The Germanic tribes
seem to have originated in a homeland in southern
Scandinavia
(Sweden and
Norway, with the Jutland
area of northern Denmark,
along with a very narrow strip of Baltic coastline). They had been settled
here for over two thousand years following the
Indo-European
migrations. The Germanic ethnic group began as a division of the western
edge of late proto-Indo-European dialects around 3300 BC, splitting away
from a general westwards migration to head towards the southern coastline
of the Baltic Sea. By the time the Germanic tribes were becoming key
players in the politics of Western
Europe in the
last two centuries BC, the previously dominant
Celts were on the verge
of being conquered and dominated by
Rome. They had already
been pushed out of northern and central Europe by a mass of Germanic tribes
which were steadily carving out a new homeland.
The Ampsivarii (or Amsivarians) were located in north-western Germany,
to the east of the lower Rhine. Their core territory, small as it was,
lay between the Yssel and the Ems, roughly on the modern
Dutch-German
border. To the west of them were the
Frisii and probably
the Campsiani, to the
south-west were the
Chamavi, to the south the
minor tribe of the Tubantes
(who quickly migrated southwards), to the south-east the
Bructeri, to the east the
Chasuarii, and to the
north the Chauci.
Their name appears to mean 'men of the Ems', although Tacitus is the only
writer to discuss them. A detailed analysis of the
Angrivarii tribal name
reveals the possibility that the names of several supposed Germanic tribes
could well have been Gaulish
in origin. The word 'ware', which appears as 'vari' in the Ampsivarii name,
is probably a Gaulish word borrowed into Germanic tongues that means 'man'.
In Gaulish this is 'wiros', which is still used today in the
English
word 'werewolf'. Since the Ampsivarii are 'the men of the Ems', then this
is a district name, and could easily be pre-Germanic and therefore Gaulish.
It appears that the entire tribal name is derived from Gaulish rather than
German. This is yet another indication of the proposed co-opting of numerous
Gaulish tribes who were transformed into German tribes by incoming German
warrior elites. When the Germans entered central Europe from Scandinavia,
there were a few recorded displacements of Gauls, but mostly the Gaulish
tribes there appeared to have simply vanished. Were they destroyed? Unlikely.
What is much more likely is that they were taken over by a new ruling class.
It seems possible that a series of tribes with a variant of the 'wiros'
suffix gained it from Gaulish: the Angrivarii, Chasuarii,
Chattuarii, Hetwara
(a later name for the Chattuarii), and the
Warini may simply mean
'the men'.
The Germanic Franks were first
documented during the third century (the Period of Migration), when they were
to be found occupying territory on the Lower Rhine Valley (on the east bank,
in what is now northern Belgium
and the southern Netherlands). They were one of several West Germanic federations,
and were formed of elements of the Ampsivarii,
Batavi, Bructeri, Chamavi,
Chatti,
Chattuarii,
Cherusci,
Salii,
Sicambri,
Tencteri,
Tubantes, and
Usipetes. Most of these
peoples were living along the Rhine's northern borders in what was then
known as Francia. The Ampsivarii were eventually absorbed by this federation,
with elements also within the Chatti.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson,
from Germania, Tacitus, from Agricola, from The Harleian
Miscellany: A Collection of Scarce, Curious and Entertaining Tracts Volume
4, William Oldys & Thomas Park, from Roman Soldier versus Germanic
Warrior: 1st Century AD, Lindsay Powell, from The Horse, the Wheel,
and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the
Modern World, David W Anthony, and from External Link:
Geography, Strabo (H C Hamilton & W Falconer, London, 1903,
Perseus Online Edition).)
AD 9 - 21
Arminius declares the independence of the
Cherusci from
Rome,
decimating three legions in the Teutoberger Forest. He achieves this
momentous victory in an alliance with several other tribes, but the Ampsivarii
decline to take part in what appears to be nation-building by the Cherusci
leader. The Ampsivarii leader, Boiocalus, apparently refuses in person. The
tribe is ostracised by its fellow
Germanics as a result.
fl c.9 - c.60
Boiocalus
An unusually long-lived tribal leader.
58 - 59
Having been centred on the Weser and Elbe until now, the
Chauci expand
westwards as far as the River Ems, probably driven by the need to find new
land for their flourishing population. To achieve this expansion they expel
the neighbouring Ampsivarii, driving them away from the Ems. The tribe
appeals to the
Bructeri,
Tencteri,
Tubantes, and Usipetes for help, but
Rome acts
immediately, sending troops into the territory of the Tencteri and
threatening them with annihilation. All four tribes withdraw from the
alliance and the Romans withdraw from their territory, leaving the
Ampsivarii utterly friendless, as they are still being ostracised by their
peers. Instead, Boiocalus, who had been imprisoned for a time and had then
served Rome in an unknown capacity, sees an opportunity for settlement to
the west.
59 - 60?
The lower Rhine has recently been cleared out by
Rome to
serve as a buffer zone between the empire and tribal Germania. Having kicked
out the
Frisii for attempting to reoccupy the area, Rome is not impressed when
Boiocalus, as an official 'friend of Rome', petitions the regional Roman
commander for permission to settle the land. Permission is refused because
the Romans seem to insist on the tribe subjugating itself to Rome while
offering Boiocalus land for his own personal use. He is forced to reject the
offer on the grounds that it would make him a traitor to his tribe.
Sections of the lower Rhine were cleared by Rome in AD 58 in
order to create a buffer zone between the empire and the
barbarians on the other side of the Rhine
The Ampsivarii subsequently form a defensive alliance with the
Tencteri and
Bructeri, but Rome acts
immediately, sending troops into the territory of the Tencteri and threatening
them with annihilation. Both they and the Bructeri withdraw from the alliance
and the Romans withdraw from their territory, leaving the Ampsivarii utterly
friendless. They become wandering refugees, seeking temporary shelter with various
tribes on the east bank of the Rhine, but being rejected violently by others. Their
numbers dwindle until all their warriors are dead. The survivors are regarded as
booty and are distributed between several tribes.
98
The Roman
writer Tacitus mentions a large number of tribes in Germania
Magna. He also relates the recent history of the Ampsivarii, one of the very
few to record the tribe's existence. He places their
first century homeland between the Yssel and the Ems, in the middle of the
latter.
In the late fourth century, Sulpicius Alexander writes a history of
Germanic
tribes that has since been lost but which has been quoted by Gregory of
Tours. One of those quotes relates that Arbogast, the Frankish-born
magister militum of the
Western Roman empire, attacks the
Franks
across the Rhine, wreaking havoc amongst them. While there he sights on a
distant hill a force containing Ampsivarii and
Chatti under
the control of Marcomer, king of the Salian Franks. The two forces do not
engage.
This mention of the Ampsivarii strongly suggests that not all of the tribe
had wandered to extinction in AD 59/60 but instead that some of them had
found shelter with the Chatti and had managed to maintain their identity
over the last three centuries.
395
The formal partition of the Roman empire into the
Eastern and
Western
sections is undertaken by Honorius and Arcadian. An official register of all
the offices, other than municipal, which exist in the Roman empire at this
time is compiled in the Notitia Dignitatum. A formation of Ampsivarii are
mentioned as the Ampsiuarii unit of Palatine auxiliaries. This appears to be
the last mention of the tribe in history. Their ultimate fate is unknown, but
it seems likely that they are subsumed by the
Franks
and Chatti,
probably with elements in both camps.
