Chauci

Last updated
Continental.coast.150AD.Germanic.peoples.jpg

The Chauci were an ancient Germanic tribe living in the low-lying region between the Rivers Ems and Elbe, on both sides of the Weser and ranging as far inland as the upper Weser. Along the coast they lived on artificial mounds called terpen , built high enough to remain dry during the highest tide. A dense population of Chauci lived further inland, and they are presumed to have lived in a manner similar to the lives of the other Germanic peoples of the region.

Contents

Their ultimate origins are not well understood. In the Germanic pre-Migration Period (i.e., before c. 300 AD) the Chauci and the related Frisians, Saxons, and Angles inhabited the Continental European coast from the Zuyder Zee to south Jutland. [1] All of these peoples shared a common material culture, and so cannot be defined archaeologically. [2] The Chauci originally centered on the Weser and Elbe, but in c. AD 58 they expanded to the River Ems by expelling the neighboring Ampsivarii, [3] [4] whereby they gained a border with the Frisians to the west. The Romans referred to the Chauci living between the Weser and Elbe as the 'Greater Chauci' and those living between the Ems and Weser as the 'Lesser Chauci'. [5]

The Chauci entered the historical record in descriptions of them by classical Roman sources late in the first century BC in the context of Roman military campaigns and sea raiding. For the next 200 years the Chauci provided Roman auxiliaries through treaty obligations, but they also appear in their own right in concert with other Germanic tribes, opposing the Romans. Accounts of wars therefore mention the Chauci on both sides of the conflict, though the actions of troops under treaty obligation were separate from the policies of the tribe.

The Chauci lost their separate identity in the third century when they merged with the Saxons, [6] after which time they were considered to be Saxons. The circumstances of the merger are an unsettled issue of scholarly research.

Society and life

Terpen on hallig Hooge Hallig Hooge 2005.jpg
Terpen on hallig Hooge

The Germans of the region were not strongly hierarchical. This had been noted by Tacitus, for example when he mentioned the names of two kings of the first century Frisians and added that they were kings "as far as the Germans are under kings". [7] Haywood (Dark Age Naval Power, 1999) says the Chauci were originally neither highly centralised nor highly stratified, though they became more so after 100 AD. [8] Barbara Yorke, speaking of the fifth century, describes the 'Continental Saxons' (which then included the Chauci) as having powerful local families and a dominant military leader. [9]

Writing in AD 79, Pliny the Elder said that the Germanic tribes were members of separate groups of people, suggesting a distinction among them. He said that the Chauci, Cimbri and Teutoni —the people from the River Ems through Jutland and for some distance inland—were members of a group called Ingaevones (a "Cimbri" people were also given as members of a different group, and this is likely a different people). [10]

Tacitus, writing in AD 98, described the inland, non-coastal Chauci homeland as immense, densely populated, and well-stocked with horses. He was effusive in his praise of their character as a people, saying that they were the noblest of the Germans, preferring justice to violence, being neither aggressive nor predatory, but militarily capable and always prepared for war if the need arose. [11]

Pliny (AD 23–79) had visited the coastal region and described the Chauci who lived there. He said that they were "wretched natives" living on a barren coast in small cottages (or huts) on hilltops, or on mounds of turf built high enough to stay dry during the highest tide (i.e., terpen ). They fished for food, and unlike their neighbors (i.e., those living inland, away from the coast) they had no cattle, and had nothing to drink except rainwater caught in ditches. They used a type of dried mud (i.e., "surface peat") as fuel for cooking and heating. He also mentioned their spirit of independence, saying that even though they had nothing of value, they would deeply resent any attempt to conquer them. [12]

Classical Roman history

The record is incomplete. The bulk of historical information about the Chauci is from the Annals of Tacitus, written in 117. Many parts of his works have not survived, including an entire section covering the years AD 38–46, as well as the years after AD 69.

