Civitas Tungrorum
Encyclopedia
The Civitas Tungrorum was a large Roman administrative district. In the early days of the Roman empire
it was in the province
of Gallia Belgica
, but it later joined the neighbouring lower Rhine river border
districts, within the province of Germania Inferior
. Its capital was Aduatuca Tungrorum, which is modern Tongeren.
Like many Roman administrative districts, this one was named after the tribal grouping that lived there, the Tungri
, although in this case the Tungri is not a name known from the area before it became part of the Roman empire.
diocese
of Liège
, which was reduced in 1559. Many early medieval dioceses were based upon older Roman provinces. And it is known that this diocese saw itself as the diocese of the Civitas Tungrorum. However, doubts exist about exact borders in this case due to the fact that the northern part of the civitas was for a long time pagan Frankish
, and outside of Roman or Catholic influence. Edith Wightman, considering the question of the locations of the tribes Caesar originally met here, goes as far as saying that this region "had the least stable political situation of any within later Belgica, and since the pattern was repeated in the Middle Ages, bishopric boundaries are of no help".
In modern terms, the region covered all or most of eastern Belgium. The southern part is generally treated as if it had the same boundaries as the later diocese.
There is less certainty about the borders of the civitas to the north and east, where pagan Franks settled in between the times of Saint Servatius
and Saint Lambert, leading to a possible disruption of administrative districts.
equated them to the same group of tribes who had been known as the Germani and had lived in the area in the time of the Gallic Wars
of Julius Caesar
, and been described by him in his famous Commentary
. Tacitus claimed that "Tungri" was not their original name:-
The Germani tribes which Caesar named where the Eburones
, the Condrusi
, the Paemani
(or Caemani), the Caeroesi
, and the Segni
. The biggest and most important tribe were the Eburones, and it is they who appear to have dominated all or most of modern day Belgian and Dutch Limburg, with a territory probably covering all or most of the flat Campine
(Dutch Kempen) northern part of this region, and stretching into neighbouring regions of the Netherlands, Wallonia and Germany
. The other tribes are thought to have lived further south, in what is today Wallonia, or else just over the border in Germany - the Condrusi in the modern Condroz, near the Segni, and the Caeroesi in the Eifel
forest region of Germany.
The term Germani for these tribes requires explanation in order to avoid confusion. Caesar also referred to other tribes living over the east of the Rhine as Germani, and he called that region Germania
, considering it their homeland. He may have been the first to extend the term in this way, which has now influenced many modern languages. So he distinguished the Germani in the Belgic area as "Germani cisrhenani
", and treated the other "Germani" as the ones living in their real homeland, which some Roman geographers came to refer to as Magna Germania.
Whether or not any of the Belgian Germani spoke a Germanic language in the modern sense is uncertain. The names of their leaders and their tribes for the most part appear to have Celtic
origins, which is in fact also true of the neighbouring tribes across the Rhine in "Germania" at that time, such as the Tencteri and Usipetes
. On the other hand, place-name analysis seems to show that a Germanic language was being spoken in this region by the 2nd century BCE, and there are also signs of an older substrate language in the Belgic region. (See Nordwestblock
.) So Celtic, while influential culturally, may never have been the main language of the area.
Apart from the Germani, the Atuatuci also probably lived in what would become the Civitas Tungrorum. Caesar treated them as a distinct people from the Germani although their ancestry was also in the east, because they were descended from remnants of the Cimbri
. Because they had a fort on large hill, and their name may even mean "fort people" it is thought that the Aduatuci lived in hilly Wallonia, possibly near Namur. Ambiorix
, one of the two kings of the Eburones, complained to Caesar that he had to pay tribute to the Aduatuci, and that his own son and nephew were kept as captive slaves by them. But once in revolt against the Romans, he rode first to the Aduatuci, and then to the Nervii.
The Aduatuci and the Germani (in the narrow sense) participated in an alliance of Belgic tribes against Caesar in 57 BCE. Before that battle, information from the Remi
, a tribe allied with Rome, stated that the Germani (the Condrusi, the Eburones, the Caeraesi, and the Paemani; but not the Segni) had collectively promised, they thought, about 40,000 men. The Aduatuci had promised 19,000. In 54 BCE, after the defeat of this alliance in the Battle of the Sabis
, the Eburones and the Aduatuci rebelled again in alliance with the Gaulish tribes to their south and west, the Treveri
and Nervii
.
The capital of the Eburones is named by Caesar as Aduatuca. It is possible that this is the same place as modern Tongeren (Latin Aduatuca Tungrorum), except that the term may simply mean "fortification". One reason for doubt is that Caesar seems to indicate that Aduatuca was near the centre of the Eburone territory, and that the main part of this territory lay between the Meuse
(Dutch Maas) and the Rhine, while Belgian Limburg
lies entirely to the west of the Maas.
