The Ampsivarii, sometimes referenced by modern writers as Ampsivari (a simplification not warranted by the sources), were a Germanic tribe mentioned by ancient authors. Their homeland was originally around the middle of the river Ems, which flows into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

at the Dutch-German border. Most likely they lived between the

Bructeri The Bructeri were a Germanic people, who lived in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, just outside what was then the Roman Empire. The Romans originally reported them living east of the lower Rhine river, in a large area centred around present day ...

''minores'' (located at the delta of the river

IJssel The IJssel (; ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. It more immediatel ...

) and the Bructeri ''maiores'', who were living south of them on the upper Ems. It is supposed that their name is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

rendering of the Germanic "Ems-werer", meaning "men of the Ems". Reconstruction of the location of other tribes in the area places the Ampsivarii on the lower Ems. The names of least two modern towns reflect that of the river and tribe:

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

(in Germany) and Emmen (in the Netherlands).

Tacitus

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

, in his

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

explains that the Ampsivarii had refused to support

Arminius Arminius (; 18/17 BC–AD 21) was a chieftain of the Germanic peoples, 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 th ...

in his surprise attack on three Roman legions at the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster () by Ancient Rome, Roman historians, was a major battle fought between an alliance of Germanic peoples and the Roman Empire between September 8 and 11, 9&nbs ...

in 9 AD, and their leader Boiocalus, who was thrown into chains by order of Arminius. Subsequently, the

Chauci 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'' ...

attacked them (the year 58) and drove them from their lands on the Ems. They became refugees, hosted by various tribes in the west of Germany. Meanwhile, the Roman army had cleared out the lower

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, which they were using as a no-man's land between Germany and Roman

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. The principate had resolved to stop imperial expansion at the Rhine. The Ampsivarii now made a bid for the land, petitioning the Roman commander in the region. Their chief Boiocalus reminding them of his 50 years of loyalty. The petition went sour, but Tacitus does not clarify the reason. The Romans were insisting on the ''meliorum imperia'', the "authority of betters", which seems to imply that the Ampsivarii were being invited to throw in their lot with the Romans. Privately Boiocalus, as a memento of his 50-year friendship, was promised land though he felt obliged to reject on the grounds that it would make him a traitor. It is possible that his

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic name reflects a Celtic origin of his family, in which case the question of betrayal might have been an issue, or it might simply have been that he was known to have been loyal to Rome. As it turned out the Roman offer was to be the last the Ampsivarii would receive. They now formed a defensive alliance with the

Tencteri The Tencteri or Tenchteri or Tenctheri (in Plutarch's Greek, Tenteritē and possibly the same as the Tenkeroi mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy if these were not the Tungri) were an ancient tribe, who moved into the area on the right bank (the nort ...

and

, two more tribes of the future Franks, but this hasty relationship was too little and too late. The Romans entered the lands of the Tencteri and threatened to annihilate them. Both allies withdrew from the alliance, the Romans withdrew from their country, and the Ampsivarii stood alone. Having chosen to join neither side at the critical moment, they now had all sides against them. They went on up the Rhine, hosted by some tribes, resisted by others, until the fighting men were all dead. The survivors were distributed as ''praeda'', booty, meaning

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, to various tribes and so the identity did not go on to appear in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

Sulpicius Alexander

The name appearing in the title belonged to a historian of Germanic tribes, Sulpicius Alexander, whose works are all lost except for quotes in

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

. In one quote the Ampsivarii appear again some few hundred years after their loss in Tacitus. In the quote, a Roman general of Frankish family, Arbogastes (died 394), attacked the Franks across the Rhine and works some devastation. A force of

Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) 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 ...

and Ampsivarii under Marcomer was seen on a distant hill, but the two did not engage. The circumstances imply that some Ampsivarii had found refuge among the Chatti and still held a tribal identity.

Notitia Dignitatum

Not long after the death of Arbogastes the emperor,

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

, had little time to spend on the Franks, as Italy was being overrun by

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

. Honorius was the emperor who replied to the British request for help against

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

invaders that they should defend themselves as best they could. The

Notitia Dignitatum The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') is a document of the Late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very ...

, which lists Roman units and their heraldry, indicates that the Franks were taken as auxiliaries into the Roman army. A unit of Ampsivarii appears there.

References

External links

Book XIII Chapter 55: Events in the North. The Ampsivarii(AD 58)

{{Germanic peoples Early Germanic peoples Auxilia palatina Frankish people

Tacitus

Sulpicius Alexander

Notitia Dignitatum

See also

References

External links