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The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri
Buri (Germanic tribe)

The Buri first appear in history as a Germanic tribe mentioned in the Germania of Tacitus, where they initially "close the back" of the Marcomanni and Quadi of Bohemia and Moravia....
, Suebi
Suebi

The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c....
 or Suevi.

lars believe their name derives from one of two possible sources: (1) old Germanic forms of "march" ("frontier, border") and "men"; or (2) the name of a Roman legate, Marcus Fabius Romanus, who deserted Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus

Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman Empire politician and military commander....
' legions during his German campaign in ca. 13 BC and is thought to have banded together a ragtag group of Germanic tribes into a cohesive fighting force (see POMOERIVM, vol.






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Timeline

6   Tiberius makes Carnuntum his base of operations against Maroboduus; The Roman legion XX ''Valeria Victrix'' fights with Tiberius against the Marcomanni.

18   The German chieftain Arminius destroys the kingdom of the Marcomanni.

19   Maroboduus, king of the Marcomanni, is deposed by Catualda. This ended the threat to the Romans from German tribes until the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Rome places them under its protection.

92   The Marcomanni are defeated by the Romans at the Danube. However, they are not entirely subdued.

166   Conflict erupts on the Danube frontier between Rome and the Germanic tribe of the Marcomanni.

167   Germanic tribe Marcomanni waged war against the Romans at Aquileia.

168   Marcus Aurelius and Verus pushed back the Marcomanni in Dacia.

169   Second Marcomanni War begins. Germanic tribes invade frontiers of the Roman Empire, specifically the provinces of Raetia and Moesia.

171   Marcomanni were finally defeated by Marcus Aurelius.

172   Marcus Aurelius as part of the pact signed with the Marcomanni, imports them to occupy areas of the empire that had been depopulated by the plague.







Encyclopedia


The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri
Buri (Germanic tribe)

The Buri first appear in history as a Germanic tribe mentioned in the Germania of Tacitus, where they initially "close the back" of the Marcomanni and Quadi of Bohemia and Moravia....
, Suebi
Suebi

The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c....
 or Suevi.

History


Origin

Scholars believe their name derives from one of two possible sources: (1) old Germanic forms of "march" ("frontier, border") and "men"; or (2) the name of a Roman legate, Marcus Fabius Romanus, who deserted Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus

Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman Empire politician and military commander....
' legions during his German campaign in ca. 13 BC and is thought to have banded together a ragtag group of Germanic tribes into a cohesive fighting force (see POMOERIVM, vol. 3, 1998). Another source indicates that Marcus Fabius Romanus was exiled for wheat speculation and did not, in fact, desert the army on campaign though the source also links Romanus with the Marcomanni in the years following his exile. Several primary sources cite Romanus as a senator, a large landholder, and, controversially, a financial backer of one of the primary chariot racing factions (also POMOERIVM, vol. 3, 1998).

Drusus attacked the Marcomanni in 9 BC, forcing them into what is now Bohemia
Bohemia

History...
. There their king Maroboduus
Marbod

Marbod or Maroboduus , was king of the Marcomanni. In his novel I, Claudius Robert Graves interprets the name 'Marbod' as meaning "he who walks on the bottom of the lake"....
 established a powerful kingdom that Augustus perceived as a threat to Rome
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Before he could act, however, the war in Illyria
Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
 intervened. Eventually Maroboduus was deposed and exiled by Catualda (AD 19).

Tacitus, in the late 1st century mentions (Germania I.42) the Marcommani as being under kings appointed by Rome.

Marcomannic Wars

In the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including the Quadi
Quadi

The Quadi were a smaller Germanic tribe, about which little definitive information is known. The history of non-literate peoples is written by their opponents, and we can only know the Germanic tribe the Romans called the 'Quadi' through Roman eyes....
, Vandals
Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
, and Sarmatians
Sarmatians

The Sarmatians, Sarmat? or Sauromat? were a people of Ancient Iranian peoples origin. Mentioned by Classics authors, they migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C....
, against the Roman Empire. This was probably driven by movements of larger tribes, like the Goths
Goths

The Goths were East Germanic tribes who, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, invasion the Roman Empire and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy....
. According to the historian Eutropius
Eutropius

IntroductionNot much is known about the early life of Eutropius because there are no written texts that document his life. Eutropius should not be confused with Eutropius of Valencia or Saint Eutropius....
, the forces of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoicism philosophy....
 battled against the Marcomannic confederation for three years at the fortress of Carnuntum
Carnuntum

Carnuntum was an important Roman Empire army camp in what is now Austria. It belonged originally to Noricum province, but after the 1st century was part of Pannonia....
 in Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
. Eutropius compared the war, and Marcus Aurelius' success against the Marcomanni and their allies, to the Punic Wars
Punic Wars

