Cimbri
Encyclopedia
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. The ancient sources located their original home in Jutland
, in present-day Denmark
, which was referred to as the Cimbrian peninsula throughout antiquity (Greek: / Kimbrikē Chersonēsos).
in the early Iron Age
. The Gundestrup Cauldron
, which was deposited in a bog in Himmerland
in the 2nd or 1st century BC, shows that there was some sort of contact with southeastern Europe, but it is uncertain if this contact can be associated with the Cimbrian expedition.
Advocates for a northern homeland point to Greek and Roman sources that associate the Cimbri with the peninsula of Jutland
, Denmark. According to the Res gestae
(ch. 26) of Augustus
, the Cimbri were still found in the area around the turn of the First Century AD:
The contemporary Greek geographer Strabo
testifies that the Cimbri still existed as a Germanic tribe, presumably in the "Cimbric peninsula" (since they are said to live by the North Sea and to have paid tribute to Augustus):
On the map of Ptolemy, the "Kimbroi" are placed on the northernmost part of the peninsula of Jutland., i.e. in the modern landscape of Himmerland
south of Limfjorden (since Vendsyssel-Thy
north of the fjord was at that time a group of islands). Himmerland (Old Danish Himbersysel) is generally thought to preserve their name, in an older form without Grimm's law
(PIE
k > Germ.
h). Alternatively, Latin C- represents an attempt to render the unfamiliar Proto-Germanic h = [χ], perhaps due to Celtic-speaking interpreters (a Celtic intermediary would also explain why Germanic *Þeuðanōz became Latin Teutones).
The origin of the name Cimbri is unknown. One etymology is PIE "inhabitant", from "home" (> Eng. home), itself a derivation from "live" (> Greek , Latin sinō); then, the Germanic *χimbra- finds an exact cognate in Slavic sębrъ "farmer" (> Croatian, Serbian sebar, Russ. sjabër).
Because of the similarity of the names, the Cimbri were at times associated with Cymry, the Welsh name for themselves. However, this word is generally derived from Celtic *Kombroges, meaning compatriots, and it is hardly conceivable that the Romans would have recorded such a form as Cimbri. The name has also been related to the word kimme meaning "rim", i.e. the people of the coast,. Finally, since Antiquity, the name has been related to that of the Cimmerians
.
or a Germanic language
is that at this time the Greeks and Romans tended to refer to all groups to the north of their sphere of influence as Gauls, Celts, or Germani rather indiscriminately. Caesar seems to be one of the first authors to distinguish the two groups, and he has a political motive for doing so (it is an argument in favour of the Rhine border). Yet, one cannot always trust Caesar and Tacitus when they ascribe individuals and tribes to one or the other category, although Caesar made clear distinctions between the two cultures. Most ancient sources categorize the Cimbri as a Germanic tribe, but some ancient authors include the Cimbri among the Celts.
There are few direct testimonies to the language of the Cimbri: Referring to the Northern Ocean (the Baltic
or the North Sea
), Pliny the Elder
states: "Philemon says that it is called Morimarusa, i.e. the Dead Sea, by the Cimbri, until the promontory of Rubea, and after that Cronium." The words for "sea" and "dead" were mori and *maruo- in Gaulish (muir and marbh in Modern Irish
and môr and marw in Modern Welsh
). The same word for "sea" is also known from Germanic, but with an a (*mari-), whereas a cognate of marbh is unknown in all dialects of Germanic. Yet, given that Pliny had not heard the word directly from a Cimbric informant, it cannot be ruled out that the word is in fact Gaulish instead.
The known Cimbri chiefs have names that look Celtic, including Boiorix
(which may mean "King of the Boii" or, more literally, "King of Strikers"), Gaesorix (which means "Spear King"), and Lugius (which may be named after the Celtic god Lugus
), although this may not mean that they are Celtic as the elements could work in Germanic (compare the name of the Vandalic king Gaiseric, which is likely identical to Gaesorix). Also, although the kings of the Cimbri and Teutones carry what look like Celtic names, the origin of a name need not say anything about the ethnicity or language of the individual carrying the name. Other evidence to the language of the Cimbri is circumstantial: thus, we are told that the Romans enlisted Gaulish Celts to act as spies in the Cimbri camp prior to the final showdown with the Roman army in 101 BC. Some take this as evidence in support of "the Celtic rather than the German theory".
