Tungri
Encyclopedia
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" (Germanic
), meaning that all other tribes who were later referred to this way, including those in Germania
east of the Rhine river. Their name is the source of several place names in Belgium
, Germany
and the Netherlands
, including Tongeren, and several places called Tongerloo, and Tongelre
.
Tacitus
remarks that Germani was the original tribal name of the Tungri with whom the Gauls were in contact; among the Gauls the term Germani came to be widely applied.
Some generations earlier, Julius Caesar
, on the other hand, does not mention the Tungri, but does say that the Condrusi
, the Eburones
, the Caeroesi
and the Paemani
, living in the same approximate area as the later Tungri, were "called by the common name of Germans (Germani)" and had settled in Gaul already before the Cimbric wars, having come from Germany east of the Rhine. The Romans allies named them as having one collective contribution of men to the Belgic revolt against him, within which the Eburones were the most important. They were led by Ambiorix
and Cativolcus
. Also neighbouring these tribes where the Aduatuci
, whose origin Caesar describes more specifically as having descended from the Cimbri
and Teutones, against whom the Germani had been the only Gaulish tribe to successfully defend themselves. Their descendants, if there were any, presumably lived amongst the Tungri.
Already during the campaign of Caesar, the Tencteri and Usipetes crossed the Rhine for a cattle raid of the territories the Menapii
, Eburones and Condrusi, giving Caesar an excuse for new military intervention in the area. He pursued them back over the Rhine where they were helped by the Sicambri
. Later, Caesar himself encouraged the Sicambri to cross the Rhine into the territory of the Eburones, seeking to plunder the lands of the people whose fortress he had just taken. These tribes who crossed the Rhine and became part of Roman Germania Inferior
were themselves apparently heavily influenced by Gaulish culture, some using Gaulish personal names or Gaulish tribal names.
Later, as the area became part of the Roman empire
some of these tribes from over the Rhine, including Sicambri and Ubii, were forced by Tiberius
to settle among in the northeast of Gaul, and Romanised provinces with tribal names developed from the mergers of incoming groups, with people who had lived there before Caesar. This is the apparent origin of both the Tungri the other tribal groups of Germania Inferior.
The exact history of each such mergers is unknown, although the areas nearer to the Rhine appear to have had larger scale immigration while the Tungri are often suspected of being less changed in their make-up by this process. Smaller tribal groups such as the Condrusi (one of the Germani tribes mentioned by Caesar) and the Texuandri (maybe the same as the Eburones) continued to exist as recognized groups for the administrative purpose of mustering troops. To the north of the Tungri, in the Rhine-Maas delta were the Batavians
, a similarly new formation, apparently made up of in-coming Chatti
, with a possible contribution of Eburones. To the northeast of the Tungri, near the Rhine were the Cugerni, who are thought to be Sicambri, and then around the area of Cologne
and Bonn
the Ubii
were settled.
is the first writer to mention the Tungri in Gallia Belgica
, in his Natural History. He notes that their territory
It has been suggested that this refers to the well-known waters of Spa
in the province of Liège
, or else to waters found at Tongeren, which are suitably iron-bearing, and today referred to as the "Plinius bron".
Both Pliny and Ptolemy
's Geography are unclear concerning the exact position of the Tungri but are understood as placing them east of the Scheldt
, and to the north of the Arduenna Silva (Forest of Ardennes
), along the middle and lower valley of the Mosa (Meuse River
).
Their tribal capital lay at Atuatuca (or Aduatuca) Tungrorum, probably modern Tongeren in the Limburg
province of Belgium
(the word Atuatuca is thought to have probably meant fortress). Under the Romans, the Tungri civitas was first a part of Gallia Belgica
, and later split out to join the territories of the Ubii
to the southeast, and the Cugerni
, who are generally equated with being descended from the Sicambri, to the northeast, and become part of Germania Inferior
, and still later it became part of Germania Secunda
. In other directions, their neighbours in Roman times were the Belgic
Nervii
on the west and the Remi
and Treveri
to the south, all tribes who had been in those regions since before Caesar's campaign.
notes two cohorts
of Tungri in the civil war of 69 CE.
The Tungri were mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum
, an early fifth-century document, in which was transcribed every military
and governmental post in the late Roman Empire
. The document mentions the Tribune of the First Cohort
of Tungri stationed at Vercovicium (now known as Housesteads
, Northumberland) on Hadrian's Wall
. The cohort was split in Hadrian
ic times to form a Second Cohort of Tungri as well, both cohorts 1000 men strong (milliary cohorts).
Belgae
The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain, and possibly even Ireland...
part Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, during the times of 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....
. They were described by Tacitus
Tacitus
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...
as being the same people who were first called "Germani" (Germanic
Germanic
Germanic may refer to* The Germanic languages, descended from Proto-Germanic.* The Germanic peoples**List of Germanic peoples**List of confederations of Germanic tribes* German people* Germanic mythology...
), meaning that all other tribes who were later referred to this way, including those in 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...
east of the Rhine river. Their name is the source of several place names in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, 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...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The 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...
, including Tongeren, and several places called Tongerloo, and Tongelre
Tongelre
Tongelre is a bourough of Eindhoven. It used to be a separate village to the east of Eindhoven. Waterways comprise most of its borders. It is bordered to the south by a canal, the "Eindhovensch Kanaal" to the borough of Stratum and Geldrop municipality...
.
Origins
In a comment in his GermaniaGermania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
Tacitus
Tacitus
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...
remarks that Germani was the original tribal name of the Tungri with whom the Gauls were in contact; among the Gauls the term Germani came to be widely applied.
