The Juthungi (Greek: ''Iouthungoi'', Latin: ''Iuthungi'') were a Germanic tribe in the region north of the rivers

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and

Altmühl The Altmühl (, la, Alchmona, Alcmana, Almonus)
s.v. is a river in

in what is now the modern German state of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

. The tribe was mentioned by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

historians Publius Herennius Dexippus and

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...

. Their name appears together that of the

Semnoni The Semnones were a Germanic and specifically a Suevian people, who were settled between the Elbe and the Oder in the 1st century when they were described by Tacitus in ''Germania'': "The Semnones give themselves out to be the most ancient and r ...

, leading some people to believe that they might have been one and the same. This, however, there is no etymological or historical proofs to prove or even indicate, they must likely just raided together a few times since the Semnoni is said to have become a part of the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pre ...

by the 3rd century whom the Juthungi were almost constantly associated with. Their name is likely related to that of the "

Jutes The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nation ...

", with the classical Germanic "-Ungi" suffix added. Meaning "Jute-Ungi/Juthungi", the Jutings. Like the danish "Scyldings", which in Danish is pronounced "Skjoldunger" ("Skjold" meaning = Shield, and "-Unger" meaning = "-Ings"). The Juthungi invaded

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 259–260, but on their way back they were defeated near

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

on 24–25 April 260 by Marcus Simplicinius Genialis (this is recorded on a Roman victory altar found in 1992). At this time the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

lost control of this part of the ''

limes Limes may refer to: * the plural form of lime (disambiguation) Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a ...

''. The Juthungi invaded Italy again in 271, defeating the Romans at the Battle of Placentia, but they were repulsed by

Aurelian Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited ...

after the Battle of Fano and Battle of Pavia. Between 356 and 358 the Juthungi and the Alamanni invaded the province of

Raetia Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west ...

, and destroyed ''Castra Regina'' (Regensburg), which was the Roman capital of the province, and one of the biggest Roman military camps in south Germany, with massive stone walls and a village. A second invasion of

in 383 was repelled by an army of

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...

and

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

. Between 429 and 431 the Roman general Aëtius also fought against the Juthungi in Raetia. He was unsuccessful, however, and so the Romans never tried or got the chance to fight them again. Due to a lot of different Germanic tribes being generalised as Alemanni, Franks, Franconians or Bavarians, during the 4th and 5th centuries AD, their fate is ultimately unknown. But it is likely that the Juthungi became a part of one of these so called "coalitions" of people, and most likely the Alamanni, since they multiple times were mentioned together. No leader of the tribe was ever recorded, but it is likely that they were ruled under one king in the beginning, whereas they later might have split off into several groups all being led by different leaders set in different places.

Historical sources

* Augsburg Victory Altar (around 260) *

Dexippus Publius Herennius Dexippus ( el, Δέξιππος; c. 210–273 AD), Greek historian, statesman and general, was an hereditary priest of the Eleusinian family of the Kerykes, and held the offices of ''archon basileus'' and '' eponymous'' in At ...

FGrHist ''Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', commonly abbreviated ''FGrHist'' or ''FGrH'' (''Fragments of the Greek Historians''), is a collection by Felix Jacoby of the works of those ancient Greek historians whose works have been lost, but of w ...

100 (around 270/271) *

Panegyrici Latini ' or ''Twelve Latin Panegyrics'' is the conventional title of a collection of twelve ancient Roman and late antique prose panegyric orations written in Latin. The authors of most of the speeches in the collection are anonymous, but appear to hav ...

VIII 10.4 (around 297) *

17,6 (around 375) *

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...

, c. 7, 233 (around 429/430)

Historical sources

See also