The earliest mention of the Chauci is from 12 BC and suggests that they were assisting other Germanic tribes in a war against the Romans. Drusus campaigned against those Germans along the lower Rhine, and after devastating the lands west and north of the Rhine he won over (or defeated or intimidated) the Frisians. He was in the process of attacking the Chauci when his vessels were trapped by an ebb tide. Drusus gave up the attack and withdrew. [13]

Aftermath of Teutoburg Forest, c. 15

The Germans under Arminius had destroyed 3 Roman legions under Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. The Romans recoiled at first but then Germanicus initiated destructive campaigns against those Germans whom the Romans blamed for their defeat. The Chauci were not among them, and were said to have promised aid, and were associated with the Romans in "military fellowship". [14] However, in defeating Arminius' own tribe (the Cherusci) the Romans were unable to capture or kill Arminius, who escaped. There were Chauci among the Roman auxiliaries, and they were rumored to have allowed the escape. [15] In one of the campaigns a Roman fleet (probably riverine, not ocean-going) was broken up by a storm, causing many casualties. Germanicus himself managed to survive by reaching the lands of the Chauci, who provided him with a safe haven. [16] Germanicus' campaigns had resulted in recovery of two of three Aquila lost in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest defeat; the third legionary standard was recovered in AD 41 by Publius Gabinius from the Chauci during the reign of Claudius, brother of Germanicus. [17]

A parenthetical note concerns the Ampsivarii. They had not supported the German cause led by Arminius in 9 AD and had been ostracized as a result. The Chauci had suffered no such disaffection from the other Germanic tribes in the aftermath of Teutoburg Forest, nor had they alienated the Romans. Many years later, c. AD 58, the Chauci seized upon an opportunity to expel the Ampsivarii and occupy their lands at the mouth of the River Ems, whereby they gained a border with the Frisians to the west. [18]

Roman war against Gannascus, c. 47

Reconstruction of a fluvial boat of the Classis Germanica (Rhine flotilla) in the first century AD. Roemerschiff1.jpg
Reconstruction of a fluvial boat of the Classis Germanica (Rhine flotilla) in the first century AD.

In AD 47 (and perhaps for some time earlier), the Chauci along with the Frisians were led by a certain Gannascus of the Canninefates. They raided along the then-wealthy coast of Gallia Belgica (i.e., the land south of the Rhine and north of the Rivers Marne and Seine), and the Chauci made inroads into the region that would later become the neighbouring Roman province of Germania Inferior, in the area of the Rhine delta in what is now the southern Netherlands. [19]

Corbulo was made the local Roman military commander. He successfully engaged the Germans on both land [20] and water, occupied the Rhine with his triremes and sent his smaller vessels up the estuaries and canals. The Germanic flotilla was destroyed in a naval engagement, Gannascus was driven out, and Frisian territory was forcibly occupied.

A negotiation between the Romans and Gannascus was arranged under the auspices of the 'Greater Chauci', which the Romans used as an opportunity to assassinate their opponent. The Chauci were outraged by the act of bad faith, so the emperor Claudius forbade further attacks on the Germans in an effort to ease tensions, and the Romans withdrew to the Rhine. [21]

Batavian Revolt, c. 69

In AD 69 the Batavi and other tribes rose against Roman rule in the Revolt of the Batavi, becoming a general uprising by all the Germans in the region. Led by Civilis, they inflicted huge casualties on the Romans, including the destruction of a Roman fleet by a Germanic one off the North Sea coast. [22] Led by Cerialis, the Romans gave as good as they had gotten, ultimately forcing a humiliating peace on the Batavi and stationing a legion on their territory.

