The Suevi, (or Suebi, Suavi, Suevians etc.), are a large group of related Germanic peoples who live in Germania and are first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign in Gaul, c. 58 BC. While Caesar treated them as one Germanic tribe, though the largest and most warlike, later authors such as Tacitus, Pliny and Strabo specified that the Suevi "do not, like the Chatti or Tencteri, constitute a single nation. They actually occupy more than half of Germany, and are divided into a number of distinct tribes under distinct names, though all generally are called Suebi".] "At one time, classical ethnography had applied the name "Suevi" to so many Germanic tribes that it appeared as though in the first centuries A.D. this native name would replace the foreign name "Germans".
Suevic tribes, compared to other Germanic tribes, are very mobile, and not reliant upon agriculture. Various Suevic groups moved from the direction of the Baltic sea and river Elbe, becoming a periodic threat to the Roman Empire on their Rhine and Danube frontiers. Their western neighbours, the Alamanni, and the eastern Bavarians and Thuringians can be said to have Suebic ancestry.
Other Suebi will enter Gaul and some will move as far as Gallaecia and will establish a Suebic Kingdom of Gallaecia there which last for 170 years until its integration into the Visigothic Kingdom.
Etymology
The name come from the Proto-Germanic swēbaz, either based on the Proto-Germanic root swē- meaning "one's own" people. The etymological sources list the following ethnic names as also from the same root: Suiones, Semnones, Samnites, Sabelli, Sabini, indicating the of a prior more extended and common Indo-European ethnic name, "our own people". Alternatively, it may be borrowed from a Celtic word for "vagabond".
More than one tribe
Caesar placed the Suebi east of the Ubii, in the position where later writers mention the Chatti, and he distinguished them from their allies the Marcomanni. Caesar's Suebi were the later Chatti (the Chatti were more settled in one territory, whereas Suevi remained less settled), or possibly the Hermunduri (living near the sources of the Elbe and stretching across the Danube into Roman Rhaetia) or even the Semnones Later authors use the term Suebi more broadly, "to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany". The definitions of the greater ethnic groupings within Germania were not always consistent and clear, especially in the case of mobile groups such as the Suevi.
Tribes names in classical sources[edit]
Northern bank of the Danube[edit]
In the time of Caesar, southern Germany was Celtic, but 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 river, and the Rhine had been deserted by the departure of two large Celtic nations, the Helvetii to south and the Boii further east.
Strabo specifically mentions as Suevic peoples the Marcomanni, who under King Marobodus had moved into the same Hercynian forest as the the Quadi (they were on the edge of greater Suebia, having the Sarmatians to the southeast), 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 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 the modern day Czech Republic.
Approaching the Rhine[edit]
Strabo wrote that the Suebi "excel all the others in power and numbers." He describes Suebic peoples 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 the "coastal" regions north of the Rhine.
As discussed below, in the third century a large group of Suebi, also referred to as the Allemanni moved up to the Rhine bank, which had previously been controlled by the Romans. (They competed in this region with Burgundians who had arrived from further east.)
The Semnones, are described by Tacitus as "the oldest and noblest of the Suebi", and like the Suebi described by Caesar they have 100 cantons. Tacitus says that "the vastness of their community makes them regard themselves as the head of the Suevic race". The Semnones practice the sacrifice of humans in a sacred grove and the murder of slaves used in the rites of Nerthus. The chief priest dresses as a woman. They fight at night dyed black.
Cultural characteristics
Rather than grain crops, they spend time on husbandry and hunting. The y are highly mobile and nomadic, unlike more settled and agricultural tribes. 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. They load their household belongings on their wagons and with their beasts turn whithersoever they think best.
They wear animal skins, bathed in rivers, consume milk and meat products, and prohibite wine, allowing trade only to dispose of their booty and otherwise they have no goods to export. They have no private ownership of land and are not permitted to stay resident in one place for more than one year.
They are divided into 100 cantons, each of which have to provide and support 1000 armed men for the constant pursuit of war.
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. Chiefs "use an even more elaborate style".
Suevic tribes, compared to other Germanic tribes, are very mobile, and not reliant upon agriculture. Various Suevic groups moved from the direction of the Baltic sea and river Elbe, becoming a periodic threat to the Roman Empire on their Rhine and Danube frontiers. Their western neighbours, the Alamanni, and the eastern Bavarians and Thuringians can be said to have Suebic ancestry.
