The Rauraci or Raurici were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the

Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...

region, around the present-day city of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, during the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Rauracis'' and ''Rauracorum'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''Raurici'' (var. -''aci'') by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Rauracense'' in the '' Notitia Dignitatum'' (5th c. AD)., s.v. ''Rauraci'' and ''Col. Augusta Raurica''. The

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

''Rauraci'' derives from the ancient Celtic name of the river

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

, ''Raura''. The city of Augst, attested in the 2nd century AD as ''Augoústa Rhauríkōn'' (Αὐγούστα Ῥαυρίκων), is indirectly named after the tribe.

Geography

Territory

Their name seems to indicate an original homeland near the river Ruhr, further north of their attested territory. After their failed migration towards southwestern Gaul was repelled by the Romans in 58 BC, the Rauraci settled in the

area, with a territory stretching from the foothills of the Jura Massif, around the modern city of

, to the regions of Upper Alsace and South Baden. The Rauraci dwelled south of the Leuci and Brisigavi, north of the

Helvetii The Helvetii (, , Gaulish: *''Heluētī''), anglicized as Helvetians, 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. According to Ju ...

, east of the Lingones, and west of the Lentienses., Map 18: Augustonemetum-Vindonissa. They were probably clients of the larger Helvetii.

Settlements

The oppidum of Basel-Münsterhügel, occupied since at least the mid-1st century BC, was their pre-Roman chief town. The archaeological site of Basel-Gasfabrik (ca. 150–80 BC) is also attributed to the Rauraci. In 44 BC, the Roman consul L. Munatius Plancus founded within their territory the settlement of Augusta Raurica (or ''Colonia Raurica''; modern Augst and Kaiseraugst). The city was located at the crossroad of two trading routes: between the Great St Bernard Pass and the Rhine, and between Gaul and the Danube. It reached 106ha at its height in 200 AD. A great part of Augusta Raurica was destroyed by an earthquake in 240–250. Under

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

(284–295), it was incorporated into the province of Maxima Sequanorum. The Castrum Rauracense, erected in 290–300, became the core of the city in Late Antiquity. Another town, known as Argentovaria (modern Oedenburg, in Biesheim) and mentioned by Ptolemy ca. 150 AD, probably served as the capital of the ''civitas Rauricorum'', or else of an unattested ''

pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geograp ...

'' of the Rauraci.

Religion

The temple at the forum of Augusta Raurica was dedicated to Romae et Augusto. The temple of Schönbühl replaced indigenous shrines around 70 AD. Inscriptions give evidence of the

Imperial cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult (religious practice), Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejor ...

and of dedications to various Graeco-Roman deities. Native Gaulish deities include Epona, Sirona and the quadruviae. The cult of the snake was popular in Augusta Raurica. The Oriental cults of Mithra, Sabatius and

Harpocrates Harpocrates (, Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤇𐤓𐤐𐤊𐤓𐤈, romanized: ḥrpkrṭ, ''harpokratēs'') is the god of silence, secrets and confidentiality in the Hellenistic religion developed in History of Alexandria#Ptolemaic era ...

are also attested.

History

In 58 BC, the Raurici were part of a failed migration attempt towards southwestern Gaul, alongside the

, Tulingi and Latobrigi. After their defeat by Caesar at the Battle of Bibracte in the same year, they were sent back as a ''

foederati ''Foederati'' ( ; singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the '' socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign ...

'' (allies bound by a treaty), probably to their territory of departure. In 52 BC, they provided 1,000 men to the Gallic coalition against Caesar.

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars Tribes conquered by Rome