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The Chauci were a populous Germanic tribe that inhabited the extreme northwestern shore of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 between Frisia
Frisia

Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian languages, a language group closely related to the English language....
 in the west and the Elbe
Elbe

The River Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in the Krkonose Mountains of northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Germany and flowing into the North Sea....
 estuary in the east. Their name derives from Proto-Germanic *xabukaz, "hawk" .


The Chauci, like the Frisii, inhabited terpen
Artificial dwelling hill

An artificial dwelling hill is a mound, created to provide safe ground during high tide and river floods.These hills occur in the coastal parts of the Netherlands , in southern part of Denmark and in Germany where, before Dike were made, tides interfered with daily life....
, artificial mounds raised above the large floodplains of their region, which served to protect their farms from the floods of the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
.






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The Chauci were a populous Germanic tribe that inhabited the extreme northwestern shore of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 between Frisia
Frisia

Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian languages, a language group closely related to the English language....
 in the west and the Elbe
Elbe

The River Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in the Krkonose Mountains of northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Germany and flowing into the North Sea....
 estuary in the east. Their name derives from Proto-Germanic *xabukaz, "hawk" .


The Chauci, like the Frisii, inhabited terpen
Artificial dwelling hill

An artificial dwelling hill is a mound, created to provide safe ground during high tide and river floods.These hills occur in the coastal parts of the Netherlands , in southern part of Denmark and in Germany where, before Dike were made, tides interfered with daily life....
, artificial mounds raised above the large floodplains of their region, which served to protect their farms from the floods of the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
. Their way of life was unfamiliar to the Romans, who found it mystifying. A lively, first hand account is delivered by Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
, who writes that the Chauci lived by fishing and hunting. Archeological evidence, however, shows that Pliny isn't quite accurate, since the Chauci also raised cattle and supported cavalry-troops.

The Chauci, according to Tacitus, were highly respected among Germanic tribes. He also describes them as peaceful, calm, and levelheaded, despite the reports in the Annales
Annales

Annals or annales are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year....
 of piracy.

History


The political position of the Chauci, early in the 1st century, was essentially a pro-Roman one. They provided, for instance, auxiliaries during the second campaign of Germanicus
Germanicus

Germanicus Julius Caesar Claudianus . Born in Lugdunum, Gaul , was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire. At birth he was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle and received the agnomen Germanicus, by which he is principally known, in 9 BC, when...
 against the Cherusci
Cherusci

The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany, in the area between present-day Osnabr?ck and Hanover), during the 1st century BC and 1st century....
. The evidence for this is not just the description of Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate 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 that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
, but also finds of typical equestrian paraphernalia near the Praetorium on the Kops-plateau near Oppidum Batavorum (Nijmegen
Nijmegen

Nijmegen is a municipality and a city in the east of the Netherlands, near the Germany border. It is considered to be the oldest city in the Netherlands and celebrated its 2000th year of existence in 2005....
), which served as the Roman headquarters in Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
.

The first known map of Ireland, made by the Greek geographer Ptolemy shows that the Chauci had colonized the eastern part of Ireland during the first or second century AD.

In 47 the Chauci, with the Frisii raided Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
, led by Gannascus, a Canninefat and deserter from the legions. They used small boats to raid the coast of Gaul (Belgica) but were defeated by Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was a Ancient Rome general....
. Corbulo in turn started plotting against Gannascus, who was ultimately killed. This however, led to great unrest amongst the Chauci and the situation was about to escalate when Corbulo was ordered by Claudius to retreat behind the Rhine River, which was subsequently declared the border of the Roman Empire.

During the Batavian Rebellion
Batavian rebellion

The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between 69 and 70 AD. It was an uprising against Roman rule by the Batavi and other tribes in the province and in Gaul....
 in 69, detachments of Frisii and Chauci fought on the side of Julius Civilis.

By the end of the 3rd century CE, they had merged with the Saxons
Saxons

The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic peoples. Their modern-day descendants in Saxony are considered ethnic Germans; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch people; those in north eastern Belgium are considered to be ethnic Flemish people; and those in southern England ethnic English people ....
. Whether this conjunction was amicable or forced is not clear.

The Chauci also appear in the poem Beowulf
Beowulf

Beowulf is an Old English language heroic Epic poetry of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th to the early 11th century, and relates events described as having occurred in what is now Denmark and Sweden....
 as "Hugas" where they form a lieger together with the Frankish Chattuarii
Chattuarii

The Chattuarii ot Attoarii are a tribe of the Franks. They lived originally east of the northern Rhine and west of the Chatti, that later were called Thuringii....
 (Hetwaras) and the Frisians
Frisians

The Frisians are an ethnic group of Germanic people living in coastal parts of The Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia....
 to fight against a Geatish raiding force. The Geats are defeated and their king Hygelac
Hygelac

Hygelac, Proto-Norse *Hugilaikaz, Old Norse Hugleikr was a king of the Geats according to the poem Beowulf. He was the son of Hrethel and had brothers Herebeald and Haethcyn....
 is killed, Beowulf alone escaping.

Bibliography


P. Cornelius Tacitus, de situ et origine germanorum. XXXV.
P. Cornelius Tacitus, annales
Annales

Annals or annales are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year....
, XI 18-19, XIII 55.
P. Cornelius Tacitus, historiae IV 79, V 19.
Gaius Plinius Secundus, Naturalis Historia
Naturalis Historia

Naturalis Historia is an encyclopedia written circa AD 77 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day, and was one of the first reference works developed in the Classical period to examine natural and man-made objects, both organic and mineral, as well as many natura...
, XVI, 2-4.

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