The Baemi or Baimoi (Ancient Greek Βαῖμοι), were a large

Germanic people The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

who are only known by their mention 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 ...

's ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

''. He described them as living on the north side of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, south of the

Luna forest In Ptolemy's ''Geography'',Book 2, chapter 10 the Luna forest (Latin ''Luna silva'', Greek ''Louna hule'') is a geographical feature whose location is not known now with any certainty. According to Ptolemy, the forest was located on the north ba ...

and iron mines, with the

Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people during the Roman era, who were prominent in Greek and Roman records from about 20 AD to about 400 AD. By about 20 AD they had a kingdom centred in the area of present-day western Slovakia, north ...

still further north and the

Hercynian forest The Hercynian Forest was an ancient and dense forest that stretched across Western Central Europe, from North French Scarplands, Northeastern France to the Carpathian Mountains, including most of Southern Germany, though its boundaries are a mat ...

above them. West of the Baemi on the Danube were the ''

Adrabaecampi The Adrabaecampi () and Parmaecampi (, ''Parmaikampoi'') were two divisions of the Kampoi (Κάμποι), a tribe of greater Germany who, according to Ptolemy, dwelled on the north bank of the Danube south of the Gabreta Forest after the Marcoma ...

'', who had the '' Sudini'' north of them, the

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people who lived close to the border of the Roman Empire, north of the River Danube, and are mentioned in Roman records from approximately 60 BC until about 400 AD. They were one of the most important members of th ...

still further north, and a forest called the Gabreta north of them. This would place them in or around modern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

and

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. Commentators generally compare their name to another one found in the same text (but located further north), the " Bainochaimai". And both terms are considered related to references to similar terms in older authors,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

and

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'' ( ...

, who were both referring to a place rather than an ethnic group. Strabo described ''Boihaemum'', as the domain of Marabodus, the king of the Marcomanni, within the

, in the south of Germany, among the hills or mountains north of the Danube (which are not yet as big as the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

further south). He had moved some of his Suebian people as safe base for his kingdom.

...is the Hercynian Forest, and also the tribes of the Suevi, some of which dwell inside the forest, as, for instance, the tribes of the Coldui, in whose territory is Boihaemum, the domain of Marabodus, the place whither he caused to migrate, not only several other peoples, but in particular the Marcomanni, his fellow-tribesmen; for after his return from Rome this man, who before had been only a private citizen, was placed in charge of the affairs of state, for, as a youth he had been at Rome and had enjoyed the favor of Augustus, and on his return he took the rulership and acquired, in addition to the peoples aforementioned, the
Lugii The Lugii (or ''Lugi'', ''Lygii'', ''Ligii'', ''Lugiones'', ''Lygians'', ''Ligians'', ''Lugians'', or ''Lougoi'') were a group of tribes mentioned by Roman authors living in ca. 100 BC–300 AD in Central Europe, north of the Sudetes moun ...
(a large tribe), the Zumi, the Butones, the Mugilones, the Sibini, and also the
Semnones The Semnones were a Germanic and specifically a Suebi people, located between the Elbe and the Oder in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. They were described in the late 1st century by Tacitus in his ''Germania'': "The Semnones give themselves out t ...
, a large tribe of the Suevi themselves.

Tacitus describes ''Boiemum'' in the same region, and specifically says that this name derived from the more ancient Celtic tribe, the

Boii The Boii (Latin language, Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; ) were a Celts, Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul (present-day Northern Italy), Pannonia (present-day Austria and Hungary), present-day Ba ...

, who had lived there in the past.Tac. Ger. 28
/ref> The second element of these names is thought to derive from an old Germanic term meaning "home of", reflected in the modern German ', English "home". (See '' *haimaz''.) The complete term would therefore mean "the place where the Boii lived". These terms survive today in the modern name

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, and more generally the name of the Boii survives not only in "Bohemia" but also in the name of the neighbouring German region of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

References

{{Germanic peoples Early Germanic peoples

See also

References