Both the Chauci and the Frisians had auxiliaries serving under the Romans, and in a siege and assault by Civilis at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensis (at modern Cologne), a cohort of Chauci and Frisians had been trapped and burned. [23] [24] The Chauci had supported Civilis in their own name, providing him with reinforcements. [25]

Sea raiding

The Chauci were one of the most prominent early Germanic sea raiders. [26] They are probable participants in the Germanic flotilla that was destroyed by Drusus in 12 BC. They were raiding the coasts of Roman Belgica in AD 41, [27] long before they participated in further raids of the same coasts under Gannascus in AD 47. It is likely that their raiding was endemic over the years, as the few surviving accounts probably do not reflect all occurrences. Tacitus describes the Chauci as 'peaceful' in his Germania (AD 98), but this is in a passage describing the non-coastal, inland Chauci, [28] whereas sea raiders are necessarily a coastal people.

By the late second century Chauci raiding was ongoing and more serious than before, continuing in the English Channel until their last recorded raids c. 170–175. [29] While there are no historical sources to inform us one way or the other, it is likely that the Chauci continued their raiding and then played a role in the formation of the new Germanic powers, the Franks and Saxons who were raiders in the third century. [30]

There is archaeological evidence of destruction by raiders between 170–200, ranging along the Continental coast down to the Bay of Biscay, to northwest Belgica (e.g., fire destruction at Amiens, Thérouanne, Vendeuil-Caply, Beauvais, Bavai, Tournai, and Arras), to coastal Britain (e.g., fire destruction at the Essex sites of Chelmsford, Billericay, Gestingthorpe, Braintree, Wickford, Kelvedon, Great Chesterford, and Harlow). The perpetrators are unknown, but Chauci raiders are among the prime suspects. [31]

The Romans responded with defensive measures. Caistor-by-Norwich, Chelmsford and Forum Hadriani (present day Voorburg) (the civitas of the Canninefates near The Hague) were all fortified c. 200, and the Romans began a defensive system of protection especially along the coasts of Britain and the Continent. This system would be continually maintained and improved upon, which the Romans would not have done unless there was a continuing threat to be addressed. The system would continue to evolve through the disappearance of Chauci raiders and their replacement by the Frankish and Saxon ones, up to the end of the fourth century. By then it would be known as the Saxon Shore, a name given it by the Notitia Dignitatum . [32]

A passage written by Zosimus has been interpreted as one of the last mentions of the Chauci, and one where they are specifically mentioned as a Saxon group; but it depends upon whether we can equate them with the "Kouadoi" in Zosimus's Greek, a name he had apparently used wrongly. [33] Julian fought against Saxons and Franks, including the Salians, but then allowed the Salians "descended from the Franks" to settle in Toxandria in 358. According to Zosimus, this happened in response to an attack from the sea by the "Kouadoi" Saxons which affected both Romans and Salians, who had been living in the river delta. [34]

