The Rucinates (

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerl ...

: *''Rucinatis'') or Rucantii (Gaulish: *''Rucantioi'') were a

Gallic Gallic is an adjective that may describe: * ancient Gaul (Latin: Gallia), roughly corresponding to the territory of modern France **pertaining to the Gauls ** Roman Gaul (1st century BC to 5th century) **Gallic Empire (260–273) ** Frankish ...

tribe dwelling in near the confluence of the

Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, ...

and

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 , ...

rivers during the

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

Name

They are mentioned as ''R̔oukántioi'' (Ῥουκάντιοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as ''Rucinates'' (var. ''irucina''-) by

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, ...

(1st c. AD),

. ''Naturalis Historia''
3:20
as ''R̔ounikátai'' (Ῥουνικάται) by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...

(2nd c. AD), and as ''Rucinates'' on an inscription., s.v. ''Runicates''. The meaning of the name remains uncertain. It has been translated as 'the blushing (i.e. shameful or shaming) people', by connecting the first element to the

*''rucco''- ('shame, blush of shame'). Alternatively,

Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel (born 5 April 1953) is an Italian philologist, linguist and scholar of Celtic studies. Biography Patrizia de Bernardo was born on 5 April 1953 in Milan, Italy, the daughter of Mario de Bernardo and Adriana Marra. She ...

has proposed to derive the name from a form *''roukkina'' (cf.

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

''rhuchen'' 'jerkin, jacket, coat'), itself from *''roukka'' (cf. Welsh ''rhuch'' 'garment, cloak, mantle'). In this view, the variant ''R̔oukántioi'' handed down by Strabo could be explained as 'those who wear a roukka'. The form given by Ptolemy (''Runicates'') is a metathesis of the original form (''Rucinates'').

Geography

The Rucinates lived near the confluence of the

and

rivers. Their territory was located north of the

Catenates The Catenates or Cattenates were a Gallic tribe dwelling between the Isar and Inn rivers during the Iron Age. Name They are mentioned as ''Catenates'' (var. ''catte-'') by Pliny (1st c. AD). Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia''3:20, s.v. ''Cat(t)e ...

, east of the Raetovarii, south of the

Iuthungi The Juthungi (Greek: ''Iouthungoi'', Latin: ''Iuthungi'') were a Germanic tribe in the region north of the rivers Danube and Altmühl in what is now the modern German state of Bavaria. The tribe was mentioned by the Roman historians Publius H ...

., Map 12: Mogontiacum-Reginum-Lauriacum. They were part of the

Vindelici The Vindelici (Gaulish: ) were a Gallic people dwelling around present-day Augsburg (Bavaria) during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as by Horace (1st c. BC), as (; var. ) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as and ( ...

History

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the

Tropaeum Alpium The Tropaeum Alpium (Latin 'Trophy of the Alps', French: ''Trophée des Alpes''), is a Roman trophy (''tropaeum'') celebrating the emperor Augustus's decisive victory over the tribes who populated the Alps. The monument's ruins are in La Turb ...

Name

Geography

History

References

Primary sources

Bibliography