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Ancient Rome and Carthage from 264 to 146 BC. They were probably the largest wars yet of the ancient world....
. The comparison was apt in that this war marked a turning point and had significant Roman defeats; it caused the death of two Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
 commanders. The war began in 166, when the Marcomanni overwhelmed the defences between Vindobona
Vindobona

Vindobona was originally a Celtic settlement, and later a Ancient Rome military camp on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. Around 15 B.C., the kingdom of Noricum was included in the Roman Empire....
 and Carnuntum
Carnuntum

Carnuntum was an important Roman Empire army camp in what is now Austria. It belonged originally to Noricum province, but after the 1st century was part of Pannonia....
, penetrated along the border between the provinces of Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
 and Noricum
Noricum

Noricum, in ancient history geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and Slovenia. It became a Roman province of the Roman Empire....
, laid waste to Flavia Solva
Flavia Solva

Flavia Solva was a municipium in the ancient Roman province of Noricum. It was situated on the western banks of the Mura river, close to the modern city of Leibnitz in the southern parts of the Austrian province of Styria....
, and could be stopped only shortly before reaching Aquileia
Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient history Roman Republic city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic Sea at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times....
 on the Adriatic sea. The war lasted until Marcus Aurelius' death in 180. It would prove to be only a limited success for Rome; the Danube
Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
 river remained as the frontier of the Empire until the final fall of the West.

Later history

The Christianisation of the Marcomanni occurred under their queen Fritigil
Fritigil

Fritigil , Queen of the Marcomanni, is the last known ruler of the Germanic peoples who were at that time probably settled in Pannonia. She is alleged to have had her residence in the present Burgenland....
 (mid fourth century), who corresponded with Ambrose of Milan to bring about the conversion.

There is a runic alphabet
Runic alphabet

The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using Letter known as runes to write various Germanic languages prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter....
 called the Marcomannic runes, but they are not believed to be related to the Marcomannic people.

After crossing the Pyrenees
Pyrenees

The Pyrenees are a mountain range in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. They separate the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe, and extend for about from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea ....
 in 409, a group of Marcomanni, Quadi and Buri
Buri (Germanic tribe)

The Buri first appear in history as a Germanic tribe mentioned in the Germania of Tacitus, where they initially "close the back" of the Marcomanni and Quadi of Bohemia and Moravia....
, established themselves in the Roman province of Gallaecia
Gallaecia

Gallaecia or Callaecia was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania ....
 (modern Galicia and northern Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
), where they were considered foederati
Foederati

Foederatus is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire....
 and founded the Suebi Kingdom of Gallaecia. There, Hermeric
Hermeric

Hermeric was the Suevic King of Galicia from perhaps as early as 406 and certainly no later than 419 until his retirement in 438. He was a Germanic paganism and an enemy of the Roman Empire throughout his life....
 swore fealty to the emperor in 410. Bracara Augusta, the modern city of Braga
Braga

Braga , a List of municipalities of Portugal and municipalities of Portugal in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga , the oldest Archdiocese of Braga and one of the major cities of the country....
 in Portugal, previously the capital of Roman Gallaecia, now became the capital of the Suebic kingdom.

List of Kings of the Marcomanni

  1. Marbod
    Marbod

    Marbod or Maroboduus , was king of the Marcomanni. In his novel I, Claudius Robert Graves interprets the name 'Marbod' as meaning "he who walks on the bottom of the lake"....
    , c. 9 BC - AD 19
  2. Ballomar, c. 166 AD ? - AD 172 or 178 ?


See also

  • Migrations period
  • Timeline of Germanic kingdoms
  • History of Portugal
    History of Portugal

    Portugal is a European nation whose origins go back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it Portugal in the Age of Discovery to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it Portuguese Empire including possessions in South America, Africa, and Asia....
  • Gallaecia
    Gallaecia

    Gallaecia or Callaecia was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania ....
  • Galicia (Spain)
  • History of Spain
    History of Spain

    The History of Spain spans the period from Prehistoric Iberia, through the rise and fall of the first Spanish Empire, to Spain's current position as a member of the European Union....
  • Irminones
    Irminones

    The Irminones, also referred to as Herminones or Hermiones, were a group of early Germanic tribes settling in the Elbe watershed and by the 1st century AD expanding into Bavaria, Swabia and Bohemia....


Classical Sources

  • , at The Latin Library
    The Latin Library

    The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. The texts have been drawn from different sources. Many were originally scanned and formatted from texts in the Public Domain....
  • , at The Latin Library
    The Latin Library

    The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. The texts have been drawn from different sources. Many were originally scanned and formatted from texts in the Public Domain....
  • , at The Latin Library
    The Latin Library

    The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. The texts have been drawn from different sources. Many were originally scanned and formatted from texts in the Public Domain....