Jean Markale wrote that the Cimbri were associated with the Helvetii
, and more especially with the indisputably Celtic Tigurini
. These associations may link to a common ancestry, recalled from two hundred years previous, though they may not. Henri Hubert
states "All these names are Celtic, and they cannot be anything else". Some authors take a different perspective. For example, Peter S. Wells states that the Cimbri "are certainly not Celts".
Countering the argument of a Celtic origin is the literary evidence that the Cimbri originally came from northern Jutland
, an area with no Celtic placenames, instead only Germanic ones. This does not rule out Cimbric Gallicization during the period when they lived in Gaul
. Boiorix, who may have a Celtic name if not a Celticized Germanic name, was king of the Cimbri after they moved away for their ancestral home of northern Jutland; Boiorix and his tribe lived around Celtic peoples during his era as J. B. Rives points out in his introduction to Tacitus's Germania (book)
and moreover that the name Boiorix can work in Proto-Germanic as well as Celtic.
and Ambrones
migrated south-east. After several unsuccessful battles with the Boii
and other Celtic tribes, they appeared ca 113 BC in Noricum
, where they invaded the lands of one of Rome's allies, the Taurisci
.
On the request of the Roman consul
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo
, sent to defend the Taurisci, they retreated, only to find themselves deceived and attacked at the Battle of Noreia
, where they defeated the Romans. Only a storm, which separated the combatants, saved the Roman forces from complete annihilation.
. They came into frequent conflict with the Romans
, who usually came out the losers. In 109 BC, they defeated a Roman army under the consul Marcus Junius Silanus, who was the commander of Gallia Narbonensis
. The same year, they defeated another Roman army under the consul Gaius Cassius Longinus, who was killed at Burdigala (modern day Bordeaux
). In 107 BC, the Romans once again lost against the Tigurines, who were allies of the Cimbri.
, the Cimbri clashed with the Roman armies. The Roman commanders, the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio
and the consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus
, hindered Roman coordination and so the Cimbri succeeded in first defeating the legate Marcus Aurelius Scaurus
and later cause a devastating defeat on Caepio and Maximus at the Battle of Arausio
. The Romans lost as many as 80,000 men, excluding auxiliary cavalry and non-combatants who brought the total loss closer to 112,000.
Rome was in panic, and the terror cimbricus became proverbial. Everyone expected to soon see the new Gauls outside of the gates of Rome. Desperate measures were taken: contrary to the Roman constitution, Gaius Marius
, who had defeated Jugurtha
, was elected consul and supreme commander for five years in a row (104-100 BC).
In 103 BC, the Cimbri and their proto-Germanic allies, the Teutons
, had turned to the Iberia Peninsula where they pillaged far and wide. During this time C. Marius had the time to prepare and, in 102 BC, he was ready to meet the Teutons and the Ambrones at the Rhône. These two tribes intended to pass into Italy through the western passes, while the Cimbri and the Tigurines were to take the northern route across the Rhine and later across the Tirol
ian Alps
.
At the estuary of the Isère River
, the Teutons and the Ambrones met Marius, whose well-defended camp they did not manage to overrun. Instead, they pursued their route, and Marius followed them. At Aquae Sextiae
, the Romans won two battles and took the Teuton king Teutobod
prisoner.
The Cimbri had penetrated through the Alps into northern Italy. The consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus
had not dared to fortify the passes, but instead he had retreated behind the River Po, and so the land was open to the invaders. The Cimbri did not hurry, and the victors of Aquae Sextiae had the time to arrive with reinforcements. At the Battle of Vercellae
, at the confluence of the Sesia River
with the Po River
, in 101 BC, the long voyage of the Cimbri also came to an end.
