Vangions

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Map of the Germanic tribes around the year 50 AD with details of the settlement area of ​​the Vangions

The Vangionen (also Wangionen , Latin Vangiones , more rarely Ouargiones or Quargiones) were a tribe with unexplained linguistic, cultural and ethnic affiliation, who lived in the area around what is now the Rhineland-Palatinate city ​​of Worms ; they were either to be assigned to the Celts or the Teutons .

Roman times

First mention by Caesar

The vangions appear in the written sources for the first time in the report of the Roman general Julius Caesar about his wars in Gaul . Around the year 70 BC Various tribes invaded Gaul in search of new settlement areas under the leadership of the Germanic prince Ariovistus . According to Caesar, the Gauls, who were under the protectorate of the Roman Empire , asked Rome for help. Caesar names the Vangionen in connection with the decisive battle of September 14th, 58 BC. Chr. , When she in the army of Ariovistus against his Roman fought troops and documents.

Teutons or Celts?

Although Caesar calls the seven tribes of the Battle of the Rhine as Germanic peoples and, in addition to the Vangions , also mentions the Haruder , Marcomanni , Nemeter , Sedusier , Suebi and Triboker in his war report , some tribes were probably of Celtic origin and neighbors in the settlement area of ​​the Vangions on the Rhine. Thus the vangions could also have been of Celtic origin. About the ethnic affiliation of the tribes in the right bank of the Rhine fore of the Rhine is in the 1st century BC. Little known due to the so-called Helvetier wasteland . The settlement in the imperial territory probably did not take place until the reign of Augustus . Notes from Caesar himself belong to the “geographical excursions” that were probably added to the work in Augustan times at the earliest. In addition to an indirect mention of the geographer Strabo, Caesar's own statement that after the defeat of Ariovistus all the Suebi fled across the Rhine is more likely .

Civitas Vangionum

In the course of the consolidation of Roman rule after the Battle of Alsace, the Civitas Vangionum , a semi-autonomous administrative unit on a middle level, was set up in the tribal area of ​​the Vangionen .

Post-Roman times

Even after the end of Roman times , the name of the tribe remained in the region; In a royal charter from 985, civitas, ecclesia and urbs of Worms were called "Vangionic". During the Renaissance the memory of the Vangions was revived; the city of Worms referred to itself in the 17th century as the civitas libera vormatia metropolis vangionum imperii , the area west of Worms was then called Wangengau . The vernacular has polished this into a more understandable Wonnegau over time .

literature

  • Ralph Häussler, Alexander Sitzmann:  Wangionen. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 33, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018388-9 , pp. 237-247.
  • Ralph Häussler: The Romanization of the Civitas Vangionum . In: Bulletin of the Institute of Archeology 15, 1993, pp. 41-104 (English).
  • Heinz Cüppers (Ed.): The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate . Stuttgart 1990.
  • Mathilde Grünewald: The Romans in Worms . Worms 1986.
  • Georg Wiesenthal: The Worms urban area in prehistoric and early historical times . In: Wormsgau 2.1939, pp. 220-233.
  • Friedrich Maria Illert: Museum of the City of Worms - guide through the collections in the Andreasstift . Worms 1936.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ralph Häussler, Alexander Sitzmann:  Wangionen. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 33, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018388-9 , pp. 238–241.
  2. ↑ Caesar : De bello Gallico , 1, 51-54 .
  3. ↑ Caesar: De bello Gallico , 4, 10 and 6, 25.
  4. ^ Herbert Nesselhauf : The settlement of the Upper Rhine region in Roman times. In: Badische Fundberichte 19, 1951, pp. 71–85; Gertrud Lenz-Bernhard: Lopodunum III: The Neckarswebische settlement and Villa rustica in the "Ziegelscheuer" area: an investigation into the settlement history of the Upper Rhine Germans. Stuttgart 2003, p. 21 with further sources.
  5. ↑ Strabo : 7, 1, 3.
  6. ↑ Caesar: De bello Gallico , 1, 53-54.
  7. ↑ See Ralph Häussler, Alexander Sitzmann:  Wangionen. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 33, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018388-9 , p. 247.