen . The next year the city league disbanded according to the resolutions of the Reichstag at Eger . The major dynasties that arose out of medieval Swabia were the Habsburgs and the Hohenzollerns , who rose to prominence in Northern Germany. Also stemming from Swabia are the local dynasties of the dukes of Württemberg and the margraves of Baden . The Welf family went on to rule in Bavaria and Hanover , and are ancestral to

12000-563: The letters of Sidonius Apollinaris his name is Gaius , but in the major surviving manuscript of his work his name is given as Publius . One scholar's suggestion of the name Sextus has been largely rejected. Most of the older aristocratic families failed to survive the proscriptions which took place at the end of the Republic , and Tacitus makes it clear that he owed his rank to the Flavian emperors ( Hist. 1.1 ). The claim that he

12125-528: The life of his father-in-law, Agricola (the general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain ), mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia ( De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae ). Tacitus's Histories offers insights into Roman attitudes towards Jews , descriptions of Jewish customs, and context for the First Jewish–Roman War . His Annals are of interest for providing an early account of

12250-613: 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

12375-483: 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

12500-588: 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

12625-434: The motives of the characters, often with penetrating insight—though it is questionable how much of his insight is correct, and how much is convincing only because of his rhetorical skill. He is at his best when exposing hypocrisy and dissimulation; for example, he follows a narrative recounting Tiberius's refusal of the title pater patriae by recalling the institution of a law forbidding any "treasonous" speech or writings—and

12750-431: The natives of Swabia and speakers of Swabian German . Their number was estimated at close to 0.8 million by SIL Ethnologue as of 2006, compared to a total population of 7.5 million in the regions of Tübingen , Stuttgart and Bavarian Swabia . Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined. However, today it is normally thought of as comprising the former Swabian Circle , or equivalently

12875-493: The new emperor and his courtiers. In the later books, some respect is evident for the cleverness of the old emperor in securing his position. In general, Tacitus does not fear to praise and to criticize the same person, often noting what he takes to be their more admirable and less admirable properties. One of Tacitus's hallmarks is refraining from conclusively taking sides for or against persons he describes, which has led some to interpret his works as both supporting and rejecting

13000-785: 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

13125-525: The other hand saw himself and Rome as an ally and defender of the Aedui. The forces Caesar faced in battle were composed of " Harudes , Marcomanni , Tribocci , Vangiones , Nemetes , Sedusii , and Suevi". While Caesar was preparing for conflict, a new force of Suebi was led to the Rhine by two brothers, Nasuas and Cimberius, forcing Caesar to rush in order to try to avoid the joining of forces. Caesar defeated Ariovistus in battle, forcing him to escape across

13250-536: The outdoors. He started his career (probably the latus clavus , mark of the senator) under Vespasian (r. 69–79), but entered political life as a quaestor in 81 or 82 under Titus . He advanced steadily through the cursus honorum , becoming praetor in 88 and a quindecimvir , a member of the priestly college in charge of the Sibylline Books and the Secular Games . He gained acclaim as

13375-517: The pairs of words ending " -entibus … -is " are crossed over in a way that deliberately breaks the Ciceronian conventions—which one would, however, need to be acquainted with to see the novelty of Tacitus's style. Some readers, then and now, find this teasing of their expectations merely irritating. Others find the deliberate discord, playing against the evident parallelism of the two lines, stimulating and intriguing. His historical works focus on

13500-515: The period from the death of Augustus in AD ;14. He wrote at least sixteen books, but books 7–10 and parts of books 5, 6, 11, and 16 are missing. Book 6 ends with the death of Tiberius , and books 7–12 presumably covered the reigns of Caligula and Claudius . The remaining books cover the reign of Nero, perhaps until his death in June 68 or until the end of that year to connect with

13625-524: The political power in Rome. ( Hist. 1.4 ) Welcome as the death of Nero had been in the first burst of joy, yet it had not only roused various emotions in Rome, among the Senators, the people, or the soldiery of the capital, it had also excited all the legions and their generals; for now had been divulged that secret of the empire, that emperors could be made elsewhere than at Rome. Tacitus's political career

13750-529: 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

13875-605: 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 , the Lombardic language spoken by