It was a devastating defeat and both the chieftains Lugius and Boiorix
died. The women killed both themselves and their children in order to avoid slavery. The Cimbri were annihilated, although some may have survived to return to the homeland where a population with this name was residing in northern Jutland
in the 1st century AD, according to the sources quoted above.
However, according to Justinus, 38.3.6, more than a decade later, at some time in 90 - 88 BCE, Mithridates the Great sent ambassadors to the Cimbri to request military aid; judging from the context they must have been living in North Eastern Europe at the time.
Strabo gives this vivid description of the Cimbric folklore (Geogr. 7.2.3, trans. H.L. Jones):
The Cimbri are depicted as ferocious warriors who did not fear death. The host was followed by women and children on carts. Aged women, priestesses, dressed in white sacrificed the prisoners of war and sprinkled their blood, the nature of which allowed them to see what was to come.
If the Cimbri did in fact come from Jutland, evidence that the they practised ritualistic sacrifice may be found in the Haraldskær Woman
discovered in Jutland in the year 1835. Noosemarks and skin piercing were evident and she had been thrown into a bog rather than buried or cremated. Furthermore, the Gundestrup cauldron
, found in Himmerland, may be a sacrificial vessel like the one described in Strabo's text. The work itself was of Thracian origin.
wrote that the Cimbri were light-blue eyed:
‘‘The most prevalent conjecture was that they were some of the German peoples which extended as far as the northern ocean,
a conjecture based on their great stature, their light-blue eyes, and the fact that the Germans call robbers Cimbri.’’
, the Belgian tribe of the Atuatuci "was descended from the Cimbri and Teutoni, who, upon their march into our province and Italy, set down such of their stock and stuff as they could not drive or carry with them on the near (i.e. west) side of the Rhine, and left six thousand men of their company there with as guard and garrison" (Gall. 2.29, trans. Edwards). They founded the city of Atuatuca in the land of the Belgic
Eburones
, whom they dominated. Thus Ambiorix
king of the Eburones paid tribute and gave his son and nephew as hostages to the Atuatuci (Gall. 6.27). In the first century AD, the Eburones were replaced or absorbed by the Germanic Tungri
, and the city was known as Atuatuca Tungrorum, i.e. the modern city of Tongeren. The Sicambri
might have their name derived from Cimbri.
The population of modern-day Himmerland
claims to be the heirs of the ancient Cimbri. The adventures of the Cimbri are described by the Danish nobel-prize-winning author, Johannes V. Jensen
, himself born in Himmerland, in the novel Cimbrernes Tog (1922), included in the epic cycle Den lange Rejse (English The Long Journey
, 1923). The so-called Cimbrian bull ("Cimbrertyren"), a sculpture by Anders Bundgaard, was erected 14 April 1937 on a central town square in Aalborg
, the capital of the region of North Jutland
.
A German ethnic minority settled in the mountains between Vicenza, Verona and Trento in Italy (also known as Seven Communities
and as) is also called the Cimbri (:it:Cimbri (minoranza linguistica)). For hundreds of years this isolated population consisting now of 4.400 inhabitants, has claimed to be the direct descendant of the Cimbri retreating in this area after been defeated by the Romans. On one occasion in 1709, for instance, Frederick IV of Denmark
, also paid them a visit and he was greeted as their King. The population which kept its independence during the Venice Republic was later severely hit by World War I. As a result, many Cimbri has left the mountain region and dispersed around the world.
Ambrones
The Ambrones were a tribe that appeared briefly in the Roman sources relating to the 2nd century BC. They formed part of a coalition of peoples with the Cimbri of Jutland and the Teutones who were forced south by the flooding of their homeland.-History:...
threatened the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
in the late 2nd century BC. The Cimbri were probably Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
, though some believe them to be of Celtic origin. The ancient sources located their original home in Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, in present-day Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, which was referred to as the Cimbrian peninsula throughout antiquity (Greek: / Kimbrikē Chersonēsos).