After some initial success, the revolt against Caesar failed, and he conquered the area. He states that he tried to annihilate "the race and name of the state of the Eburones", for their "crime" which triggered the revolt, of having killed his lieutenants Quintus Titurius Sabinus
and Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta
when they had demanded to be quartered amongst the Eburones for winter during a year with bad harvests. Ambiorix fled into the Ardennes, with some horse. Many others escaped towards the forests, morasses, and tidal islands of the coast.
The other king of the Eburones, Cativolcus
, killed himself "with the juice of the yew
-tree, of which there is a great abundance in Gaul and Germany". The name "Eburones" (like other similar Celtic-based tribal names around Europe) is based on the Celtic word for the yew tree.
, the Tungri civitas was at first considered to be a part of Gallia Belgica
. Later, probably in the time of Diocletian
, it split out, away from their Belgian neighbours to the west, the Menapii
and Nervii
, to join with the territories which lay along the militarized Rhine border
and become part of Germania Inferior
"Lower Germania", and still later this was reorganized to become Germania Secunda
. Many of the tribal groups which inhabited the west bank of the Rhine were dominated by immigrants from the east bank. To the north of the Tungri, in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta in the modern Netherlands were the Batavians
and Frisiavones
and possibly still some of the Menapii who had been there in Caesar's time. To the northeast, in the bend of the Rhine, were the Cugerni
, who were probably descended from a division of the Sicambri
, and probably the Baetasi also. To the east of the Tungri were the Sunici
and on the Rhine the Ubii
, whose city was Cologne
, the provincial capital. The Tungri, along with many of the tribal states of Germania Inferior, participated in the Revolt of the Batavi.
Tongeren was a major town on several notable east-west Roman routes including Amiens
-Bavay
-Tongeren-Maastricht
-Heerlen
-Cologne
, which was a very important route, and Boulogne-Kortrijk
-Tienen-Tongeren, which ran just to the south of the modern main road running Tienen-St Truiden-Borgloon
-Tongeren, through the villages of Overhespen, Helshoven, and Bommershoven. The more fertile areas south of these roads were more heavily populated and more fully Romanized. In the sandy north of the Civitas, the so-called Campine
(Dutch Kempen) was less fertile, and less populated.
Within the civitas Tungrorum, some information survives about sub-districts (pagi
), each with apparent tribal names. Most of this information comes from military records, concerning units recruited from such areas. Two of the Germani tribal groups which survived from Caesar's time are that of the Condrusi, who lived in the Condroz
of Wallonia, and the Caerosi who lived in the Eifel
forest just over the border in modern Germany. A new name in Roman times is Toxandria
the district of the Toxandri
, which appears to have been in the large part of the civitas containing the sandy Campine region in the north. Some Toxandri also appear in cohort
s of the Nervian civitas to the west. As with the Tungri more generally, whose name also appears for the first time under the Romans, either this was a new Germanic tribe entering the region, or it has alternatively been suggested that it could be a Latin translation of the name Eburones, whose named had been annihilated by Caesar. Both names apparently refer to the Yew
tree (Latin taxus). Two other pagi which appear in records for the first time under the empire are the pagus Vellaus, apparently corresponding to the forest of Veluwe
in the Netherlands, and the pagus Catualinus, apparently in or near Heel
on the Meuse
, which corresponds with Catvalium in the Tabula Peutingeriana
map.
(It has also been proposed that the Baetasi might have lived near Geetbets
, on the Brabant
-Limburg
border, but it seems more likely that they lived in an area closer to the Rhine in modern Germany.)
Already during the Gallic Wars of Caesar, tribes of Germanic people were raiding over the Rhine, and many were eventually settled there. As Tacitus wrote, "The Rhine bank itself is occupied by tribes unquestionably German,—the Vangiones
, the Triboci
, and the Nemetes
. Nor do even the Ubii
, though they have earned the distinction of being a Roman colony, and prefer to be called Agrippinenses, from the name of their founder, blush to own their origin." The tribes he mentions are all tribes mentioned by Caesar also, as having made attempts to cross the Rhine when he was in the area.
The Ubii, were in the north, the region of the Eburones, and became the people of the region of Cologne
and Bonn
during Roman imperial times. The other three tribes had been invaders on the upper Rhine, closer to modern Switzerland.
The Roman empire
proceeded to form two new cisrhenane provinces named "Germania" on the Gaulish, western, side of the Rhine.
So the two Roman provinces named Germania, both mainly on the west of the Rhine, gave an official form to the concept of germani cisrhenani.
, who referred to this territory by its old name of Toxandria. The area bordering the Civitas Tungrorum on the east, also along the Rhine, became the territory of the Ripuarian Franks
. Eventually, the whole of the area of the old civitas became the central area of occupation of the Salian Franks. It was from here that their Merovingian and Carolingian
dynasties proceeded to conquer a large part of Western Europe
.
As mentioned above, one way in which the old civitas survived was by its medieval Christian diocese, the diocese of Liège, although its seat was not in Tongeren, but in Maastricht and later to Liège. This diocese was however reduced greatly in the 16th century.
Apart from historical records such as those discussed above, the old name of the Tungri now survives only in place names such as Tongeren and Tongerloo.
