The Lentienses (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

''Lentienser'') were a 4th-century

Germanic tribe This list of ancient Germanic peoples is an inventory of ancient Germanic cultures, tribal groupings and other alliances of Germanic tribes and civilisations in ancient times. The information comes from various ancient historical documents, beginn ...

associated with the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

, in the region between the river

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in the North, the river

Iller The Iller (; ancient name Ilargus) is a river of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube, long. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Breitach, Stillach and Trettach near Oberstdorf in the Allgäu ...

in the East, and

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

in the South, in what is now

southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

. They were reported to be one of the most rebellious tribes at the time. There are only two mentions of the Lentienses, both by the Roman historian

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...

(330–395). First, they appeared in 355 when the Roman commander Arbetio was ordered by Emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germani ...

to fine the Lentienses for several incursions the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. Secondly, they were mentioned when they crossed the frozen Rhine in February 378, invading the Roman Empire. They were defeated by the Roman emperor

Gratianus Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...

in the

Battle of Argentovaria The Battle of Argentovaria or Battle of Argentaria was fought in May 378 between the Western Roman Empire and the invading army of the Lentienses, a branch of the Alemanni, at Argentovaria (near Colmar, France). The Alemanni were overwhelmed b ...

(modern

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

), when their king,

Priarius Priarius ( - 378) was a king of the Lentienses, a sub-tribe of the Alemanni, in the 4th century. He is mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus. In 378, Priarius fought the Western Roman Empire at Battle of Argentovaria, near Neuf-Brisach, France, in which ...

, died. This battle was the last campaign by any Roman Emperor behind the Limes area. It was also the last time the name Lentienses was mentioned in historical documents. The Latin name "Lentienes" was formed from the name of the

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic village ''Lentia''; today a region north of Lake Constance is called

Linzgau Linzgau is a historic region in Southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located north of Lake Constance and south of the Danube valley. Geography The region is bounded by the shore of Lake Constance on the south, the Hegau reg ...

Literature

References

See also