Homeland and name
Archaeologists have not found any clear indications of a mass migration from JutlandJutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
in the early Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. The Gundestrup Cauldron
Gundestrup cauldron
The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly-decorated silver vessel, thought to date to the 1st century BC, placing it into the late La Tène period. It was found in 1891 in a peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup, in the Aars parish in Himmerland, Denmark...
, which was deposited in a bog in Himmerland
Himmerland
Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, Aars, Løgstør, Støvring and Nibe...
in the 2nd or 1st century BC, shows that there was some sort of contact with southeastern Europe, but it is uncertain if this contact can be associated with the Cimbrian expedition.
Advocates for a northern homeland point to Greek and Roman sources that associate the Cimbri with the peninsula of Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, Denmark. According to the Res gestae
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
Res Gestae Divi Augusti, is the funerary inscription of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, giving a first-person record of his life and accomplishments. The Res Gestae is especially significant because it gives an insight into the image Augustus portrayed to the Roman people...
(ch. 26) of Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, the Cimbri were still found in the area around the turn of the First Century AD:
The contemporary Greek geographer Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
testifies that the Cimbri still existed as a Germanic tribe, presumably in the "Cimbric peninsula" (since they are said to live by the North Sea and to have paid tribute to Augustus):
On the map of Ptolemy, the "Kimbroi" are placed on the northernmost part of the peninsula of Jutland., i.e. in the modern landscape of Himmerland
Himmerland
Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, Aars, Løgstør, Støvring and Nibe...
south of Limfjorden (since Vendsyssel-Thy
Vendsyssel-Thy
The North Jutlandic Island , Vendsyssel-Thy, or simply Jutland north of the Limfjord are lesser-used names for the northernmost part of Denmark and of Jutland. It is more common to refer to the three traditional districts Vendsyssel, Hanherred and Thy...
north of the fjord was at that time a group of islands). Himmerland (Old Danish Himbersysel) is generally thought to preserve their name, in an older form without Grimm's law
Grimm's law
Grimm's law , named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing the inherited Proto-Indo-European stops as they developed in Proto-Germanic in the 1st millennium BC...
(PIE
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
k > Germ.
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
h). Alternatively, Latin C- represents an attempt to render the unfamiliar Proto-Germanic h = [χ], perhaps due to Celtic-speaking interpreters (a Celtic intermediary would also explain why Germanic *Þeuðanōz became Latin Teutones).
The origin of the name Cimbri is unknown. One etymology is PIE "inhabitant", from "home" (> Eng. home), itself a derivation from "live" (> Greek , Latin sinō); then, the Germanic *χimbra- finds an exact cognate in Slavic sębrъ "farmer" (> Croatian, Serbian sebar, Russ. sjabër).
Because of the similarity of the names, the Cimbri were at times associated with Cymry, the Welsh name for themselves. However, this word is generally derived from Celtic *Kombroges, meaning compatriots, and it is hardly conceivable that the Romans would have recorded such a form as Cimbri. The name has also been related to the word kimme meaning "rim", i.e. the people of the coast,. Finally, since Antiquity, the name has been related to that of the Cimmerians
Cimmerians
The Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin.According to the Greek historian Herodotus, of the 5th century BC, the Cimmerians inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, in what is now Ukraine and Russia...
.
Language of the Cimbri
A major problem in determining whether the Cimbri were speaking a CelticCeltic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
or a Germanic language
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
is that at this time the Greeks and Romans tended to refer to all groups to the north of their sphere of influence as Gauls, Celts, or Germani rather indiscriminately. Caesar seems to be one of the first authors to distinguish the two groups, and he has a political motive for doing so (it is an argument in favour of the Rhine border). Yet, one cannot always trust Caesar and Tacitus when they ascribe individuals and tribes to one or the other category, although Caesar made clear distinctions between the two cultures. Most ancient sources categorize the Cimbri as a Germanic tribe, but some ancient authors include the Cimbri among the Celts.
