The Juthungi (, ) were a Germanic tribe in the region north of the rivers

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 ...

and

Altmühl The Altmühl (, )
s.v. is a river in

in what is now the modern German state 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 ...

. The tribe was mentioned by a few

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

historians, including Publius Herennius Dexippus and

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

, stretching from the 3rd to the 5th century CE.

Tribal name

The Juthungi only appear in Roman records for a few centuries. They are only known to have been referred by the ''Juthungi'' name twice before the

Laterculus Veronensis The ''Laterculus Veronensis'' or Verona List is a list of Roman provinces and barbarian peoples from the time of the emperors Diocletian and Constantine I, most likely from AD 314. The list is transmitted only in a 7th-century manuscript preser ...

, an Imperial record of provinces and peoples of the Empire written around 314 CE, and the last listing of the tribal name occurred around 430 CE. There are conflicting accounts as to whether the Juthungi were a tribe of their own, a subtribe of the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

, or a separate tribe that merged into the Alemanni. Their name appears together with that of the Semnoni, 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 most likely just raided together a few times since the Semnoni is said to have become a part of the

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

Jutes The Jutes ( ) were one of the Germanic people, Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the end of Roman rule in Britain, departure of the Roman Britain, Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic na ...

", 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").

Juthungi relations with Rome

The Juthungi invaded

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

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 ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

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

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

after the

Battle of Fano The Battle of Fano also known as the Battle of Fanum FortunaeMichael Grant, The History of Rome, p. 285 was fought in 271 between the Roman and the Juthungian armies. The Romans led by Emperor Aurelian, were victorious. Background Aurelian ...

and

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...

. Around this time, during the reign of Aurelian (270-75), Dexippus reports that Aurelian prepared a show of Roman force as part of diplomatic negotiations with the tribe. Between 356 and 358 the Juthungi and the Alamanni invaded the province of

Raetia Raetia or 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 with Transalpine ...

, 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 () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

and

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

. 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.

Fate of the Juthungi

The Roman historians often generalized multiple Germanic tribes with terms like Alamanni, Franks or Bavarians, so it is difficult to determine the precise fate of the Juthungi after their defeats and into the 4th and 5th centuries CE. It is likely that the Juthungi integrated into one of the Germanic tribal federations—perhaps the Alemanni, since they were mentioned together in multiple histories. 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 mentions of the Juthungi

* Augsburg Victory Altar (around 260) *

Dexippus Publius Herennius Dexippus (; 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 Athens. Life When the He ...

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 o ...

100 (around 270/271) * Panegyrici Latini VIII 10.4 (around 297) *

17,6 (around 375) *

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Born into the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, he was son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was appointed Urb ...

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

Tribal name

Juthungi relations with Rome

Fate of the Juthungi

Historical mentions of the Juthungi

References

See also