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
it was in the province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany. The indigenous population of Gallia Belgica, the Belgae, consisted of a mixture of Celtic and Germanic tribes...
, but it later joined the neighbouring lower Rhine river border
Limes
A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...
districts, within the province of Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
. Its capital was Aduatuca Tungrorum, which is modern Tongeren.
Like many Roman administrative districts, this one was named after the tribal grouping that lived there, the Tungri
Tungri
The Tungri were a tribe, or group of tribes, who lived in the Belgic part Gaul, during the times of the Roman empire. They were described by Tacitus as being the same people who were first called "Germani" , meaning that all other tribes who were later referred to this way, including those in...
, although in this case the Tungri is not a name known from the area before it became part of the Roman empire.
Location
The exact definition of the civitas probably corresponded at least roughly to the area of the large medieval CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, which was reduced in 1559. Many early medieval dioceses were based upon older Roman provinces. And it is known that this diocese saw itself as the diocese of the Civitas Tungrorum. However, doubts exist about exact borders in this case due to the fact that the northern part of the civitas was for a long time pagan Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, and outside of Roman or Catholic influence. Edith Wightman, considering the question of the locations of the tribes Caesar originally met here, goes as far as saying that this region "had the least stable political situation of any within later Belgica, and since the pattern was repeated in the Middle Ages, bishopric boundaries are of no help".
In modern terms, the region covered all or most of eastern Belgium. The southern part is generally treated as if it had the same boundaries as the later diocese.
- East-southeast the territory apparently stretched as far as the EifelEifelThe Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
area of modern GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, near PrümPrümPrüm is a town in the Westeifel , Germany. Formerly a district capital, today it is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Prüm.-Geography:...
and BitburgBitburgBitburg It is situated approx. 25 km north-west of Trier, and 50 km north-east of Luxembourg . One American airbase, Spangdahlem Air Base, is located nearby.-History:...
, which included the territory of the CaeroesiCaeroesiThe Caeroesi were a tribe living in Belgic Gaul when Julius Caesar's Roman forces entered the area in 57 BCE. They are know from his account of the Gallic War...
tribe. - South-southeast, the diocese stretched into the northern part of modern LuxembourgLuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, and bordered upon the civitas of the Treverii in Gallia Belgica, which had its capital in TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
. - In the south, it stretched into the ArdennesArdennesThe Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
to approximately the modern border with FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Over this border was the civitas of the RemiRemiThe Remi were a Belgic tribe of north-eastern Gaul in the 1st century BC. They occupied the northern Champagne plain, on the southern fringes of the Forest of Ardennes, between the rivers Mosa and Matrona , and along the river valleys of the Aisne and its tributaries the Aire and the Vesle.Their...
, with their Roman capital at Rheims, within Gallia Belgica. - In the southwest, and west, the neighbouring civitas was that of the Nervians or Nervii, which stretched through central Belgium, and had its Roman capital in BavayBavayBavay is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies 15 m. ESE of Valenciennes by railway.-History:Under the name of Bagacum or Bavacum, the town was the capital of the Nervii and, under the Roman Empire, an important center of roads, the meeting-place of which was marked by a...
in northern France. - In the west, the civitas and its later diocese stretched towards the DijleDijleDyle or Dijle or historically the River Dyle in English, is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp...
river, and then the ScheldtScheldtThe Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
which it flows into, but might not have reached this limit in all areas. For example, it probably included NamurNamur (city)Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
, and maybe also LeuvenLeuvenLeuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
(which was in the diocese), but it probably did not include Antwerp (which was not in the medieval diocese).
There is less certainty about the borders of the civitas to the north and east, where pagan Franks settled in between the times of Saint Servatius
Saint Servatius
Saint Servatius was bishop of Tongeren—Roman Atuatuca Tungrorum the capital of the Tungri—one of the earliest dioceses in the Low Countries. Later in his life he fled to Maastricht, Roman Mosae Trajectum, where he became the first bishop of this city...
and Saint Lambert, leading to a possible disruption of administrative districts.
- To the northwest and north, where the ancient Scheldt ran via the StrieneStrieneDe 'Striene was a water channel that ran between the Schelde near Tholen and the Maas rivers in Zeeland in the Netherlands. In the Sint-Elisabethsvloed the watercourses in the Maas and Rhine delta were drastically changed, and the Striene disappeared....
to empty into the MeuseMeuseMeuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(Dutch Maas), the MenapiiMenapiiThe Menapii were a Belgic tribe of northern Gaul in pre-Roman and Roman times. Their territory according to Strabo, Caesar and Ptolemy stretched from the mouth of the Rhine in the north, and southwards along the west of the Schelde. Their civitas under the Roman empire was Cassel , near Thérouanne...
had lived during Caesar's time. Their Roman civitas appears to have ended near the Striene-Scheldt, and in their place were possibly new tribes such as the FrisiavonesFrisiavonesThe Frisiavones were a Germanic tribe sometimes considered as a subdivision of the Frisii, who in turn are traditionally considered to be ancestors of modern Frisians. Pliny the Elder, however, appeared to distinguish them from the Frisii. They also appear in inscriptions found in Roman Britain...