There are few direct testimonies to the language of the Cimbri: Referring to the Northern Ocean (the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
or the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
), Pliny the Elder
Pliny 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...
states: "Philemon says that it is called Morimarusa, i.e. the Dead Sea, by the Cimbri, until the promontory of Rubea, and after that Cronium." The words for "sea" and "dead" were mori and *maruo- in Gaulish (muir and marbh in Modern Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
and môr and marw in Modern Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
). The same word for "sea" is also known from Germanic, but with an a (*mari-), whereas a cognate of marbh is unknown in all dialects of Germanic. Yet, given that Pliny had not heard the word directly from a Cimbric informant, it cannot be ruled out that the word is in fact Gaulish instead.
The known Cimbri chiefs have names that look Celtic, including Boiorix
Boiorix
Boiorix was a king of the Cimbri tribe. His most notable achievement was a spectacular victory against the Romans at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was later defeated and slain at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC.-References:...
(which may mean "King of the Boii" or, more literally, "King of Strikers"), Gaesorix (which means "Spear King"), and Lugius (which may be named after the Celtic god Lugus
Lugus
Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from placenames and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gallo-Roman inscriptions to Mercury, who is widely believed...
), although this may not mean that they are Celtic as the elements could work in Germanic (compare the name of the Vandalic king Gaiseric, which is likely identical to Gaesorix). Also, although the kings of the Cimbri and Teutones carry what look like Celtic names, the origin of a name need not say anything about the ethnicity or language of the individual carrying the name. Other evidence to the language of the Cimbri is circumstantial: thus, we are told that the Romans enlisted Gaulish Celts to act as spies in the Cimbri camp prior to the final showdown with the Roman army in 101 BC. Some take this as evidence in support of "the Celtic rather than the German theory".
Jean Markale wrote that the Cimbri were associated with the Helvetii
Helvetii
The Helvetii were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC...
, and more especially with the indisputably Celtic Tigurini
Tigurini
The Tigurini were a pagus of the Celtic Helvetii. They crossed the Rhine together with the Helvetii to invade Gaul in 109 BCE...
. These associations may link to a common ancestry, recalled from two hundred years previous, though they may not. Henri Hubert
Henri Hubert
Henri Hubert was an archaeologist and sociologist of comparative religion who is best known for his work on the Celts and his collaboration with Marcel Mauss and other members of the Annee Sociologique....
states "All these names are Celtic, and they cannot be anything else". Some authors take a different perspective. For example, Peter S. Wells states that the Cimbri "are certainly not Celts".
Countering the argument of a Celtic origin is the literary evidence that the Cimbri originally came from northern Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, an area with no Celtic placenames, instead only Germanic ones. This does not rule out Cimbric Gallicization during the period when they lived in Gaul
. Boiorix, who may have a Celtic name if not a Celticized Germanic name, was king of the Cimbri after they moved away for their ancestral home of northern Jutland; Boiorix and his tribe lived around Celtic peoples during his era as J. B. Rives points out in his introduction to Tacitus's Germania (book)
Germania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
and moreover that the name Boiorix can work in Proto-Germanic as well as Celtic.
The journey
Moving south-east
Some time before 100 BC many of the Cimbri, as well as the TeutonsTeutons
The Teutons or Teutones were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus and normally in close connection with the Cimbri, whose ethnicity is contested between Gauls and Germani...
and Ambrones
Ambrones
The Ambrones were a tribe that appeared briefly in the Roman sources relating to the 2nd century BC. They formed part of a coalition of peoples with the Cimbri of Jutland and the Teutones who were forced south by the flooding of their homeland.-History:...
migrated south-east. After several unsuccessful battles with the Boii
Boii
The Boii were one of the most prominent ancient Celtic tribes of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul , Pannonia , in and around Bohemia, and Transalpine Gaul...
and other Celtic tribes, they appeared ca 113 BC in Noricum
Noricum
Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...
, where they invaded the lands of one of Rome's allies, the Taurisci
Taurisci
The Taurisci were a federation of Celtic tribes who dwelt in today's northern Slovenia before the coming of the Romans According to Pliny the Elder, they are the same people known as the Norici...
