The Rucinates (Gaulish: *Rucinatis) or Rucantii (Gaulish: *Rucantioi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in near the confluence of the Isar and Danube rivers during the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as R̔oukántioi (Ῥουκάντιοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),[1] as Rucinates (var. irucina-) by Pliny (1st c. AD),[2] as R̔ounikátai (Ῥουνικάται) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[3] and as Rucinates on an inscription.[4][5]

The meaning of the name remains uncertain. It has been translated as 'the blushing (i.e. shameful or shaming) people', by connecting the first element to the Gaulish *rucco- ('shame, blush of shame').[5] Alternatively, Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to derive the name from a form *roukkina (cf. Welsh rhuchen 'jerkin, jacket, coat'), itself from *roukka (cf. Welsh rhuch 'garment, cloak, mantle'). In this view, the variant R̔oukántioi handed down by Strabo could be explained as 'those who wear a roukka'.[6] The form given by Ptolemy (Runicates) is a metathesis of the original form (Rucinates).[5]

Geography

The Rucinates lived near the confluence of the Isar and Danube rivers. Their territory was located north of the Catenates, east of the Raetovarii, south of the Iuthungi.[7] They were part of the Vindelici.[8]

History

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium.[2]

References

  1. ^ Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:6:8.
  2. ^ a b Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.
  3. ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:12:4.
  4. ^ CIL 5:7817.
  5. ^ a b c Falileyev 2010, s.v. Runicates.
  6. ^ de Bernardo Stempel 2015, p. 94.
  7. ^ Talbert 2000, Map 12: Mogontiacum-Reginum-Lauriacum.
  8. ^ Schumacher, Dietz & Zanier 2007.

Primary sources

  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674993648.
  • Strabo (1923). Geography. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Jones, Horace L. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674990562.

Bibliography

  • de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2015). "Zu den keltisch benannten Stämmen im Umfeld des oberen Donauraums". In Lohner-Urban, Ute; Scherrer, Peter (eds.). Der obere Donauraum 50 v. bis 50 n. Chr. Frank & Timme. ISBN 978-3-7329-0143-2.
  • Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
  • Schumacher, Stefan; Dietz, Karlheinz; Zanier, Werner (2007). "Vindeliker". In Beck, Heinrich (ed.). Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol. 35 (2 ed.). De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110187847.
  • Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.
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