The name Germany, on the other hand, they say, is modern and newly introduced, from the fact that the tribes which first crossed the Rhine and drove out the Gauls, and are now called Tungrians, were then called Germans [Germani]. Thus what was the name of a tribe, and not of a race, gradually prevailed, till all called themselves by this self-invented name of Germans, which the conquerors had first employed to inspire terror.
Some generations earlier, 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....
, on the other hand, does not mention the Tungri, but does say that 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 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 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 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...
, living in the same approximate area as the later Tungri, were "called by the common name of Germans (Germani)" and had settled in Gaul already before the Cimbric wars, having come from Germany east of the Rhine. The Romans allies named them as having one collective contribution of men to the Belgic revolt against him, within which the Eburones were the most important. They were led by 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...
and 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...
. Also neighbouring these tribes where the Aduatuci
Aduatuci
The Aduatuci or Atuatuci were, according to Caesar, a Germanic tribe formed in east Belgium descended from the Cimbri and Teutones, who are tribes thought to have originated in the area of Denmark. They were allowed to settle in the region by local tribes...
, whose origin Caesar describes more specifically as having descended from 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...
and Teutones, against whom the Germani had been the only Gaulish tribe to successfully defend themselves. Their descendants, if there were any, presumably lived amongst the Tungri.
Already during the campaign of Caesar, the Tencteri and Usipetes crossed the Rhine for a cattle raid of the territories 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...
, Eburones and Condrusi, giving Caesar an excuse for new military intervention in the area. He pursued them back over the Rhine where they were helped by 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....
. Later, Caesar himself encouraged the Sicambri to cross the Rhine into the territory of the Eburones, seeking to plunder the lands of the people whose fortress he had just taken. These tribes who crossed the Rhine and became part of Roman 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....
were themselves apparently heavily influenced by Gaulish culture, some using Gaulish personal names or Gaulish tribal names.
Later, as the area became part of 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....
some of these tribes from over the Rhine, including Sicambri and Ubii, were forced by Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
to settle among in the northeast of Gaul, and Romanised provinces with tribal names developed from the mergers of incoming groups, with people who had lived there before Caesar. This is the apparent origin of both the Tungri the other tribal groups of Germania Inferior.
The exact history of each such mergers is unknown, although the areas nearer to the Rhine appear to have had larger scale immigration while the Tungri are often suspected of being less changed in their make-up by this process. Smaller tribal groups such as the Condrusi (one of the Germani tribes mentioned by Caesar) and the Texuandri (maybe the same as the Eburones) continued to exist as recognized groups for the administrative purpose of mustering troops. To the north of the Tungri, in the Rhine-Maas delta 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...
, a similarly new formation, apparently made up of in-coming Chatti
Chatti
The 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...
, with a possible contribution of Eburones. To the northeast of the Tungri, near the Rhine were the Cugerni, who are thought to be Sicambri, and then around the area 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....
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...
were settled.
Location
Pliny the ElderPliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
is the first writer to mention the Tungri in 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...
, in his Natural History. He notes that their territory
...has a spring of great renown, which sparkles as it bursts forth with bubbles innumerable, and has a certain ferruginousIron oxideIron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...
taste, only to be perceived after it has been drunk. This water is strongly purgative, is curative of tertian fevers, and disperses urinary calculi: upon the application of fire it assumes a turbid appearance, and finally turns red
It has been suggested that this refers to the well-known waters of Spa
Spa, Belgium
Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...
in the province 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....
, or else to waters found at Tongeren, which are suitably iron-bearing, and today referred to as the "Plinius bron".
Both Pliny and Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
's Geography are unclear concerning the exact position of the Tungri but are understood as placing them east of the Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
, and to the north of the Arduenna Silva (Forest of Ardennes
Ardennes
The 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...
), along the middle and lower valley of the Mosa (Meuse River
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
).
Their tribal capital lay at Atuatuca (or Aduatuca) Tungrorum, probably modern Tongeren in the 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...
province of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
(the word Atuatuca is thought to have probably meant fortress). Under the Romans, the Tungri civitas was first 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...
, and later split out to join the territories of 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...
to the southeast, and 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 are generally equated with being descended from the Sicambri, to the northeast, 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....
, and still later it became part of 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...
. In other directions, their neighbours in Roman times were the Belgic
Belgae
The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain, and possibly even Ireland...
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...
on the west and 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...
and 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...
to the south, all tribes who had been in those regions since before Caesar's campaign.
Part of the empire
Tacitus in his HistoriesHistories (Tacitus)
Histories is a book by Tacitus, written c. 100–110, which covers the Year of Four Emperors following the downfall of Nero, the rise of Vespasian, and the rule of the Flavian Dynasty up to the death of Domitian.thumb|180px|Tacitus...
notes two cohorts
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:...
of Tungri in the civil war of 69 CE.
The Tungri were mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
, an early fifth-century document, in which was transcribed every military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and governmental post in the late 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....
. The document mentions the Tribune of the First 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:...
of Tungri stationed at Vercovicium (now known as Housesteads
Housesteads
Vercovicium, now known as Housesteads Roman Fort, was an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia. Its ruins are located at Housesteads in the civil parish of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, England, somewhat to the south of Broomlee Lough.-History:In the 2nd century AD,...
, Northumberland) on Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
. The cohort was split in Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
ic times to form a Second Cohort of Tungri as well, both cohorts 1000 men strong (milliary cohorts).
See also
- List of Germanic tribes
External links
- Roman Britain website: Cohors Primae Tvngrorvm