Other Suebi will enter Gaul and some will move as far as Gallaecia and will establish a Suebic Kingdom of Gallaecia there which last for 170 years until its integration into the Visigothic Kingdom.
Etymology
The name come from the Proto-Germanic swēbaz, either based on the Proto-Germanic root swē- meaning "one's own" people. The etymological sources list the following ethnic names as also from the same root: Suiones, Semnones, Samnites, Sabelli, Sabini, indicating the of a prior more extended and common Indo-European ethnic name, "our own people". Alternatively, it may be borrowed from a Celtic word for "vagabond".
More than one tribe
Caesar placed the Suebi east of the Ubii, in the position where later writers mention the Chatti, and he distinguished them from their allies the Marcomanni. Caesar's Suebi were the later Chatti (the Chatti were more settled in one territory, whereas Suevi remained less settled), or possibly the Hermunduri (living near the sources of the Elbe and stretching across the Danube into Roman Rhaetia) or even the Semnones Later authors use the term Suebi more broadly, "to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany". The definitions of the greater ethnic groupings within Germania were not always consistent and clear, especially in the case of mobile groups such as the Suevi.
Tribes names in classical sources[edit]
Northern bank of the Danube[edit]
In the time of Caesar, southern Germany was Celtic, but 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 river, and the Rhine had been deserted by the departure of two large Celtic nations, the Helvetii to south and the Boii further east.
Strabo specifically mentions as Suevic peoples the Marcomanni, who under King Marobodus had moved into the same Hercynian forest as the the Quadi (they were on the edge of greater Suebia, having the Sarmatians to the southeast), 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 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 the modern day Czech Republic.
Approaching the Rhine[edit]
Strabo wrote that the Suebi "excel all the others in power and numbers." He describes Suebic peoples 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 the "coastal" regions north of the Rhine.
As discussed below, in the third century a large group of Suebi, also referred to as the Allemanni moved up to the Rhine bank, which had previously been controlled by the Romans. (They competed in this region with Burgundians who had arrived from further east.)
The Semnones, are described by Tacitus as "the oldest and noblest of the Suebi", and like the Suebi described by Caesar they have 100 cantons. Tacitus says that "the vastness of their community makes them regard themselves as the head of the Suevic race". The Semnones practice the sacrifice of humans in a sacred grove and the murder of slaves used in the rites of Nerthus. The chief priest dresses as a woman. They fight at night dyed black.
Cultural characteristics
Rather than grain crops, they spend time on husbandry and hunting. The y are highly mobile and nomadic, unlike more settled and agricultural tribes. 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. They load their household belongings on their wagons and with their beasts turn whithersoever they think best.
They wear animal skins, bathed in rivers, consume milk and meat products, and prohibite wine, allowing trade only to dispose of their booty and otherwise they have no goods to export. They have no private ownership of land and are not permitted to stay resident in one place for more than one year.
They are divided into 100 cantons, each of which have to provide and support 1000 armed men for the constant pursuit of war.
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. Chiefs "use an even more elaborate style".
Historical events
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 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 the Rhine. When news of this spread, the fresh Suebian forces turned back in some panic, which led to local tribes living near the Rhine to take advantage of the situation, attacking them.
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 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 the Ubii. (The Ubii were later resettled on the east bank of the Rhine, in Roman territory.)
Shortly before 29 BC the Suebi crossed again the Rhine, only to be defeated by Gaius Carrinas who along with the young Octavian Caesar celebrated a triumph in 29 BC.
The Cherusci, Suebi and Sicambri formed an alliance by crucifying twenty Roman centurions, but "submitted to Nero Claudius Drusus in 9 BC and were taken into Gaul and settled in lands near the Rhine" while the other Germani were pushed "to the farther side of the river Albis" (Elbe). Drusus defeated them, confiscated their plunder and sold them into slavery. The settlers were 40,000 prisoners of war, only a fraction of the yearly draft of militia. The peace brought to Germany by Drusus was glowing but premature. He built "more than five hundred forts" and two bridges guarded by fleets. "He opened a way through the Hercynian Forest", which implies but still does not overtly state that he had subdued the Suebi. "In a word, there was such peace in Germany that the inhabitants seemed changed ... and the very climate milder and softer than it used to be."
After the defeat of 9 BC Augustus divided the Germans by making a separate peace with the Sugambri and Suebi under their king Maroboduus (although in most sources referred to as the king of the Marcomanni ). This is the first mention of any permanent king of the Suebi. Augustus planned in 6 AD to destroy the kingdom of Maroboduus, which he considered to be too dangerous for the Romans. The later Emperor Tiberius commanded twelve legions to attack the Marcomanni. But the outbreak of a revolt in Illyria, and the need for troops there, forced Tiberius to conclude a treaty with Maroboduus and to recognize him as king.