.
On the request of the Roman consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo (consul 113 BC)
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, son of Gaius Papirius Carbo, was consul in 113 BC, together with Gaius Caecilius Metellus Caprarius.He was according to Cicero the father of Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, who was thrice consul, whereas this latter is called by Velleius Paterculus a brother of Gaius Papirius Carbo...
, sent to defend the Taurisci, they retreated, only to find themselves deceived and attacked at the Battle of Noreia
Battle of Noreia
The Battle of Noreia in 112 BC, was the opening action of the Cimbrian War fought between the Roman Republic and the migrating Proto-Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and the Teutons . It ended in defeat, and near disaster, for the Romans.- Prelude :...
, where they defeated the Romans. Only a storm, which separated the combatants, saved the Roman forces from complete annihilation.
Invading Gaul
Now the road to Italy was open, but they turned west towards GaulGaul
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...
. They came into frequent conflict with the Romans
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, who usually came out the losers. In 109 BC, they defeated a Roman army under the consul Marcus Junius Silanus, who was the commander of Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...
. The same year, they defeated another Roman army under the consul Gaius Cassius Longinus, who was killed at Burdigala (modern day Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
). In 107 BC, the Romans once again lost against the Tigurines, who were allies of the Cimbri.
Attacking the Roman Republic
It was not until 105 BC that they planned an attack on the Roman Republic itself. At the RhôneRhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
, the Cimbri clashed with the Roman armies. The Roman commanders, the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio
Quintus Servilius Caepio
Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder was a Roman statesman and general, consul in 106 BC, and proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul in 105 BC. He was the father of Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger and the grandfather of Servilia Caepionis....
and the consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus
Gnaeus Mallius Maximus
Gnaeus Mallius Maximus was a Roman politician and general.He was a novus homo when he was elected to the consulship of the Roman Republic in 105 BC. He drew Gallia Transalpina as his province for the year. He was defeated by Cimbri at the battle of Arausio . He lost his sons in the battle and he...
, hindered Roman coordination and so the Cimbri succeeded in first defeating the legate Marcus Aurelius Scaurus
Marcus Aurelius Scaurus
Marcus Aurelius Scaurus was a Roman politician and general during the Cimbrian War. After one of the consul designates was prosecuted and condemned, Scaurus was made consul suffectus in 108 BC....
and later cause a devastating defeat on Caepio and Maximus at the Battle of Arausio
Battle of Arausio
The Battle of Arausio took place on October 6, 105 BC, at a site between the town of Arausio and the Rhône River. Ranged against the migratory tribes of the Cimbri under Boiorix and the Teutoni were two Roman armies, commanded by the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and consul Gnaeus Mallius...
. The Romans lost as many as 80,000 men, excluding auxiliary cavalry and non-combatants who brought the total loss closer to 112,000.
Rome was in panic, and the terror cimbricus became proverbial. Everyone expected to soon see the new Gauls outside of the gates of Rome. Desperate measures were taken: contrary to the Roman constitution, Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
, who had defeated Jugurtha
Jugurtha
Jugurtha or Jugurthen was a King of Numidia, , born in Cirta .-Background:Until the reign of Jugurtha's grandfather Masinissa, the people of Numidia were semi-nomadic and indistinguishable from the other Libyans in North Africa...
, was elected consul and supreme commander for five years in a row (104-100 BC).
Defeat
Teutons
The Teutons or Teutones were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus and normally in close connection with the Cimbri, whose ethnicity is contested between Gauls and Germani...
, had turned to the Iberia Peninsula where they pillaged far and wide. During this time C. Marius had the time to prepare and, in 102 BC, he was ready to meet the Teutons and the Ambrones at the Rhône. These two tribes intended to pass into Italy through the western passes, while the Cimbri and the Tigurines were to take the northern route across the Rhine and later across the Tirol
German Tyrol
German Tyrol is a historical region in the Alps now divided between Austria and Italy. It includes largely ethnic German areas of historical County of Tyrol: the Austrian state of Tyrol and the province of South Tyrol but not the largely Italian-speaking province of Trentino .-History:German...
ian Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
.