, MarsaciiMarsaciiThe Marsaci or Marsacii were a Germanic tribe in Roman imperial times, who lived within the area of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, under Roman domination....
, Sturii, CanninefatesCanninefatesThe Cananefates - also referred to as Canninefates, Caninefates, or Canenefatae; meaning leek masters - were a Germanic tribe that lived in the Rhine delta, on the western part of the Batavian Island , in the Roman era, before and during the Roman conquest...
and BataviansBataviansThe Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe, originally part of the Chatti, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area that is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the...
. The Batavians had their own civitas within Germania Inferior. So it is not clear if the Civitas Tungrorum reached to the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, nor whether it reached to the old Meuse-Maas delta, as the later diocese of Liège did. But it is likely, in any case, that the civitas reached into the modern Netherlands province of North BrabantNorth BrabantNorth Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
. - To the northeast it appears that the Tungri's district reached into the northern part of the Netherlands province of LimburgLimburg (Netherlands)Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
, which is where the districts of the pagus Vellaus and the pagus Catualinus apparently were. It may even have stretched over the Meuse in places. On the other hand in this direction also lay the Civitas Traianensis, inhabited by the CugerniCugerniThe Cugerni was a tribal grouping with a particular territory within the Roman province of Germania Inferior, which later became Germania Secunda. More precisely they lived near modern Xanten, and the old Castra Vetera, on the Rhine...
, and apparently also the Baetasii, which may have also stretched into this same region of the modern NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. - Directly to the east, proposals differ concerning the border with the province of the UbiiUbiithumb|right|350px|The Ubii around AD 30The Ubii were a Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the right bank of the Rhine in the time of Julius Caesar, who formed an alliance with them in 55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river...
, the Colonia Aggripensis, with its capital in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. It is sometimes suggested that the southern part of Dutch Limburg must also have been in the civitas. But it appears the Sunuci, were in the province of Cologne, and that they lived areas such as ValkenburgValkenburg aan de GeulValkenburg aan de Geul is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.-History:Siege and conquest were characteristic of the history of Valkenburg. Each event is withheld, followed by subsequent restorations. This most definitely holds for the castle perched atop of a hill in the middle of the...
, Voeren and AachenAachenAachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
, that were later within the church diocese of Liège. So it has been proposed that the Meuse river was the border, and perhaps even MaastrichtMaastrichtMaastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
was not included. One proposal is that the civitas gained territory in Dutch Limburg already during late Roman times, for example when Germania Inferior was reorganised into Germania SecundaGermania SecundaIn the early fourth-century Notitia Dignitatum, Germania Secunda , situated along the Lower Rhine and administered by a Consularis, was the name under the Dominate of Germania Inferior, a military border territory which had been established under the Flavian reorganization of the Roman Empire, out...
.
Geography
The territory of the Tungri is divided into three distinct geographical areas.- The north is a large sandy area known today as the Campine (Dutch Kempen). It was not highly fertile, or heavily populated. It contains marshy areas, and the water flows partly to the Scheldt in the west and partly towards the Meuse.
- A band in the centre of the civitas is hilly, loessLoessLoess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
ground. This contains the modern regions known as the HesbayeHesbayeHesbaye or Haspengouw , is a region spanning the south of the Belgian province of Limburg, the east of the Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant, and the northwestern part of the province of Liège.The Limburgish portion contains the cities of Tongeren, Sint-Truiden, Bilzen and...
(Dutch Haspengouw), HagelandHagelandThe Hageland is a landscape in the Flemish Region of Belgium, situated in the eastern part of the Province of Flemish Brabant and extending into a western tip of the Province of Limburg. It is mainly comprised between the cities of Aarschot, Leuven, Tienen and Diest, and largely coincides with the...
, and CondrozCondrozThe Condroz is a region in the center of Wallonia and in the south of Belgium. Its unofficial capital is Ciney....
. It has historically always been more fertile and more heavily populated. It was here that Roman civilization held out against the invasions of the late empire, and it is therefore here that the frontier was set between Germanic languagesGermanic languagesThe Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
and Romance languagesRomance languagesThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
, the same as it is today. (Some claim that this pattern was fixed already before Caesar, originally having been a border between Germanic and Celtic languagesCeltic languagesThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
.) - The south of the civitas is more heavily wooded and merges into the natural boundary of the ArdennesArdennesThe Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
.
Origins: the Tungri
Concerning the Tungri, the name appears for the first time only when this area is part of the Roman empire. Some authors believe it represents a name used by new immigrants coming from the eastern side of the Rhine. On the other hand, TacitusTacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
equated them to the same group of tribes who had been known as the Germani and had lived in the area in the time of the Gallic Wars
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...
of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, and been described by him in his famous Commentary
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine years he spent fighting local armies in Gaul that opposed Roman domination.The "Gaul" that Caesar...