After the death of Drusus, the Cherusci annihilated three legions at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and thereafter "... the empire ... was checked on the banks of the Rhine." While elements of the Suevi have been involved, this was an alliance mainly made up of non-Suebic tribes from northwestern Germany, the Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci, and Sicambri. The kingdom of the Marcomanni and their allies stayed out of the conflict and when Maroboduus was sent the head of the defeated Roman leader Varus, he sent it on to Rome for burial. Within his own alliance were various Suebic peoples, Hermunduri, Quadi, Semnones, Lugii, Zumi, Butones, Mugilones, Sibini and Langobards.
Subsequently Augustus placed Germanicus, the son of Drusus, in charge of the forces of the Rhine and he proceeded against the Cherusci and their allies, breaking their power finally at the battle of Idistavisus, a plain on the Weser, in 16 AD. All eight legions and supporting units of Gauls were required to do that. Arminius, leader of the Cherusci and allies, now had a free hand. He accused Maroboduus of hiding in the Hercynian Forest while the other Germans fought for freedom, and accused Maroboduus of being the only king among the Germans. The two groups "turned their arms against each other." The Suebic Semnones and Langobardi rebelled against their king and went over to the Cherusci. Left with only the Marcomanni and Herminius' uncle, who had defected, Maroboduus appealed to Drusus, now governor of Illyricum, and was given only a pretext of aid. The resulting battle was indecisive but Maroboduus withdrew to Bohemia and sent for assistance to Tiberius. He was refused on the grounds that he had not moved to help Varus. Drusus encouraged the Germans to finish him off. A force of Goths under Catualda, a Marcomannian exile, bought off the nobles and seized the palace. Maroboduus escaped to Noricum and the Romans offered him refuge in Ravenna where he remained the rest of his life. He died in 37 AD. After his expulsion the leadership of the Marcomanni was contested by their Suebic neighbours and allies, the Hermunduri and Quadi.
Marcomannic wars
In the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including the Quadi, Vandals, and Sarmatians, against the Roman Empire. The war began in 166, when the Marcomanni overwhelmed the defences between Vindobona and Carnuntum, penetrated along the border between the provinces of Pannonia and Noricum, laid waste to Flavia Solva, and could be stopped only shortly before reaching Aquileia on the Adriatic sea. The war lasted until Marcus Aurelius' death in 180.
In the third century the Marcomanni paid tribute to the Goths, and the princes of the Quadi were enslaved by them.
Migration period
These Suebi for the most part stay on the right bank of the Rhine until 31 December 406, when much of the tribe join the Vandals and Alans in breaching the Roman frontier by crossing the Rhine, perhaps at Mogontiacum, thus launching an invasion of northern Gaul.
Other Suebi remain in or near to the original homeland areas near the Elbe, occasionally still being referred to by this term. They will expand eventually into Roman areas such as Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria, possibly pushed by groups arriving from the east.
Another group of Suebi, the so-called "northern Suebi" will live in 569 in areas of today's Saxony-Anhalt which were known as Schwabengau or Svebengau at least until the 12th century.
Further south, a group of Suebi settle in parts of Pannonia, after the Huns were defeated in 454 in the Battle of Nedao. Later, the Suebian king Hunimund fight against the Ostrogoths in the battle of Bolia in 469. The Suebian coalition lost the battle, and parts of the Suebi therefore migrate to southern Germany.
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 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 the Rhine. When news of this spread, the fresh Suebian forces turned back in some panic, which led to local tribes living near the Rhine to take advantage of the situation, attacking them.
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 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 the Ubii. (The Ubii were later resettled on the east bank of the Rhine, in Roman territory.)
Shortly before 29 BC the Suebi crossed again the Rhine, only to be defeated by Gaius Carrinas who along with the young Octavian Caesar celebrated a triumph in 29 BC.
The Cherusci, Suebi and Sicambri formed an alliance by crucifying twenty Roman centurions, but "submitted to Nero Claudius Drusus in 9 BC and were taken into Gaul and settled in lands near the Rhine" while the other Germani were pushed "to the farther side of the river Albis" (Elbe). Drusus defeated them, confiscated their plunder and sold them into slavery. The settlers were 40,000 prisoners of war, only a fraction of the yearly draft of militia. The peace brought to Germany by Drusus was glowing but premature. He built "more than five hundred forts" and two bridges guarded by fleets. "He opened a way through the Hercynian Forest", which implies but still does not overtly state that he had subdued the Suebi. "In a word, there was such peace in Germany that the inhabitants seemed changed ... and the very climate milder and softer than it used to be."
