350px, The Ubii around AD 30 The Ubii were a Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the east bank of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

in the time of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

, who formed an alliance with them in 55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river. They were transported in 39 BC by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to the west bank, apparently at their own request, as they feared the incursions of their neighbors, the

Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis'') river. They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in ...

. A colony for Roman veterans was founded in 50 AD under the patronage of Agrippa's granddaughter, Agrippina the Younger, who had been born at Ara Ubiorum, the capital of the Ubii. The colony derived its title from the names of Agrippina and her husband, the emperor Claudius, and received the name ''Colonia Claudia Ara Augusta Agrippinensium'', which is the origin of the city's modern name,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. Alongside the allotment of land to veterans, the existing town of Ara Ubiorum was elevated to the status of a '' colonia'', which would have conferred many privileges on the inhabitants. The Ubii were also at Bonna ( Bonn) of the Eburones. The Ubii remained loyal allies of Rome; they were instrumental in crushing the Batavian rebellion in 70 AD and, although some of them made part of the invasion of Pannonia in 166 AD, they become '' foederati'' supporting Roman troops in the

Marcomannic Wars The Marcomannic Wars () were a series of wars lasting from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against principally the Germanic peoples, Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges; there were related conflicts ...

in 166–67 AD. They seem to have been so thoroughly Romanized that they adopted the name ''Agrippinenses'' in honour of their "founder", and their later history is submerged with other

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

in that of eastern

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

as a whole.

Roman interactions

In 55 BC, Julius Caesar was preparing for an invasion of Britain, when several Germanic tribes, including the Ubii,

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, Book 39, discussing Caesar's actions in 55 BCE, offderrs slightly different motivation and sequence of events: "the Ubii, whose land was coterminal with the Sugambri and who were at variance with them, invoked his aid"
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and Caesar crossed the Rhine; this is Dio's single mention of the Ubii. crossed the Rhine river. This movement included the Usipetes and Tencteri tribes, who wished to relocate to avoid contact with the Suevi. Caesar, concerned that fighting might break out in the region and draw troops away from his planned invasion, marched toward the Rhine. He met with ambassadors from the Germanic tribe and offered them land with the Ubii and an alliance against the Suevi; however, Caesar soon became worried that the tribes were delaying until their cavalry could return. Together with the Batavi, the Ubii furnished soldiers for the Germanic bodyguard, the personal bodyguard of the early Roman emperors.

Notes

External links

Summary of Julius Caesar's Campaigns
{{Authority control Early Germanic peoples History of the Rhineland Istvaeones

Roman interactions

See also

Notes

External links