In literature

Beowulf is an Old English heroic poem where the hero (Beowulf) engages in battles with antagonists. Set in long-ago Scandinavia, it makes frequent references to the peoples who are a part of the story, and efforts have been made to connect those peoples with peoples mentioned in ancient historical records. The "Hugas" of the poem are said to be a reference to the Chauci. [35]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Haywood 1999 :14, Dark Age Naval Power. Haywood uses the term 'North German' to distinguish them from the 'Rhine Germans' (the Caninnefates, Batavians, and "Frankish" tribes).
  2. ↑ Haywood 1999 :17–19, Dark Age Naval Power. Haywood cites Todd's The Northern Barbarians 100 BC–AD 300 (1987) for this conclusion.
  3. ↑ Tacitus 117 :253–254, The Annals, Bk XIII, Ch 55. Events of AD 54–58. The Germans under Arminius had wiped out 3 Roman legions under Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The Ampsivarii had not supported the German cause and had been ostracised as a result. Many years later, c. AD 58, the Chauci then took the opportunity to expel them and occupy their land at the mouth of the River Ems.
  4. ↑ Haywood 1999 :17–19, Dark Age Naval Power. Haywood cites Tacitus as well as a number of other sources.
  5. ↑ Tacitus 117 :355, The Annals, Translator's note on Bk XI, Ch 19.
  6. ↑ Haywood 1999 :28, Dark Age Naval Power.
  7. ↑ Tacitus 117 :253, The Annals, Bk XIII, Ch 54. Events of AD 54–58.
  8. ↑ Haywood 1999 :19–20, Dark Age Naval Power. The referenced footnote notes that the Chauci heartland between the Elbe and Weser contained huge cremation cemeteries with a uniform range of poor quality grave goods. In the second century aristocratic cemeteries with rich grave goods appear.
  9. ↑ Yorke, Barbara (2006), Robbins, Keith (ed.), The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain c.600–800, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, p. 59, ISBN   978-0-582-77292-2
  10. ↑ Pliny the Elder 79a :346–347, Natural History, Bk IV, Ch 28: Germany. A footnote suggests that the two references to the Cimbri in two different groups were not references to the same people.
  11. ↑ Tacitus & 98 :61–62, The Germany, XXXV.
  12. ↑ Pliny the Elder 79b :339, Natural History, Bk XVI, Ch I: Countries that have no trees. Pliny also notes that the Chauci lived between the Rivers Ems and Elbe.
  13. ↑ Cassius Dio 229 :365, Roman History, Bk LIV, Ch 32.
  14. ↑ Tacitus 117 :30, The Annals, Bk I, Ch 60. Events of AD 15–16.
  15. ↑ Tacitus 117 :48, The Annals, Bk II, Ch 17. Events of AD 16–19
  16. ↑ Tacitus 117 :50, The Annals, Bk II, Ch 24. Events of AD 16–19.
  17. ↑ Cassius Dio, Roman History Book LX, Chapter 8
  18. ↑ Tacitus 117 :253–254, The Annals, Bk XIII, Ch 55. Events of AD 54–58.
  19. ↑ Tacitus 117 :189, The Annals, Bk XI, Ch 18–19. Events of AD 47–48.
  20. ↑ Tacitus 117 :400, The Annals, Bk XVI, Ch 17. Events of 65–66 (Rome and Parthia—Campaigns of Corbulo in the East). Tacitus makes the parenthetical comment that Corbulo had driven the Chauci out of the provinces of Lower Germany which they had invaded in AD 47.
  21. ↑ Tacitus 117 :190, The Annals, Bk XI, Ch 18–19. Events of AD 47–48.
  22. ↑ Haywood 1999 :22–23, Dark Age Naval Power.
  23. ↑ Tacitus 105 :7, The Histories, Translator's Summary of Chief Events.
  24. ↑ Tacitus 105 :193, The Histories, Bk IV, Ch 79.
  25. ↑ Tacitus 105 :222, The Histories, Bk V, Ch 19. A footnote makes reference to "Cp IV.79".
  26. ↑ Haywood 1999 :15, Dark Age Naval Power.
  27. ↑ Haywood 1999 :21, Dark Age Naval Power.
  28. ↑ Tacitus & 98 :61–62, The Germany, XXXV.
  29. ↑ Haywood 1999 :28, Dark Age Naval Power.
  30. ↑ Haywood 1999 :24, Dark Age Naval Power.
  31. ↑ Haywood 1999 :24–25, Dark Age Naval Power.
  32. ↑ Haywood 1999 :24–28, Dark Age Naval Power.
  33. ↑ Haywood, John (January 1991), Dark Age Naval Power: A Re-Assessment of Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Seafaring ..., Routledge, p. 42, ISBN   9780415063746
  34. ↑ Zosimus Nova Historia Book III
  35. ↑ Lumsden, H. W. (1881), "The Fire Drake (Part III)", Beowulf, An Old English Poem, translated into modern rhymes, London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., p. 77

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saxons</span> Medieval cultural group from what is now Northern Germany

The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons, were the Germanic people of "Old" Saxony which became a Carolingian "stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Teutoburg Forest</span> Roman defeat by Germanic tribes in 9 AD