After the defeat of 9 BC Augustus divided the Germans by making a separate peace with the Sugambri and Suebi under their king Maroboduus (although in most sources referred to as the king of the Marcomanni ). This is the first mention of any permanent king of the Suebi. Augustus planned in 6 AD to destroy the kingdom of Maroboduus, which he considered to be too dangerous for the Romans. The later Emperor Tiberius commanded twelve legions to attack the Marcomanni. But the outbreak of a revolt in Illyria, and the need for troops there, forced Tiberius to conclude a treaty with Maroboduus and to recognize him as king.
After the death of Drusus, the Cherusci annihilated three legions at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and thereafter "... the empire ... was checked on the banks of the Rhine." While elements of the Suevi have been involved, this was an alliance mainly made up of non-Suebic tribes from northwestern Germany, the Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci, and Sicambri. The kingdom of the Marcomanni and their allies stayed out of the conflict and when Maroboduus was sent the head of the defeated Roman leader Varus, he sent it on to Rome for burial. Within his own alliance were various Suebic peoples, Hermunduri, Quadi, Semnones, Lugii, Zumi, Butones, Mugilones, Sibini and Langobards.
Subsequently Augustus placed Germanicus, the son of Drusus, in charge of the forces of the Rhine and he proceeded against the Cherusci and their allies, breaking their power finally at the battle of Idistavisus, a plain on the Weser, in 16 AD. All eight legions and supporting units of Gauls were required to do that. Arminius, leader of the Cherusci and allies, now had a free hand. He accused Maroboduus of hiding in the Hercynian Forest while the other Germans fought for freedom, and accused Maroboduus of being the only king among the Germans. The two groups "turned their arms against each other." The Suebic Semnones and Langobardi rebelled against their king and went over to the Cherusci. Left with only the Marcomanni and Herminius' uncle, who had defected, Maroboduus appealed to Drusus, now governor of Illyricum, and was given only a pretext of aid. The resulting battle was indecisive but Maroboduus withdrew to Bohemia and sent for assistance to Tiberius. He was refused on the grounds that he had not moved to help Varus. Drusus encouraged the Germans to finish him off. A force of Goths under Catualda, a Marcomannian exile, bought off the nobles and seized the palace. Maroboduus escaped to Noricum and the Romans offered him refuge in Ravenna where he remained the rest of his life. He died in 37 AD. After his expulsion the leadership of the Marcomanni was contested by their Suebic neighbours and allies, the Hermunduri and Quadi.
Marcomannic wars
In the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including the Quadi, Vandals, and Sarmatians, against the Roman Empire. The war began in 166, when the Marcomanni overwhelmed the defences between Vindobona and Carnuntum, penetrated along the border between the provinces of Pannonia and Noricum, laid waste to Flavia Solva, and could be stopped only shortly before reaching Aquileia on the Adriatic sea. The war lasted until Marcus Aurelius' death in 180.
In the third century the Marcomanni paid tribute to the Goths, and the princes of the Quadi were enslaved by them.
Migration period
These Suebi for the most part stay on the right bank of the Rhine until 31 December 406, when much of the tribe join the Vandals and Alans in breaching the Roman frontier by crossing the Rhine, perhaps at Mogontiacum, thus launching an invasion of northern Gaul.
Other Suebi remain in or near to the original homeland areas near the Elbe, occasionally still being referred to by this term. They will expand eventually into Roman areas such as Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria, possibly pushed by groups arriving from the east.
Another group of Suebi, the so-called "northern Suebi" will live in 569 in areas of today's Saxony-Anhalt which were known as Schwabengau or Svebengau at least until the 12th century.
Further south, a group of Suebi settle in parts of Pannonia, after the Huns were defeated in 454 in the Battle of Nedao. Later, the Suebian king Hunimund fight against the Ostrogoths in the battle of Bolia in 469. The Suebian coalition lost the battle, and parts of the Suebi therefore migrate to southern Germany.