At the estuary of the Isère River
Isère River
The Isère is a 286 km long river in southeastern France, in the Rhône-Alpes région. Its source is in the Alps on the border with Italy, near the ski resort Val d'Isère. It flows into the Rhône River in Pont-de-l'Isère, a few km north of Valence...
, the Teutons and the Ambrones met Marius, whose well-defended camp they did not manage to overrun. Instead, they pursued their route, and Marius followed them. At Aquae Sextiae
Battle of Aquae Sextiae
The Battle of Aquae Sextiae took place in 102 BC. After a string of Roman defeats , the Romans under Gaius Marius finally defeated the Teutones and Ambrones.-The battle:...
, the Romans won two battles and took the Teuton king Teutobod
Teutobod
Teutobod was King of the Teutons. In the late 2nd century BC, together with their neighbours, allies and possible relatives, the Cimbri, the Teutons migrated from their original homes in southern Scandinavia and on the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, south into the Danube valley, southern Gaul and...
prisoner.
The Cimbri had penetrated through the Alps into northern Italy. The consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus
Quintus Lutatius Catulus
Quintus Lutatius Catulus was consul of the Roman Republic in 102 BC, and the leading public figure of the gens Lutatia of the time. His colleague in the consulship was Gaius Marius, but the two feuded and Catulus sided with Sulla in the civil war of 88–87 BC...
had not dared to fortify the passes, but instead he had retreated behind the River Po, and so the land was open to the invaders. The Cimbri did not hurry, and the victors of Aquae Sextiae had the time to arrive with reinforcements. At the Battle of Vercellae
Battle of Vercellae
The Battle of Vercellae, or Battle of the Raudine Plain, in 101 BC was the Roman victory of Consul Gaius Marius over the invading Germanic Cimbri tribe near the settlement of Vercellae in Cisalpine Gaul....
, at the confluence of the Sesia River
Sesia River
The Sesia is a river in north-western Italy, tributary to the Po. Its sources are the glaciers of Monte Rosa at the border with Switzerland. It flows through the Alpine valley Valsesia and the towns Varallo Sesia, Quarona, Borgosesia and Vercelli...
with the Po River
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
, in 101 BC, the long voyage of the Cimbri also came to an end.
It was a devastating defeat and both the chieftains Lugius and Boiorix
Boiorix
Boiorix was a king of the Cimbri tribe. His most notable achievement was a spectacular victory against the Romans at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was later defeated and slain at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC.-References:...
died. The women killed both themselves and their children in order to avoid slavery. The Cimbri were annihilated, although some may have survived to return to the homeland where a population with this name was residing in northern Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
in the 1st century AD, according to the sources quoted above.
However, according to Justinus, 38.3.6, more than a decade later, at some time in 90 - 88 BCE, Mithridates the Great sent ambassadors to the Cimbri to request military aid; judging from the context they must have been living in North Eastern Europe at the time.
Culture
The Cimbri are depicted as ferocious warriors who did not fear death. The host was followed by women and children on carts. Aged women, priestesses, dressed in white sacrificed the prisoners of war and sprinkled their blood, the nature of which allowed them to see what was to come.
If the Cimbri did in fact come from Jutland, evidence that the they practised ritualistic sacrifice may be found in the Haraldskær Woman
Haraldskær Woman
The Haraldskær Woman is an Iron Age bog body found naturally preserved in a bog in Jutland, Denmark. Labourers discovered the body in 1835 while excavating peat on the Haraldskær Estate...
discovered in Jutland in the year 1835. Noosemarks and skin piercing were evident and she had been thrown into a bog rather than buried or cremated. Furthermore, the Gundestrup cauldron
Gundestrup cauldron
The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly-decorated silver vessel, thought to date to the 1st century BC, placing it into the late La Tène period. It was found in 1891 in a peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup, in the Aars parish in Himmerland, Denmark...
