The Semnones were a Germanic and specifically a Suevian people, who were settled between the Elbe and the

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

in the 1st century when they were described by Tacitus in ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

'':

"The Semnones give themselves out to be the most ancient and renowned branch of the
Suevi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
. Their antiquity is strongly attested by their religion. At a stated period, all the tribes of the same race assemble by their representatives in a grove consecrated by the auguries of their forefathers, and by immemorial associations of terror. Here, having publicly slaughtered a human victim, they celebrate the horrible beginning of their barbarous rite. Reverence also in other ways is paid to the grove. No one enters it except bound with a chain, as an inferior acknowledging the might of the local divinity. If he chance to fall, it is not lawful for him to be lifted up, or to rise to his feet; he must crawl out along the ground. All this superstition implies the belief that from this spot the nation took its origin, that here dwells the supreme and all-ruling deity, to whom all else is subject and obedient. The fortunate lot of the Semnones strengthens this belief; a hundred cantons are in their occupation, and the vastness of their community makes them regard themselves as the head of the Suevic race."Tacitus, ''Germania'', Germania.XXXIX

The Semnones's own name is apparently etymologically similar or even the same as the one recorded by Roman authors as "Suevi" and during his own time

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

, had mentioned Suevi but not Semnones, being a powerful tribal group with 100 cantons. They were led in his time by King

Ariovistus Ariovistus was a leader of the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. He and his followers took part in a war in Gaul, assisting the Arverni and Sequani in defeating their rivals, the Aedui. They t ...

. The king of the Semnones

Masyas Masyas, Masyus or Masyos ( gr, Μάσυος) was a King of the Semnones ( gr, Σεμνόνων βασιλεύς) in the 1st century. The Semnones were a Germanic tribe, part of the Suebi. Cassius Dio writes that he at one point visited Roman emper ...

and his priestess Ganna are mentioned by Cassius Dio. They worshipped a supreme god ( la, regnator omnium deus) at a sacred grove. A grove of fetters is also mentioned in the eddic poem '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. Ptolemy's map of Magna Germania mentions a forest called Semanus Silva, but a relation to the Semnones is unknown. In the 3rd century, the Semnones shifted southwards and eventually ended up as part of the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

people.

Notes

{{Authority control Early Germanic peoples Suebi

See also

Notes