Kingdom of the Suebi
The Kingdom of the Suebi (Latin: Regnum Suevorum), also called the Kingdom of Gallæcia (Latin: Regnum Gallæciae), is a Germanic post-Roman kingdom, one of the first ones to separate from the Roman Empire. Based in the former Roman provinces of Gallaecia and northern Lusitania, the de facto kingdom is established by the Suebi about 410 and during the 6th century it become a formally declared kingdom identifying with Gallaecia. It will maintain its independence until 585, when it will be annexed by the Visigoths, and is turned into the sixth province of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania.
Origins
The migration of the various Germanic peoples west of the Rhine is due to the westward push of the Huns during the late 4th century. The activities of the Huns disrupted and threatened the existing peoples of the region forcing them to uproot. The Suevic Quadi (along with the Vandals and Alans) cross the Rhine on the night of 31 December 406 AD and enter the Roman Empire.
Their entrance into the Roman Empire is at a moment when the Roman West was experiencing a series of invasions and civil wars; between 405 and 406, the Western regions of the empire see the invasion of Italy by Goths under Radagaisus, as well as a steady stream of usurpers. This allow the invading barbarians to enter Gaul with little resistance, consequently allowing for the barbarians to cause considerable damage to the northern provinces of Germania Inferior, Belgica Prima, and Belgica Secunda before the empire see them as a threat. In response to the barbarian invasion of Gaul, the usurper Constantine III, halts the masses of Vandals, Alans, and Sueves, who remained confined to northern Gaul. But in the spring of 409, Gerontius let a revolt in Hispania and set up his own emperor, Maximus. Constantine, who had recently been elevated to the title of Augustus, set off to Hispania to deal with the rebellion. Gerontius responded by stirring up the barbarians in Gaul against Constantine, convincing them to mobilize again, and, in the summer of 409, the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi begin pushing south towards Hispania.
Settlement and integration
The civil war that erupted in the Iberian Peninsula between the forces of Constantine and Gerontius left the passes through the Pyrenees either purposely or consequently neglected, making southern Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula susceptible to barbarian attack. The crossing into the Iberian Peninsula by the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi take place between the 28 September and the 12 October 409. Upon entering of Hispania the barbarian peoples —and even so the same Roman soldiers— spend two years 409–410 in a frenzy, plundering food and goods from the cities and countryside, causing a famine in the process that forced cannibalism amongst the locals, “[driven] by hunger human beings devoured human flesh; mothers too feasted upon the bodies of their own children whom they had killed and cooked with their own hands.” In 411 the Suevi and the other invaders groups decide on the establishment of a peace treaty with Maximus’s government. There divide the provinces of Hispania among themselves sorte, “by lot” (“allotments,” which barbarian federates received by the Roman government). The division of the land between the four barbarian groups go as such: the Siling Vandals settle in Hispania Baetica, the Alans are allotted the provinces of Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis, and the Hasding Vandals and the Suevi share the northwestern province of Gallaecia.[18]
The division of Galicia between the Suevi and the Hasding Vandals place the Suevi in the western of the province, by the Atlantic Ocean shores, most probably in lands now between the cities of Porto, in the south, and Pontevedra, in the north. Soon Braga would become their capital, later expanding themselves into Astorga, and in the region of Lugo and in the valley of the Minho river. The initial relation between Galicians and Suevi are not as calamitous,with not war or conflict with the locals between 411 and 430. The newcomers turn their swords into ploughs once they received their new lands.
Another Germanic group accompanie the Suebi and settled in Galicia, the Buri, in the region between the rivers Cávado and Homem, in the area known as Terras de Bouro (Lands of the Buri), known in the High Middle Ages as Burio.
The Kingdom of the Suebi (Latin: Regnum Suevorum), also called the Kingdom of Gallæcia (Latin: Regnum Gallæciae), is a Germanic post-Roman kingdom, one of the first ones to separate from the Roman Empire. Based in the former Roman provinces of Gallaecia and northern Lusitania, the de facto kingdom is established by the Suebi about 410 and during the 6th century it become a formally declared kingdom identifying with Gallaecia. It will maintain its independence until 585, when it will be annexed by the Visigoths, and is turned into the sixth province of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania.
Origins
The migration of the various Germanic peoples west of the Rhine is due to the westward push of the Huns during the late 4th century. The activities of the Huns disrupted and threatened the existing peoples of the region forcing them to uproot. The Suevic Quadi (along with the Vandals and Alans) cross the Rhine on the night of 31 December 406 AD and enter the Roman Empire.