14000-539: 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

14125-747: The state of the historiography regarding the last four emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty , illustrates his style: "The histories of Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred", or in a word-for-word translation: Tiberiī Gāīque et Claudiī ac Nerōnis rēs flōrentibus ipsīs—ob metum—falsae, postquam occiderant—recentibus ōdiīs—compositae sunt. Tiberius's, Gaius's and Claudius's as well as Nero's acts while flourishing themselves—out of fear—counterfeited, after they came to fall—resulting from new-found hate—related are. Compared to

14250-534: The term. Baden's residents mostly refer to themselves as Alemanni (versus the Swabians ). SIL Ethnologue cites an estimate of 819,000 Swabian speakers as of 2006. This corresponds to roughly 10% of the total population of the Swabian region, or roughly 1% of the total population of Germany. As an ethno-linguistic group, Swabians are closely related to other speakers of Alemannic German , i.e. Badeners , Alsatians , and German-speaking Swiss . Swabian German

14375-458: 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

14500-581: The twelfth century. Fearing the power of the greater princes, the cities and smaller secular rulers of Swabia joined to form the Swabian League in the fifteenth century. The League was quite successful, notably expelling the Duke of Württemberg in 1519 and putting in his place a Habsburg governor, but the league broke up a few years later over religious differences inspired by the Reformation , and

14625-511: The tyranny and corruption of the Empire; the book also contains eloquent polemics against the greed of Rome, one of which, that Tacitus claims is from a speech by Calgacus , ends by asserting, Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant. ("To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace."—Oxford Revised Translation). There

14750-472: The whole of Franconia had become part of their kingdom. In contemporary usage, Schwaben is sometimes taken to refer to Bavarian Swabia exclusively, correctly however it includes the larger Württemberg part of Swabia. Its inhabitants attach great importance to calling themselves Swabians. Baden, historically part of the duchy of Swabia and also of the Swabian Circle, is no longer commonly included in

14875-472: Was acknowledged as such by the newly elected king Henry the Fowler , and in the 960s the duchy under Burchard III was incorporated in the Holy Roman Empire under Otto I . The Hohenstaufen dynasty, which ruled the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th and 13th centuries, arose out of Swabia, but following the execution of Conradin , the last Hohenstaufen, on 29 October 1268, the duchy was not reappointed during

15000-452: Was asked whether he was Tacitus or Pliny. Since Pliny was from Italy, some infer that Tacitus was from the provinces, probably Gallia Narbonensis. His ancestry, his skill in oratory, and his sympathetic depiction of barbarians who resisted Roman rule (e.g., Ann. 2.9 ) have led some to suggest that he was a Celt . This belief stems from the fact that the Celts who had occupied Gaul prior to

15125-589: Was descended from a freedman is derived from a speech in his writings which asserts that many senators and knights were descended from freedmen ( Ann. 13.27 ), but this is generally disputed. In his article on Tacitus in Pauly-Wissowa , I. Borzsak had conjectured that the historian was related to Thrasea Paetus and Etruscan family of Caecinii , about whom he spoke very highly. Furthermore, some later Caecinii bore cognomen Tacitus, which also could indicate some sort of relationship. It had been suggested that

15250-522: Was established within the protective mountains and forests of Bohemia . The Suevians did not join 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

15375-748: Was formed in 1488, opposing the expansionist Bavarian dukes from the House of Wittelsbach and the revolutionary threat from the south in the form of the Swiss . In 1519, the League conquered Württemberg and sold it to Charles V after its duke Ulrich seized the Free Imperial City of Reutlingen during the interregnum that followed the death of Maximilian I. It helped to suppress the Peasants' Revolt in 1524–26 and defeat an alliance of robber barons in

15500-549: Was increasingly used to refer to Alsace specifically. By the 12th century, Suebia rather than Alamannia was used consistently for the territory of the Duchy of Swabia . Swabia was one of the original stem duchies of East Francia , the later Holy Roman Empire , as it developed in the 9th and 10th centuries. Due to the foundation of the important abbeys of St. Gallen and Reichenau , Swabia became an important center of Old High German literary culture during this period. In

15625-412: Was largely lived out under the emperor Domitian. His experience of the tyranny, corruption, and decadence of that era (81–96) may explain the bitterness and irony of his political analysis. He draws our attention to the dangers of power without accountability, love of power untempered by principle, and the apathy and corruption engendered by the concentration of wealth generated through trade and conquest by

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