. Tacitus claimed that "Tungri" was not their original name:-
The Germani tribes which Caesar named where the Eburones
Eburones
The Eburones , were a Belgic people who lived in the northeast of Gaul, near the river Meuse and the modern provinces of Belgian and Dutch Limburg, in the period immediately before it was conquered by Rome. They played a major role in Julius Caesar's account of his "Gallic Wars", as the most...
, the Condrusi
Condrusi
The Condrusi were a Germanic tribe of ancient Belgium, which takes its name from the political and ethnic group known to the Romans as the Belgae. The Condrusi were probably located in the region now known as Condroz, named after them, between Liège and Namur...
, the Paemani
Paemani
The Paemani were a tribe of Gallia Belgica, mentioned by Julius Caesar in his commentary of his Gallic Wars. They were one of a group of tribes listed by his local Remi informants as the Germani, along with the Eburones, Condrusi, Caeraesi , and Segni...
(or Caemani), the Caeroesi
Caeroesi
The Caeroesi were a tribe living in Belgic Gaul when Julius Caesar's Roman forces entered the area in 57 BCE. They are know from his account of the Gallic War...
, and the Segni
Segni
Segni is an Italian town and comune located in Lazio. The city is situated on a hilltop in the Lepini Mountains, and overlooks the valley of the Sacco River.-Early history:...
. The biggest and most important tribe were the Eburones, and it is they who appear to have dominated all or most of modern day Belgian and Dutch Limburg, with a territory probably covering all or most of the flat Campine
Campine
The Campine is a natural region situated chiefly in north-eastern Belgium and parts of the south-western Netherlands which once consisted mainly of extensive moors, tracts of sandy heath, and wetlands...
(Dutch Kempen) northern part of this region, and stretching into neighbouring regions of the Netherlands, Wallonia and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The other tribes are thought to have lived further south, in what is today Wallonia, or else just over the border in Germany - the Condrusi in the modern Condroz, near the Segni, and the Caeroesi in the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
forest region of Germany.
The term Germani for these tribes requires explanation in order to avoid confusion. Caesar also referred to other tribes living over the east of the Rhine as Germani, and he called that region Germania
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
, considering it their homeland. He may have been the first to extend the term in this way, which has now influenced many modern languages. So he distinguished the Germani in the Belgic area as "Germani cisrhenani
Germani cisrhenani
Germani Cisrhenani is a Latin term which refers to that part of the tribal people known as Germani who lived to the west of the Rhine river. Cisrhenane, the English form of the word, means "this side of the Rhine"...
", and treated the other "Germani" as the ones living in their real homeland, which some Roman geographers came to refer to as Magna Germania.
Whether or not any of the Belgian Germani spoke a Germanic language in the modern sense is uncertain. The names of their leaders and their tribes for the most part appear to have Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
origins, which is in fact also true of the neighbouring tribes across the Rhine in "Germania" at that time, such as the Tencteri and Usipetes
Tencteri and Usipetes
The Tencteri and Usipetes were an ancient Germanic tribe, or tribes, located on the eastern bank of the lower Rhine in the 1st century BC. They are known primarily from Julius Caesar's account of his campaigns against them in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico.Tacitus mentions the Tencteri and...
. On the other hand, place-name analysis seems to show that a Germanic language was being spoken in this region by the 2nd century BCE, and there are also signs of an older substrate language in the Belgic region. (See Nordwestblock
Nordwestblock
The Nordwestblock , is a hypothetical cultural region, that several 20th century scholars propose as a prehistoric culture, thought to be roughly bounded by the rivers Meuse, Elbe, Somme and Oise and possibly the eastern part of England during the Bronze and Iron Ages The Nordwestblock (English:...
.) So Celtic, while influential culturally, may never have been the main language of the area.
Apart from the Germani, the Atuatuci also probably lived in what would become the Civitas Tungrorum. Caesar treated them as a distinct people from the Germani although their ancestry was also in the east, because they were descended from remnants of the Cimbri
Cimbri
The Cimbri were a tribe from Northern Europe, who, together with the Teutones and the Ambrones threatened the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC. The Cimbri were probably Germanic, though some believe them to be of Celtic origin...
. Because they had a fort on large hill, and their name may even mean "fort people" it is thought that the Aduatuci lived in hilly Wallonia, possibly near Namur. Ambiorix
Ambiorix
Ambiorix was, together with Catuvolcus, prince of the Eburones, leader of a Belgic tribe of north-eastern Gaul , where modern Belgium is located...
, one of the two kings of the Eburones, complained to Caesar that he had to pay tribute to the Aduatuci, and that his own son and nephew were kept as captive slaves by them. But once in revolt against the Romans, he rode first to the Aduatuci, and then to the Nervii.
The Aduatuci and the Germani (in the narrow sense) participated in an alliance of Belgic tribes against Caesar in 57 BCE. Before that battle, information from the Remi
Remi
The Remi were a Belgic tribe of north-eastern Gaul in the 1st century BC. They occupied the northern Champagne plain, on the southern fringes of the Forest of Ardennes, between the rivers Mosa and Matrona , and along the river valleys of the Aisne and its tributaries the Aire and the Vesle.Their...
