Impero romano sotto Ottaviano Augusto 30aC - 6dC

Despite the large variations in spellings of their name the Varisci, Varisti, Naristi, or Narisci were a single

Germanic people The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

, known from several historical records from the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. They lived near the Roman frontier on the Danube river, east of the

Hermunduri The Hermunduri, Hermanduri, Hermunduli, Hermonduri, or Hermonduli were an ancient Germanic tribe, who occupied an inland area near the source of the Elbe river, around what is now Bohemia from the first to the third century, though they have als ...

, and west of the

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people who lived close to the border of the Roman Empire, north of the River Danube, and are mentioned in Roman records from approximately 60 BC until about 400 AD. They were one of the most important members of th ...

and

Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people during the Roman era, who were prominent in Greek and Roman records from about 20 AD to about 400 AD. By about 20 AD they had a kingdom centred in the area of present-day western Slovakia, north ...

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

(Book 2, Chapter 10) adds that the Ouaristoi were south of the Sudeten Mountains and west of Gabreta Forest. The sources thus agree on their location. Roman authors associated the Varisti, Hermunduri, Marcomanni and Quadi as Suebian peoples who moved into the Danube region under Marcomanni leadership, taking over from the remaining

Boii The Boii (Latin language, Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; ) were a Celts, Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul (present-day Northern Italy), Pannonia (present-day Austria and Hungary), present-day Ba ...

still living in this part of their ancient homelands. Very likely, then, all three allies were not from that region, but moved into it from the north under pressure from the Roman invasions into

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

during the reign of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. The Roman geographer

stated the names of some towns in the district, but what language they used or whether they were taken over or founded anew he does not say. The towns that might reasonably be interpreted as in the Variscan domain are Bicurgium,

Menosgada Menosgada ("town above the Main valley")Motschmann 2006, p. 10 was a Celts, Celtic metropolis on the Upper Main (river) that was mentioned by the Greek geographer, Ptolemy. It was probably located on the hill known today as the Staffelberg. In t ...

, Marobudum, Setuacotum, Brodentia, Abilunum and Usbium on the Danube. During 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 ...

which occurred during the reign of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

, the chief of the Naristi was killed by the Roman General Marcus Valerius Maximianus. The Marcomannic Wars are chronicled and explained in Marcellinus Ammianus, although the Varisci are not mentioned there. They do find brief mention as the Varistae of the ''Vita Marci Antonini Philosophi'' (Chapter 22) of Julius Capitolinus. They were among the tribes who crossed the Danube, but are not mentioned after that. The best guess as to their eventual fate is that they were transplanted to Italy, along with many other Danube-dwelling warrior peoples, by Marcus Aurelius, where he could watch over them. They are the presumed prior inhabitants of a medieval district, ''Provincia Variscorum'', the same (in presumption) as the

Vogtland Vogtland (; ) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euroregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former leadershi ...

district of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

References

{{Authority control Early Germanic peoples

See also

References