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster by Roman historians, was a major battle between Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire that took place somewhere near modern Kalkriese from September 8–11, 9 AD, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus and their auxiliaries. The alliance was led by Arminius, a Germanic chieftain and officer of Varus's auxilia. Arminius had received Roman citizenship and a Roman military education; thus allowing him to deceive the Romans methodically and anticipate their tactical responses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatti</span> Ancient Germanic tribe

The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (Visurgis) river. They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder and Fulda regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Kassel, though probably somewhat more extensive. They settled within the region in the first century BC. According to Tacitus, the Batavians and Cananefates of his time, tribes living within the Roman Empire, were descended from part of the Chatti, who left their homeland after an internal quarrel drove them out, to take up new lands at the mouth of the Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arminius</span> Germanic Cherusci chieftain (18/17 BC – AD 21)

Arminius was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, in which three Roman legions under the command of general and governor Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed. His victory at Teutoburg Forest precipitated the Roman Empire's permanent strategic withdrawal and the decolonisation of Germania Magna, and modern historians regard it as one of Imperial Rome's greatest defeats. As it prevented the Romanization of Germanic peoples east of the Rhine, it has also been considered one of the most decisive battles in history and a turning point in human history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherusci</span> Germanic tribe in present-day northwestern Germany in the 1st centuries BC and AD

The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the plains and forests of northwestern Germania in the area of the Weser River and present-day Hanover during the first centuries BC and AD. Roman sources reported they considered themselves kin with other Irmino tribes and claimed common descent from an ancestor called Mannus. During the early Roman Empire under Augustus, the Cherusci first served as allies of Rome and sent sons of their chieftains to receive Roman education and serve in the Roman army as auxiliaries. The Cherusci leader Arminius led a confederation of tribes in the ambush that destroyed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. He was subsequently kept from further damaging Rome by disputes with the Marcomanni and reprisal attacks led by Germanicus. After rebel Cherusci killed Arminius in AD 21, infighting among the royal family led to the highly Romanized line of his brother Flavus coming to power. Following their defeat by the Chatti around AD 88, the Cherusci do not appear in further accounts of the German tribes, apparently being absorbed into the late classical groups such as the Saxons, Thuringians, Franks, Bavarians, and Allemanni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ampsivarii</span> Ancient Germanic tribe

The Ampsivarii, sometimes referenced by modern writers as Ampsivari, were a Germanic tribe mentioned by ancient authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bructeri</span> Germanic tribe

The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe in Roman imperial times, located in northwestern Germany, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia. Their territory included both sides of the upper Ems and Lippe rivers. At its greatest extent, their territory apparently stretched between the vicinities of the Rhine in the west and the Teutoburg Forest and Weser river in the east. In late Roman times they moved south to settle upon the east bank of the Rhine facing Cologne, an area later associated with the Ripuarian Franks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Idistaviso</span> Battle between Roman legions and Germanic peoples in 16 AD

The Battle of the Weser River, sometimes known as the First Battle of Minden or Battle of Idistaviso, was fought in 16 AD between Roman legions commanded by Roman Emperor Tiberius's heir and adopted son, Germanicus, and an alliance of Germanic peoples, commanded by Arminius. The battle marked the end of a three-year series of campaigns by Germanicus in Germania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istvaeones</span> Historical ethnic group

The Istvaeones were a Germanic group of tribes living near the banks of the Rhine during the Roman Empire which reportedly shared a common culture and origin. The Istaevones were contrasted to neighbouring groups, the Ingaevones on the North Sea coast, and the Herminones, living inland of these groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chronology of warfare between the Romans and Germanic peoples</span>

This is a chronology of warfare between the Romans and various Germanic peoples. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings, later Germanic invasions of the Western Roman Empire that started in the late second century BC, and more. The series of conflicts was one factor which led to the ultimate downfall of the Western Roman Empire in particular and ancient Rome in general in 476.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamavi</span> Germanic tribe