, a tribe allied with Rome, stated that the Germani (the Condrusi, the Eburones, the Caeraesi, and the Paemani; but not the Segni) had collectively promised, they thought, about 40,000 men. The Aduatuci had promised 19,000. In 54 BCE, after the defeat of this alliance in the Battle of the Sabis
Battle of the Sabis
The Battle of the Sabis, also known as the Battle of the Sambre or the Battle against the Nervians , was fought in 57 BC in the area known today as Wallonia, between the legions of the Roman Republic and an association of Belgic tribes, principally the Nervii...
, the Eburones and the Aduatuci rebelled again in alliance with the Gaulish tribes to their south and west, the Treveri
Treveri
The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...
and Nervii
Nervii
The Nervii were an ancient Germanic tribe, and one of the most powerful Belgic tribes; living in the northeastern hinterlands of Gaul, they were known to trek long distances to engage in various wars and functions...
.
The capital of the Eburones is named by Caesar as Aduatuca. It is possible that this is the same place as modern Tongeren (Latin Aduatuca Tungrorum), except that the term may simply mean "fortification". One reason for doubt is that Caesar seems to indicate that Aduatuca was near the centre of the Eburone territory, and that the main part of this territory lay between the Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(Dutch Maas) and the Rhine, while Belgian Limburg
Limburg (Belgium)
Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant...
lies entirely to the west of the Maas.
After some initial success, the revolt against Caesar failed, and he conquered the area. He states that he tried to annihilate "the race and name of the state of the Eburones", for their "crime" which triggered the revolt, of having killed his lieutenants Quintus Titurius Sabinus
Quintus Titurius Sabinus
Quintus Titurius Sabinus, one of Caesar's legates during the Gallic Wars. He is first mentioned in Caesar's campaign against the Remi, in 57 BC, and in the following year he was sent by Caesar with three legions against the Venelli, Curiosolitae, and Lexovii , who were led by Viridovix...
and Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta
Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta
Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta – officer in the Gallic army of Gaius Julius Caesar. The little we know of Cotta is found in Book V of Caesar's De Bello Gallico...
when they had demanded to be quartered amongst the Eburones for winter during a year with bad harvests. Ambiorix fled into the Ardennes, with some horse. Many others escaped towards the forests, morasses, and tidal islands of the coast.
The other king of the Eburones, Cativolcus
Cativolcus
Cativolcus or Catuvolcus was king of half of the country of the Eburones, a people between the Meuse and Rhine rivers, united with Ambiorix, the other king, in the insurrection against the Romans in 54 BC; but when Julius Caesar in the next year proceeded to devastate the territories of the...
, killed himself "with the juice of the yew
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
-tree, of which there is a great abundance in Gaul and Germany". The name "Eburones" (like other similar Celtic-based tribal names around Europe) is based on the Celtic word for the yew tree.
Roman empire
Under the Romans, for example in the time of AugustusAugustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, the Tungri civitas was at first considered to be a part of Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany. The indigenous population of Gallia Belgica, the Belgae, consisted of a mixture of Celtic and Germanic tribes...
. Later, probably in the time of Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
, it split out, away from their Belgian neighbours to the west, the Menapii
Menapii
The Menapii were a Belgic tribe of northern Gaul in pre-Roman and Roman times. Their territory according to Strabo, Caesar and Ptolemy stretched from the mouth of the Rhine in the north, and southwards along the west of the Schelde. Their civitas under the Roman empire was Cassel , near Thérouanne...
and Nervii
Nervii
The Nervii were an ancient Germanic tribe, and one of the most powerful Belgic tribes; living in the northeastern hinterlands of Gaul, they were known to trek long distances to engage in various wars and functions...
, to join with the territories which lay along the militarized Rhine border
Limes
A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...
and become part of Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
"Lower Germania", and still later this was reorganized to become Germania Secunda
Germania Secunda
In the early fourth-century Notitia Dignitatum, Germania Secunda , situated along the Lower Rhine and administered by a Consularis, was the name under the Dominate of Germania Inferior, a military border territory which had been established under the Flavian reorganization of the Roman Empire, out...
. Many of the tribal groups which inhabited the west bank of the Rhine were dominated by immigrants from the east bank. To the north of the Tungri, in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta in the modern Netherlands were the Batavians
Batavians
The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe, originally part of the Chatti, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area that is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the...
and Frisiavones
Frisiavones
The Frisiavones were a Germanic tribe sometimes considered as a subdivision of the Frisii, who in turn are traditionally considered to be ancestors of modern Frisians. Pliny the Elder, however, appeared to distinguish them from the Frisii. They also appear in inscriptions found in Roman Britain...
and possibly still some of the Menapii who had been there in Caesar's time. To the northeast, in the bend of the Rhine, were the Cugerni
Cugerni
The Cugerni was a tribal grouping with a particular territory within the Roman province of Germania Inferior, which later became Germania Secunda. More precisely they lived near modern Xanten, and the old Castra Vetera, on the Rhine...
