Chauken
The Chauken (pronunciation [çaʊkən], Latin: Chauci , Greek: οἱ Καύχοι; "the high, those who live high") were a Germanic tribe that lived on both sides of the lower Weser (western: Latin chauci minores, eastern: Latin chauci maiores ) lived. According to Tacitus, the Chauken belonged to the group of Ingaevones who came from the North Sea coast .
history
Approx. 12 BC BC to AD 47
The Chauken were founded in 11 BC. Submitted by Nero Claudius Drusus . Probably from the year 1 AD the Chauken seem to have participated in an uprising, the immensum bellum (1-5 AD). They were again forced under Roman rule by Tiberius in 5 AD .
A vexillary unit under the camp prefect Maenius was stationed with the Chauken in the summer of 14 AD, but withdrew to a winter camp.
Since the Chauken promised Germanicus the provision of auxiliary troops in the course of the Germanicus campaigns , they were included in the alliance (federates) with Rome in 15 AD .
After the Frisian uprising around 28 AD, they left the Reichsverband again.
In the year 41 the "Cauchi" (Chauken) were defeated by Father Gabinius Secundus, the legate of Germania inferior , and his army. The recovery of the last legionary eagle , which had been with the Chauken since the defeat of Varus, was obviously considered to be so important that Gabinius was allowed to use the nickname Cauchius.
That this victory did not mean final “pacification” or submission became evident in AD 47: The Chauken attacked the Gaulish coast by boat under the leadership of Cananefaten Gannascus, who had previously deserted from an auxiliary unit . The new Lower Germanic legate Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo destroyed the ships of the Chauken with the help of the Rhine fleet.
Approx. 58 AD
According to other sources, however, they were also notorious as pirates; they also drove the Ampsivarians out of the Ems estuary in 58 .
Approx. 77 AD
In 77 AD, the Roman chronicler Pliny described the people who lived on artificially raised mounds of earth in the coastal area, the terps , as follows:
“… We saw the Chauken peoples in the north, called the larger and the smaller. Twice in the period of each day and each night the sea pours in great motion over an infinite surface and reveals an eternal struggle of nature in an area in which it is doubtful whether it belongs to the land or to the sea. There a deplorable people inhabit high mounds of earth that are built with their hands according to the measure of the highest tide. In their built huts they resemble seafarers when the water covers the land around them, and castaways when it has retreated and their huts lie there like stranded ships alone. From their huts they hunt down fish that have stayed behind. They are not allowed to keep cattle like their neighbors, not even to fight with wild animals, since there is no bush. They weave ropes from reeds and rushes to make nets for fishing. And by drying the mud they have grasped in their hands more in the wind than in the sun, they warm their food and the limbs frozen by the north wind through the earth. "[So they cooked and heated with peat .]" They only drink rainwater, that is collected in pits in the forecourt of the house ... "
Approx. 98 AD
Approx. 98 AD the Chauken were mentioned again in writing in the 35th chapter of the Germania of Tacitus . He describes them as the eastern neighbors of the Frisians and describes them as a defensive but peaceful people who live in a large area and are highly regarded by their neighbors.
From the German translation of the works of Publius Cornelius Tacitus by H. Gutmann and by WS Teuffel:
“... So far we know Germania towards the west. Towards the north it recedes in a strong bulge. Right first comes the Chauken people, who indeed begin with the Frisians and occupy part of the coast, but then pulls all the aforementioned tribes to the side and finally forms an angle as far as the Chattenland. The Chauken not only own this huge area of land, but also fill it up: the noblest people among the Teutons, who prefer to maintain their greatness through justice. Without greed, without a lust for power, calm and secluded, they do not challenge to war, nor do they harm through raids and pillages. The best evidence of their bravery and strength is that they do not owe their superior position to the interference of others. Nevertheless all have their weapons ready and, if the situation requires, an army; Men and horses in abundance. Even if they don't move, their call remains the same ... "
2nd century
Around 100 AD, the Dithmarsch Reudigners invaded the Elbe-Weser triangle over the Elbe. Despite the Ingwaeon tribal relationship, there were fights with the local Chauken.
From 150 AD the pirate groups of the Chauken, Reudigner and possibly also the Avionen in the Elbe-Weser triangle were collectively referred to as Saxons .
In 173 the Legio I Minervia was used against pirate Chauken in the province of Gallia Belgica .
They were last mentioned by name in the 4th century.
comment
By comparing the various ancient texts, historians draw conclusions that the Germanic tribes were more groups than family clans. The Angrivarians are said to have become part of the Chauken later. According to reports from the 4th century, the settlement area of the Chauken made up large parts of that in which the Saxons were mentioned for the same time . Since there is no evidence of armed conflict between the two peoples, it is assumed that the Chauken were then part of the Saxons, including the later Westphalia and Engern . A part of the Chauken may also have been absorbed into the Frisians originally named as neighbors during the migration period .
Settlements
The Chauken lived in individual farms and small villages. Since there were no dikes at that time, they lived in the marshland between the mouths of the Ems and the Elbe, partly on man-made hills, the Wurten . The beginnings of some of these Wurten go back to the pre-Roman Iron Age .
In places that still exist today, the name endings are often used to identify the founders. Places with the ending "-e (r) ns" - for example Cleverns , Esens , Popens , Wiesens , Ziallerns and others - are considered to be Chaukische settlements . The names of Frisian foundations often end in "-um" (from "hem" = " -heim "). Examples are: Canum , Loppersum , Pewsum , Werdum , Büsum , Lesum , Lüssum , Rekum , Brinkum , Bassum , Bingum , Jemgum , Midlum , Critzum , Hatzum , Ditzum , Pogum and many places that have sunk into the Dollart : Torum , Logum, etc. .
The name Chaukenhügel in Bremen was also (erroneously) related to this origin.
literature
- Tacitus: About the origin and life of the Teutons on Wikisource - Germania , Chapter 35
- Dieter Bischop , Manfred Rech (ed.): Settlers, mercenaries and pirates. Accompanying publication to the exhibition of the same name in the Focke Museum, Bremer Landesmuseum from March 8 to May 14, 2000 [Chauken and Saxony in the Bremen area]. Bremer Archäologische Blätter, supplement 2/2000. State archaeologist, Bremen 2000; ISSN 0068-0907
- Klaus-Peter Johne: The Romans on the Elbe. The Elbe river basin in the geographical world view and in the political consciousness of Greco-Roman antiquity , Berlin 2006
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus-Peter Johne: The Romans on the Elbe. The river basin of the Elbe in the geographical world view and in the political consciousness of Greco-Roman antiquity , Berlin 2006, p. 94. Evt. found submission as early as 12 BC. Instead of. Ibid. P. 139
- ↑ Velleius Paterculus : Historia Romana , Book 2,106
- ↑ a b Tacitus : Annalen , Book 1
- ↑ "Gabinio Secundo Cauchis gent Germanica superatis cognomen Cauchius usurpare concessit." ( Sueton Claud. 24.3)
- ^ Tacitus : Annals , Book 11
- ^ Widukind von Corvey : Widukindi Rerum Gestarum Saxonicarum libri tres ("Three books of Saxon history")