In
general terms, the Romans
coined the name 'Gaul' to describe the
Celtic tribes of what is now
central, northern and eastern
France. The Gauls were
divided from the Belgae
to the north by the Marne and the Seine, and from the Aquitani to the south
by the River Garonne. They also extended eastwards, into the region that
was becoming known as Germania. The Celts had ruled much of this in their
heyday, but by the middle of the first century BC they were fragmented, and
were either in the process of being expelled by the increasingly powerful
Germanic tribes who were
migrating southwards from
Scandinavia and the Baltic
coast, or they were being defeated and integrated into Germanic or other
tribes. The Harii were located in the area which today roughly forms the
meeting point between eastern
Slovakia, southern
Poland and western
Ukraine, on the upper stretches
of the Vistula. They were neighboured by the
Helveconae,
Manimi,
Helisii,
Lugii (perhaps the core of
a confederation), Naharvali,
Osi, and the Germanic
Buri.
The Harii name is the German 'har' or 'her', with a Latin plural '-i' added.
Remove that plural and the name translates as 'army'. Note that in Germanic
language the initial 'h' would originally have been a 'k' sound (producing
'kar' or 'ker'), marking it as a variant of the word for a spear: 'ger'.
This derives from one of many similar words for a spear, which can be
interpreted as an indication that the root may predate
proto-Indo-European,
making it very old indeed. Pokorny shows that the 'h' came directly from a
'g' rather than a 'k', which is another indication of antiquity, predating
the proto-German 'h' derived from 'k'.
Tacitus described the Harii as one of a number of tribes which together
formed the federation of the Lugii, which itself was viewed as being part
of the Suevi
confederation. The Suevi were a confederation of (usually) Germanic peoples
that came into existence by the first century AD, and perhaps earlier. It
perhaps also included Celtic tribes that had remained in the region and which
were largely absorbed by the later arrivals. The Suevi confederation included
the tribes of the
Alemanni,
Angles,
Hermunduri,
Langobards,
Marcomanni,
Quadi,
Semnones, and
Warini, and
perhaps also the
Heruli
too. None of these tribes were what could be considered 'front line' tribes,
living along the border with the
Roman
empire. Instead they were arrayed behind a large number of other tribes
which were better known and better attested by Roman writers. The Suebic
tribes remained a little more obscure, at least until they came into
direct contact with the empire, and many of the more minor tribes that
made up the confederation were almost entirely unchronicled. The Helisii,
Helveconae, Manimi, and Naharvali were also sometimes included in the
Lugii federation
The Harii were superior in strength to their neighbours, and savage
according to Tacitus, but they made 'the most of their natural ferocity by
the help of art and opportunity'. They carried blackened shields and their
bodies were dyed, presumably using woad. They chose dark nights for battle,
and were able to strike terror into their foe thanks to their unnatural
appearance, and perhaps also due to an element of psychological warfare to
spook their opponents before they ever came to blows. Despite this apparent
skill in battle, the tribe appears to have been absorbed, either into the
Lugii confederation or by stronger Germanic tribes. Even the use of 'tribe'
to describe them may be in error. They may instead have been a group of
smaller units - a confederation of some kind - but they were too poorly
documented for anything other than speculation on this point.
(Information by Peter Kessler and Edward Dawson, with additional information
from The La Tene Celtic Belgae Tribes in England: Y-Chromosome
Haplogroup R-U152 - Hypothesis C, David K Faux, from The Oxford
History of England: Roman Britain, Peter Salway, from Complete
Works of Tacitus, Alfred John Church, William Jackson Brodribb,
& Lisa Cerrato, from Geography, Ptolemy, and from External
Links:
Indo-European
Etymological Dictionary, J Pokorny, and Geography, Strabo
(H C Hamilton & W Falconer, London, 1903,
Perseus Online Edition).)
6th century BC
The Harii probably belong to the Hallstatt culture of
Celts, along with
the Bebryces,
Boii,
Cotini,
Helisii,
Helveconae,
Manimi,
Naharvali,
Osi, and at least
some elements of the later
Lugii. They
are to be found around the central German lands, and in
Bohemia,
Moravia, Slovakia, and the edges of
Poland
and
Ukraine. Around this time a large-scale expansion begins that sees many
Hallstatt Celts migrate outwards, towards northern
Italy,
Gaul, or Iberia. Many others remain, and control the region until pressure
from newly-arriving Germanic
tribes begins to erode their hold in the second and first centuries BC.
Displayed here are a Hallstatt face and mask, from
the culture of the same name which spanned the Old
Iron Age period between 800-450 BC
AD 23
The first historical mention of the
Lugii is by
Strabo, who seems to place them as members of a tribal federation which includes
the Butones (a questionable name, perhaps a misspelling of
Gutones),
Mugilones,
Semnones,
Sibini and
Zumi. There is no
mention of the Harii,
Helisii,
Helveconae,
Manimi, and
Naharvali at
this time.
98
Writing in AD 98, Tacitus mentions the
Lugii. He
is of the opinion that they are a federation of the smaller Gaulish tribes, the
Harii, Helisii,
Helveconae,
Manimi, and
Naharvali. Tacitus also
mentions the
Buri but not as
members of the Lugii. In his description of the Harii he says: '...not only
are they superior in strength to the other peoples I have just mentioned,
but they minister to their savage instincts by trickery and clever timing.
They blacken their shields and dye their bodies, and choose pitch dark
nights for their battles. The shadowy, awe-inspiring appearance of such
a ghoulish army inspires mortal panic; for no enemy can endure a sight so
strange and hellish. Defeat in battle starts always with the eyes.' The
use of woad is very telling. This is specifically a
Celtic practice.
c.140s
Ptolemy breaks the Lugii
down into Lugi
Buri, Lugi
Diduni, and Lugi Omani. It seems plausible that the
Manimi of AD
98 have some relationship to the Omani, based on the similar names, but of
the Harii, Helisii,
Helveconae, and
Naharvali there is no
sign once again. Have they been absorbed into the larger Lugii collective,
or have they drifted off elsewhere, never to be recorded again by history?
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