, who were probably descended from a division of the Sicambri
Sicambri
The Sicambri were a Germanic people living on the right bank of the Rhine river, near where it passes out of Germany and enters what is now called the Netherlands at the turn of the first millennium....
, and probably the Baetasi also. To the east of the Tungri were the Sunici
Sunici
The Sunuci was the name of a tribal grouping with a particular territory within the Roman province of Germania Inferior, which later became Germania Secunda. Within this province, they were in the Civitas Agrippinenses, with its capital at Cologne...
and on the Rhine the Ubii
Ubii
thumb|right|350px|The Ubii around AD 30The Ubii were a Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the right bank of the Rhine in the time of Julius Caesar, who formed an alliance with them in 55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river...
, whose city was Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, the provincial capital. The Tungri, along with many of the tribal states of Germania Inferior, participated in the Revolt of the Batavi.
Tongeren was a major town on several notable east-west Roman routes including Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
-Bavay
Bavay
Bavay is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies 15 m. ESE of Valenciennes by railway.-History:Under the name of Bagacum or Bavacum, the town was the capital of the Nervii and, under the Roman Empire, an important center of roads, the meeting-place of which was marked by a...
-Tongeren-Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
-Heerlen
Heerlen
Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen...
-Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, which was a very important route, and Boulogne-Kortrijk
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...
-Tienen-Tongeren, which ran just to the south of the modern main road running Tienen-St Truiden-Borgloon
Borgloon
Borgloon is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Borgloon had a total population of 10,152. The total area is 51.12 km² which gives a population density of 199 inhabitants per km². Borgloon gave its name to the former county of Loon.-External...
-Tongeren, through the villages of Overhespen, Helshoven, and Bommershoven. The more fertile areas south of these roads were more heavily populated and more fully Romanized. In the sandy north of the Civitas, the so-called Campine
Campine
The Campine is a natural region situated chiefly in north-eastern Belgium and parts of the south-western Netherlands which once consisted mainly of extensive moors, tracts of sandy heath, and wetlands...
(Dutch Kempen) was less fertile, and less populated.
Within the civitas Tungrorum, some information survives about sub-districts (pagi
Pagus
In the later Western Roman Empire, following the reorganization of Diocletian, a pagus became the smallest administrative district of a province....
), each with apparent tribal names. Most of this information comes from military records, concerning units recruited from such areas. Two of the Germani tribal groups which survived from Caesar's time are that of the Condrusi, who lived in the Condroz
Condroz
The Condroz is a region in the center of Wallonia and in the south of Belgium. Its unofficial capital is Ciney....
of Wallonia, and the Caerosi who lived in the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
forest just over the border in modern Germany. A new name in Roman times is Toxandria
Toxandria
Toxandria is the classical name for a region between the Meuse and the Scheldt rivers in the Netherlands and Belgium. The name is also spelled Taxandria...
the district of the Toxandri
Toxandri
The Toxandri were a Germanic tribe who settled in the modern Campine region of Netherlands and Flanders. The location of the tribe was described roughly by Plinius in his Naturalis Historia. He also said that they go by several names...
, which appears to have been in the large part of the civitas containing the sandy Campine region in the north. Some Toxandri also appear in cohort
Cohort (military unit)
A cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary cohort:...
s of the Nervian civitas to the west. As with the Tungri more generally, whose name also appears for the first time under the Romans, either this was a new Germanic tribe entering the region, or it has alternatively been suggested that it could be a Latin translation of the name Eburones, whose named had been annihilated by Caesar. Both names apparently refer to the Yew
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m...
tree (Latin taxus). Two other pagi which appear in records for the first time under the empire are the pagus Vellaus, apparently corresponding to the forest of Veluwe
Veluwe
The Veluwe is a forest-rich ridge of hills in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand drifts....
in the Netherlands, and the pagus Catualinus, apparently in or near Heel
Heel (Netherlands)
Heel is a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It has been a part of the municipality of Maasgouw since January 1, 2007. Before, it was a separate municipality covering Heel, Panheel, Beegden and Wessem...
on the Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, which corresponds with Catvalium in the Tabula Peutingeriana
Tabula Peutingeriana
The Tabula Peutingeriana is an itinerarium showing the cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire. The original map of which this is a unique copy was last revised in the fourth or early fifth century. It covers Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa...
map.
(It has also been proposed that the Baetasi might have lived near Geetbets
Geetbets
Geetbets is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Geetbets proper, Grazen and Rummen. On January 1, 2006 Geetbets had a total population of 5,765...
, on the Brabant
Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...
-Limburg
Limburg (Belgium)
Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant...
border, but it seems more likely that they lived in an area closer to the Rhine in modern Germany.)
