Nemetes
Encyclopedia
The Nemetes by modern authors sometimes improperly called Nemeti, were an ancient Germanic tribe living by the Rhine between the Palatinate and Lake Constance
where Ariovistus
had led them, the Suebi
and other allied Germanic peoples
in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. The Roman name for Speyer
, Noviomagus Nemetum, reflects this city's status as the Nemetes' tribal capital. According to Tacitus
, they were "unquestionably Germanic". The name of the tribe, however, is Celtic
as the name of its main town Noviomagus meaning noviios 'new' and magos 'plain', 'market' (cf. Old Irish mag 'plain') , as are those of a number of gods worshipped in their territory, including Nemetona
, who is thought to have been their eponymous deity. Both of these names derive from the Celtic root nemeto-
, referring to sacred spaces.
In De Bello Gallico, Caesar
writes that the Hercynian Forest
"begins at the frontiers of the Helvetii
, Nemetes, and Rauraci, and extends in a right line along the river Danube to the territories of the Daci and the Anartes". Their territory on the left bank of the Rhine had belonged to the Mediomatrici
during the time of Caesar and Strabo
, but the Nemetes must have crossed the river and settled there sometime afterwards. Under the Roman administrative organization of Gaul, the Nemetes constituted a civitas
of the province of Upper Germany
with a relatively small territory extending from the Rhine into the Palatinate Forest and an administrative centre at Speyer. Ptolemy
mentions Neomagus (i.e. Noviomagus) and Rufiniana as the towns of the Nemetes; if the latter is to be identified with Rouffach
, Ptolemy is mistaken in attributing it to the Nemetes, for Rouffach is far to the south in Rauracan territory. It may also be supposed that Saletio (Seltz
) belonged to the Nemetes, as in modern times it belonged to the diocese of Speyer
; Saletio would have been near the northern limits of the Triboci
, whose civitas later became the diocese of Strasbourg. The Nemetes fought alongside the Romans and Vangiones
against the Chatti
when the latter invaded in 50 AD.
The name of the Nemetes has been proposed, on contestable grounds, as a possible source of the term for Germany and German people in and the Slavonic languages, e.g. in the Russian language
. See also exonyms.
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
where Ariovistus
Ariovistus
Ariovistus was a leader of the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. He and his followers took part in a war in Gaul, assisting the Arverni and Sequani to defeat their rivals the Aedui, after which they settled in large numbers in conquered Gallic...
had led them, the 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...
and other allied Germanic peoples
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...
in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. The Roman name for Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
, Noviomagus Nemetum, reflects this city's status as the Nemetes' tribal capital. According to Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator 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 who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, they were "unquestionably Germanic". The name of the tribe, however, is Celtic
Gaulish language
The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...
as the name of its main town Noviomagus meaning noviios 'new' and magos 'plain', 'market' (cf. Old Irish mag 'plain') , as are those of a number of gods worshipped in their territory, including Nemetona
Nemetona
Nemetona is a Goddess of ancient Celtic religion worshiped in eastern Gaul. She is thought to have been the eponymous deity of the Germano-Celtic people known as the Nemetes; evidence of her veneration is found throughout their former territory in and around what is now Trier, Germany...
, who is thought to have been their eponymous deity. Both of these names derive from the Celtic root nemeto-
Nemeton
A nemeton was a sacred space of ancient Celtic religion. Nemeta appear to have been primarily situated in natural areas, and, as they often utilized trees, they are often interpreted as sacred groves. However, other evidence suggests that the word implied a wider variety of ritual spaces, such as...
, referring to sacred spaces.
In De Bello Gallico, Caesar
Julius 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....
writes that the Hercynian Forest
Hercynian Forest
The Hercynian Forest was an ancient and dense forest that stretched eastward from the Rhine River across southern Germany and formed the northern boundary of that part of Europe known to writers of antiquity. The ancient sources are equivocal about how far east it extended...
"begins at the frontiers of 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...
, Nemetes, and Rauraci, and extends in a right line along the river Danube to the territories of the Daci and the Anartes". Their territory on the left bank of the Rhine had belonged to the Mediomatrici
Mediomatrici
The Mediomatrici were an ancient Celtic people of Gaul, who belong to the division of Belgica. Julius Caesar shows their position in a general way when he says that the Rhine flows along the territories of the Sequani, Mediomatrici, Triboci or Tribocci, and Treviri. Ptolemy places the Mediomatrici...
during the time of Caesar and 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...
, but the Nemetes must have crossed the river and settled there sometime afterwards. Under the Roman administrative organization of Gaul, the Nemetes constituted a civitas
Civitas
In the history of Rome, the Latin term civitas , according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the cives, or citizens, united by law . It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities on the one hand and rights of citizenship on the other...
of the province of Upper Germany
Germania Superior
Germania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany...
with a relatively small territory extending from the Rhine into the Palatinate Forest and an administrative centre at Speyer. Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
mentions Neomagus (i.e. Noviomagus) and Rufiniana as the towns of the Nemetes; if the latter is to be identified with Rouffach
Rouffach
Rouffach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.Rouffach lies along the Alsatian wine route ....
, Ptolemy is mistaken in attributing it to the Nemetes, for Rouffach is far to the south in Rauracan territory. It may also be supposed that Saletio (Seltz
Seltz
Seltz is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. It is located on the Sauer river near its confluence with the Rhine, opposite the German town of Rastatt.-History:...
) belonged to the Nemetes, as in modern times it belonged to the diocese of Speyer
Diocese of Speyer
The Diocese of Speyer is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is located in the South of the Rhineland-Palatinate and comprises also the Saarpfalz district in the east of the Saarland. The bishop's see is in the Palatinate city of Speyer.The current bishop is Karl-Heinz...
; Saletio would have been near the northern limits of the Triboci
Triboci
In classical antiquity, the Triboci or Tribocci were a Germanic people of eastern Gaul, inhabiting much of what is now Alsace.-Name:Besides the forms Triboci and Tribocci, Schneider has the form “Triboces” in the accusative plural. Pliny has Tribochi, and Strabo . In the passage of Caesar, it is...
, whose civitas later became the diocese of Strasbourg. The Nemetes fought alongside the Romans and Vangiones
Vangiones
The Vangiones appear first in history as an ancient Germanic tribe of unknown provenience. They threw in their lot with Ariovistus in his bid of 58 BC to invade Gaul through the Doubs river valley and lost to Julius Caesar in a battle probably near Belfort...
against the Chatti
Chatti
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
when the latter invaded in 50 AD.
The name of the Nemetes has been proposed, on contestable grounds, as a possible source of the term for Germany and German people in and the Slavonic languages, e.g. in the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. See also exonyms.
See also
- NemetatiNemetatiThe Nemetati were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the north of modern Portugal between the Cávado and Ave Rivers, in the province of Minho, north of the Douro.They lived near the valley of the Ave River and may have some link with inscriptions to the war god Cosus Nemedecus. The...
- VangionesVangionesThe Vangiones appear first in history as an ancient Germanic tribe of unknown provenience. They threw in their lot with Ariovistus in his bid of 58 BC to invade Gaul through the Doubs river valley and lost to Julius Caesar in a battle probably near Belfort...
- List of Germanic peoples