The Chamavi, Chamãves or Chamaboe (Χαμαβοί) were a Germanic tribe of Roman imperial times whose name survived into the Early Middle Ages. They first appear under that name in the 1st century AD Germania of Tacitus as a Germanic tribe that lived to the north of the Lower Rhine. Their name probably survives in the region today called Hamaland, which is in the Gelderland province of the Netherlands, between the IJssel and Ems rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angrivarii</span> Germanic people in Roman times

The Angrivarii were a Germanic people of the early Roman Empire, who lived in what is now northwest Germany near the middle of the Weser river. They were mentioned by the Roman authors Tacitus and Ptolemy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dulgubnii</span> Ancient Germanic tribe

The Dulgubnii are a Germanic tribe mentioned in Tacitus' Germania as living in what is today northwest Germany. Tacitus describes them being to the north of the Angrivarii and Chamavi, and as having moved from the north into the area once belonging to the Bructeri, between Ems, Lippe, and Weser. In this same area as the Dulgubnii, north of the Chamavi and Angrivarii, were the Chasuarii, and north of these, on the North Sea coast, where the Chauci. The Chasuarii's name is thought to derive from the River Hase which feeds into the middle of the Ems from the east, just northwest of the area associated with the Angrivarii, on the Weser. So from Tacitus, it appears that the Dulgubnii probably lived near the Weser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frisii</span> Germanic tribe

The Frisii were an ancient tribe, living in the low-lying region between the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and the River Ems, sharing some cultural and linguistic elements with the neighbouring Celts. The newly formed marshlands were largely uninhabitated until the 6th or 5th centuries BC, when inland settlers started to colonize the area. As sea levels rose and flooding risks increased, the inhabitants learned to build their houses on village mounds or terps. The way of life and material culture of the Frisii hardly distinguished itself from the customs of the Chaucian tribes living farther east. The latter, however, were considered to be part of the Germanic tribal confederation.

The Tubantes were a Germanic tribe, living in the eastern part of the Netherlands, north of the Rhine river. They are often equated to the Tuihanti, who are known from two inscriptions found near Hadrian's Wall. The modern name Twente derives from the word Tuihanti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netherlands in the Roman era</span>

For around 450 years, from around 55 BC to around 410 AD, the southern part of the Netherlands was integrated into the Roman Empire. During this time the Romans in the Netherlands had an enormous influence on the lives and culture of the people who lived in the Netherlands at the time and (indirectly) on the generations that followed.

The Marsaci or Marsacii were a tribe in Roman imperial times, who lived within the area of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, under Roman domination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classis Germanica</span> Naval fleet of the Roman Empire on the Rhine through to the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta

The Classis Germanica was a Roman fleet in Germania Superior and Germania Inferior. Besides the Channel Fleet, it was one of the largest naval forces of the Roman Empire, ranking above all other provincial fleets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)</span> Series of military conflicts between Germanic tribes and the Romans (12 BC – 16 AD)

The Roman campaigns in Germania were a series of conflicts between the Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire. Tensions between the Germanic tribes and the Romans began as early as 17/16 BC with the Clades Lolliana, where the 5th Legion under Marcus Lollius was defeated by the tribes Sicambri, Usipetes, and Tencteri. Roman Emperor Augustus responded by rapidly developing military infrastructure across Gaul. His general, Nero Claudius Drusus, began building forts along the Rhine in 13 BC and launched a retaliatory campaign across the Rhine in 12 BC.

The Battle of the Angrivarian Wall was fought near Porta Westfalica, Germany in 16 AD between the Roman general Germanicus and an alliance of Germanic tribes commanded by Arminius. This battle followed immediately after the Battle of Idistaviso, and was supposedly sparked by Germanic outrage over the trophy erected on that prior battlefield by the Romans.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.