Vangiones
The Vangiones appear first in history as an ancient Germanic tribe of unknown provenience. They threw in their lot with Ariovistus in his bid of 58 BC to invade Gaul through the Doubs river valley and lost to Julius Caesar in a battle probably near Belfort...
, the Triboci
Triboci
In classical antiquity, the Triboci or Tribocci were a Germanic people of eastern Gaul, inhabiting much of what is now Alsace.-Name:Besides the forms Triboci and Tribocci, Schneider has the form “Triboces” in the accusative plural. Pliny has Tribochi, and Strabo . In the passage of Caesar, it is...
, and the Nemetes
Nemetes
The Nemetes , by modern authors sometimes improperly called Nemeti, were an ancient Germanic tribe living by the Rhine between the Palatinate and Lake Constance where Ariovistus had led them, the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC...
. Nor do even the Ubii
Ubii
thumb|right|350px|The Ubii around AD 30The Ubii were a Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the right bank of the Rhine in the time of Julius Caesar, who formed an alliance with them in 55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river...
, though they have earned the distinction of being a Roman colony, and prefer to be called Agrippinenses, from the name of their founder, blush to own their origin." The tribes he mentions are all tribes mentioned by Caesar also, as having made attempts to cross the Rhine when he was in the area.
The Ubii, were in the north, the region of the Eburones, and became the people of the region of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
during Roman imperial times. The other three tribes had been invaders on the upper Rhine, closer to modern Switzerland.
The Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
proceeded to form two new cisrhenane provinces named "Germania" on the Gaulish, western, side of the Rhine.
- Germania superiorGermania SuperiorGermania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany...
was the more southern of the two provinces of cisrhenane Germania. It had its capital MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
and included the area of modern AlsaceAlsaceAlsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, and the corner of Switzerland, Germany and France. - Germania inferiorGermania InferiorGermania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
("lower Germany"), ran along the lower Rhine and had its capital on the German frontier in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. It included modern BonnBonnBonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, NeussNeussNeuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district and owes its prosperity to its location at the crossing of historic and modern trade routes. It is primarily known...
, XantenXantenXanten is a historic town in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany, located in the district of Wesel.Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park or archaeological open air museum , its medieval picturesque city centre with Xanten Cathedral and many museums, its large man-made lake for...
, Nijmegen, and the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. Along the Rhine in Germania Inferior were not only the Ubii, but also other tribes who had crossed the Rhine into the empire - the CugerniCugerniThe Cugerni was a tribal grouping with a particular territory within the Roman province of Germania Inferior, which later became Germania Secunda. More precisely they lived near modern Xanten, and the old Castra Vetera, on the Rhine...
, thought to be a part of the Sugambri, and the BataviansBataviansThe Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe, originally part of the Chatti, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area that is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the...
, thought to descend from the ChattiChattiThe Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
. The origin of others such as the MarsaciiMarsaciiThe Marsaci or Marsacii were a Germanic tribe in Roman imperial times, who lived within the area of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, under Roman domination....
, FrisiavonesFrisiavonesThe Frisiavones were a Germanic tribe sometimes considered as a subdivision of the Frisii, who in turn are traditionally considered to be ancestors of modern Frisians. Pliny the Elder, however, appeared to distinguish them from the Frisii. They also appear in inscriptions found in Roman Britain...
, Baetasii, and Sunuci is less certain, but they are all thought to be Germanic. At some point the Civitas Tungrorum, the district where the supposed original Germani had lived, became part of Germania Inferior.
So the two Roman provinces named Germania, both mainly on the west of the Rhine, gave an official form to the concept of germani cisrhenani.
The end of the era
As the empire grew older, the pressure from Germanic tribes crossing the Rhine became greater, especially in areas closest to the Rhine. The northern part of the Civitas Tungrorum became depopulated, and was then settled by the Salian FranksSalian Franks
The Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the area above the Rhine. The Merovingian kings responsible for the conquest of Gaul were Salians. From the 3rd century on, the Salian Franks appear in the historical records as...
, who referred to this territory by its old name of Toxandria. The area bordering the Civitas Tungrorum on the east, also along the Rhine, became the territory of the Ripuarian Franks
Ripuarian Franks
Ripuarian Franks is a distinction of the Frankish people made by a number of writers in the Latin language of the first several centuries of the Christian Era...
. Eventually, the whole of the area of the old civitas became the central area of occupation of the Salian Franks. It was from here that their Merovingian and Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
dynasties proceeded to conquer a large part of Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
.
As mentioned above, one way in which the old civitas survived was by its medieval Christian diocese, the diocese of Liège, although its seat was not in Tongeren, but in Maastricht and later to Liège. This diocese was however reduced greatly in the 16th century.
Apart from historical records such as those discussed above, the old name of the Tungri now survives only in place names such as Tongeren and Tongerloo.
External links
- Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War on the Perseus ProjectPerseus ProjectThe Perseus Project is a digital library project of Tufts University that assembles digital collections of humanities resources. It is hosted by the Department of Classics. It has suffered at times from computer hardware problems, and its resources are occasionally unavailable...
- Tacitus' Germania on the Perseus Project