Their entrance into the Roman Empire is at a moment when the Roman West was experiencing a series of invasions and civil wars; between 405 and 406, the Western regions of the empire see the invasion of Italy by Goths under Radagaisus, as well as a steady stream of usurpers. This allow the invading barbarians to enter Gaul with little resistance, consequently allowing for the barbarians to cause considerable damage to the northern provinces of Germania Inferior, Belgica Prima, and Belgica Secunda before the empire see them as a threat. In response to the barbarian invasion of Gaul, the usurper Constantine III, halts the masses of Vandals, Alans, and Sueves, who remained confined to northern Gaul. But in the spring of 409, Gerontius let a revolt in Hispania and set up his own emperor, Maximus. Constantine, who had recently been elevated to the title of Augustus, set off to Hispania to deal with the rebellion. Gerontius responded by stirring up the barbarians in Gaul against Constantine, convincing them to mobilize again, and, in the summer of 409, the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi begin pushing south towards Hispania.
Settlement and integration
The civil war that erupted in the Iberian Peninsula between the forces of Constantine and Gerontius left the passes through the Pyrenees either purposely or consequently neglected, making southern Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula susceptible to barbarian attack. The crossing into the Iberian Peninsula by the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi take place between the 28 September and the 12 October 409. Upon entering of Hispania the barbarian peoples —and even so the same Roman soldiers— spend two years 409–410 in a frenzy, plundering food and goods from the cities and countryside, causing a famine in the process that forced cannibalism amongst the locals, “[driven] by hunger human beings devoured human flesh; mothers too feasted upon the bodies of their own children whom they had killed and cooked with their own hands.” In 411 the Suevi and the other invaders groups decide on the establishment of a peace treaty with Maximus’s government. There divide the provinces of Hispania among themselves sorte, “by lot” (“allotments,” which barbarian federates received by the Roman government). The division of the land between the four barbarian groups go as such: the Siling Vandals settle in Hispania Baetica, the Alans are allotted the provinces of Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis, and the Hasding Vandals and the Suevi share the northwestern province of Gallaecia.[18]
The division of Galicia between the Suevi and the Hasding Vandals place the Suevi in the western of the province, by the Atlantic Ocean shores, most probably in lands now between the cities of Porto, in the south, and Pontevedra, in the north. Soon Braga would become their capital, later expanding themselves into Astorga, and in the region of Lugo and in the valley of the Minho river. The initial relation between Galicians and Suevi are not as calamitous,with not war or conflict with the locals between 411 and 430. The newcomers turn their swords into ploughs once they received their new lands.
Another Germanic group accompanie the Suebi and settled in Galicia, the Buri, in the region between the rivers Cávado and Homem, in the area known as Terras de Bouro (Lands of the Buri), known in the High Middle Ages as Burio.
The Suevi remain mostly pagan until an Arian missionary named Ajax, sent by the Visigothic king Theodoric II at the request of the Suebic unifier Remismund, converts them in 466 and establish a lasting Arian church which dominated the people until their conversion to Catholicism in the 560s.
Anyhow, all along their history as an independent nation, they maintain an important diplomatic activity, most notably with Rome, the Vandals, the Visigoths, and, later, with the Franks
Names used by the Suevi
Hermericus, Heremigarius, Rechila, Rechiarius, Agriulfum, Maldras, Massila, Framta, Frumarius, Rechimundus, Remismundus, Veremundus, Chararici, Ariamirus, Ildericus, Theudomirus, Miro, Nitigisius, Uittimer, Anila, Remisol, Adoric, Eboricus, Siseguntia f, Audeca, Malaricus, Pantardus, Neufila, Hildemirus, Commundus, Ermaricus, Sunila, Becilla, Gardingus, Argiovitus, Gomedei, Rodomiro, Ermengontia f, Remisiwera f, Thuresmuda f, Suinthiliuba f.
Anyhow, all along their history as an independent nation, they maintain an important diplomatic activity, most notably with Rome, the Vandals, the Visigoths, and, later, with the Franks
Names used by the Suevi
Hermericus, Heremigarius, Rechila, Rechiarius, Agriulfum, Maldras, Massila, Framta, Frumarius, Rechimundus, Remismundus, Veremundus, Chararici, Ariamirus, Ildericus, Theudomirus, Miro, Nitigisius, Uittimer, Anila, Remisol, Adoric, Eboricus, Siseguntia f, Audeca, Malaricus, Pantardus, Neufila, Hildemirus, Commundus, Ermaricus, Sunila, Becilla, Gardingus, Argiovitus, Gomedei, Rodomiro, Ermengontia f, Remisiwera f, Thuresmuda f, Suinthiliuba f.