, found in Himmerland, may be a sacrificial vessel like the one described in Strabo's text. The work itself was of Thracian origin.
Physical Appearance
PlutarchPlutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
wrote that the Cimbri were light-blue eyed:
‘‘The most prevalent conjecture was that they were some of the German peoples which extended as far as the northern ocean,
a conjecture based on their great stature, their light-blue eyes, and the fact that the Germans call robbers Cimbri.’’
Descendants
According to Julius CaesarJulius 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....
, the Belgian tribe of the Atuatuci "was descended from the Cimbri and Teutoni, who, upon their march into our province and Italy, set down such of their stock and stuff as they could not drive or carry with them on the near (i.e. west) side of the Rhine, and left six thousand men of their company there with as guard and garrison" (Gall. 2.29, trans. Edwards). They founded the city of Atuatuca in the land of 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...
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...
, whom they dominated. Thus 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...
king of the Eburones paid tribute and gave his son and nephew as hostages to the Atuatuci (Gall. 6.27). In the first century AD, the Eburones were replaced or absorbed by the Germanic Tungri
Tungri
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" , meaning that all other tribes who were later referred to this way, including those in...
, and the city was known as Atuatuca Tungrorum, i.e. the modern city of Tongeren. 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....
might have their name derived from Cimbri.
The population of modern-day Himmerland
Himmerland
Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, Aars, Løgstør, Støvring and Nibe...
claims to be the heirs of the ancient Cimbri. The adventures of the Cimbri are described by the Danish nobel-prize-winning author, Johannes V. Jensen
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
*Not to be confused with German author Wilhelm Jensen .Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, in Denmark always called Johannes V. Jensen, was a Danish author, often considered the first great Danish writer of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944...
, himself born in Himmerland, in the novel Cimbrernes Tog (1922), included in the epic cycle Den lange Rejse (English The Long Journey
The Long Journey
The Long Journey is a series of six novels by Danish author and poet Johannes V. Jensen, written between 1908 and 1922. The books deal with the authors theories on evolution, backdropped against a description of humanity from pre-Ice Age up to the voyage of Christopher Columbus...
, 1923). The so-called Cimbrian bull ("Cimbrertyren"), a sculpture by Anders Bundgaard, was erected 14 April 1937 on a central town square in Aalborg
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
, the capital of the region of North Jutland
Region Nordjylland
North Denmark Region or North Jutland Region is an administrative region of Denmark established on January 1, 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which replaced the traditional counties with five larger regions. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger...
.
A German ethnic minority settled in the mountains between Vicenza, Verona and Trento in Italy (also known as Seven Communities
Seven Communities
The Seven Communities were a group of municipalities in the Veneto region that spoke the Cimbrian language, a dialect of Upper German, as their native tongue....
and as) is also called the Cimbri (:it:Cimbri (minoranza linguistica)). For hundreds of years this isolated population consisting now of 4.400 inhabitants, has claimed to be the direct descendant of the Cimbri retreating in this area after been defeated by the Romans. On one occasion in 1709, for instance, Frederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...
, also paid them a visit and he was greeted as their King. The population which kept its independence during the Venice Republic was later severely hit by World War I. As a result, many Cimbri has left the mountain region and dispersed around the world.
See also
- List of Germanic tribes
- CimmeriansCimmeriansThe Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin.According to the Greek historian Herodotus, of the 5th century BC, the Cimmerians inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, in what is now Ukraine and Russia...
- Sugambri
- Zimmern ChronicleZimmern ChronicleThe Zimmern Chronicle is a family chronicle describing the lineage and history of the noble family of Zimmern, based in Meßkirch, Germany. It was written in a Swabian variety of Early New High German by Count Froben Christoph von Zimmern...
- Haraldskær WomanHaraldskær WomanThe Haraldskær Woman is an Iron Age bog body found naturally preserved in a bog in Jutland, Denmark. Labourers discovered the body in 1835 while excavating peat on the Haraldskær Estate...
- :it:Cimbri (minoranza linguistica)