The Lugii (or ''Lugi'', ''Lygii'', ''Ligii'', ''Lugiones'', ''Lygians'', ''Ligians'', ''Lugians'', or ''Lougoi'') were a large tribal confederation mentioned by

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

authors living in ca. 100 BC–300 AD in Central Europe, north of the

Sudetes The Sudetes ( ; pl, Sudety; german: Sudeten; cs, Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie), commonly known as the Sudeten Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince in Central Europe, shared by Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. They co ...

mountains in the basin of upper

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows th ...

and

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in t ...

rivers, covering most of modern southern and middle Poland (regions of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city ...

Mazovia Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centuri ...

and

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a s ...

). Most archaeologists identify the Lugians with the

Przeworsk culture The Przeworsk culture () was an Iron Age material culture in the region of what is now Poland, that dates from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It takes its name from the town Przeworsk, near the village where the first artifacts we ...

, which is also associated with the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area be ...

, and it has been suggested that the Lugians and Vandals may have been closely related or even the same. While this culture was strongly Celtic-influenced in early Roman times, the Lugii are also sometimes regarded as Germanic like the Vandals. They played an important role on the middle part of the

Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...

from

Sambia Sambia (russian: Самбийский полуостров, lit=Sambian Peninsula, translit=Sambiysky poluostrov) or Samland (russian: Земландский полуостров, lit=Zemlandic Peninsula, translit=Zemlandsky poluostrov) or Kalini ...

at the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

to the provinces of

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 Medit ...

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now ...

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the nort ...

and

Raetia Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with T ...

. Lugii should not be confused with a tribe of the same name, usually spelled as ''

Lugi The Lugi were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. 150. from his general description and the approximate locations of their neighbors their territory was along the western coast of the ...

'', that inhabited the southern part of

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (late ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The Lugii have been identified by many modern historians as the same people as the

, with whom they must certainly have been strongly linked during Roman times.

Etymology

The etymology of the name ''Lugii'' is uncertain. It could be related to the Celtic root ''*leug-'' ('swamp'), ''*lugiyo-'' ('oath'; cf.

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerl ...

''luge'', 'by the oath', OIr. ''luige'' 'oath'), *''lugo''- ('black', cf. Ir. ''loch''), or possibly to the name of the god ''Lug''.

History

The Lugii are first mentioned in

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

's ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman ...

''. He writes that the Lugians were "''a great people''" and—together with other peoples like

Semnones The Semnones were a Germanic and specifically a Suevian people, who were settled between the Elbe and the Oder in the 1st century when they were described by Tacitus in ''Germania'': "The Semnones give themselves out to be the most ancient and r ...

, Lombards and the otherwise unknown Zumi, Butones, Mugilones and Sibini—were part of a federation subjected to the rule of

Maroboduus Maroboduus (d. AD 37) was a king of the Marcomanni, who were a Germanic Suebian people. He spent part of his youth in Rome, and returning, found his people under pressure from invasions by the Roman empire between the Rhine and Elbe. He led t ...

, ruler of the

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. Ori ...

with their centre in modern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohe ...

9 BC–19 AD. In 19 AD Maroboduus was overthrown with the help of

Arminius Arminius ( 18/17 BC – 21 AD) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of ge ...

of the

Cherusci The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the plains and forests of northwestern Germany in the area of the Weser River and present-day Hanover during the first centuries BC and AD. Roman sources reported they considered themsel ...

. The Lugii are not mentioned at all by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

, who instead mentions the Vandilii living in the same area as one of the most important peoples of Germania, including the tribes Burgundiones, Varines, Charines and Gutones. The next mention of Lugii are the times of the Roman emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

(41–54). According to

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

's ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

,'' in 50 'a great multitude' of Lugians and

Hermunduri The Hermunduri, Hermanduri, Hermunduli, Hermonduri, or Hermonduli were an ancient Germanic tribe, who occupied an inland area near the source of the Elbe river, around what is now Bohemia from the first to the third century, though they have also ...

, led by the Hermundurian

Vibilius Vibilius or Vibillius (flourished in 1st century AD) was a powerful king of the Hermunduri in the 1st century AD, mentioned in The Annals of the Roman historian Tacitus. According to Tacitus, Vibilius deposed the Marcomannic king Catualda, who ha ...

, took part in the fall of

Vannius Vainius (flourished in 1st century AD) was the king of the Germanic tribe Quadi. According to The Annals of Tacitus, Vannius came to power following the defeat of the Marcomannic king Catualda by the Hermunduri king of Vibilius, establishing ...

, who the Romans had imposed as a ruler to replace Maroboduus. In the book ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...

'' (43:3), Tacitus mentions the name ''Vandilii'' as a "genuine and ancient name", but does not mention the Vandilii in the list of peoples at all. Tacitus however describes the Lugii, writing that they were divided into many tribes ('civitates'), of which he mentions the five most powerful:

Harii The Harii (West Germanic "warriors"Simek (2007:132).) were, according to 1st century CE Roman historian Tacitus, a Germanic people. In his work '' Germania'', Tacitus describes them as using black shields and painting their bodies ("nigra scuta, t ...

, Helveconae, Manimi, Helisii and

Nahanarvali The Nahanarvali, also known as the Nahavali, Naha-Narvali, and Nahanavali, were a Germanic tribe mentioned by the Roman scholar Tacitus in his ''Germania''. According to Tacitus, the Nahanarvali were one of the five most powerful tribes of the Lu ...

. The next information about the Lugians comes from

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

's work ''Roman History'', in which he mentions events of 91–92 during the reign of emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flav ...

. The Lugii allied themselves with the Romans and asked them for help against some of the

Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own na ...

. Domitian sent 100 horsemen to support the Lugians. It is not known if these horsemen really arrived at their destination; if they did, it would be the first recorded presence of Roman soldiers on what is now

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The 12th century Chronica Polonorum by Wincenty Kadlubek mentions the alliance between the Lugii and the Romans.

Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae 200px, ''Historia Polonica'', Vincenti Kadłubkonis Episcopi Cracoviensis, 1612 ''Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae'', short name ''Chronica Polonorum'', is a Latin history of Poland written by Wincenty Kadłubek between 1190 a ...

; by Wincenty Kadlubek; 1190

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

mentions the Lugi Omani (Λοῦγοι οἱ Ὀμανοί), the Lugi Diduni (Λοῦγοι οἱ Διδοῦνοι) and the Lugi Buri (Λοῦγοι οἱ Βοῦροι) located on or near the upper Vistula in Germania Magna in what is now south Poland (Book 2, Chapter 10, 4th map of Europe). Ptolemy does not mention the Vandals at all. The Buri, who according to Ptolemy were part of the Lugians, (Tacitus treated them separately, and as Suebian in language) took an important role during the

Marcomannic Wars The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: ''bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum'', "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting from about 166 until 180 AD. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi ...

(166–180): the Romans were forced to organize a separate military campaign against them called 'Expeditio Burica' in 182-183 during the reign of emperor Commodus. The later history of the Lugians is uncertain, but some historians assume that the Lugians can be identified with the 'Longiones' tribe mentioned in Zosimus's ''New History'' (''Historia Nova''), as being defeated by the Emperor Probus in year 279 in the province of

near the Lygis river (usually identified with Lech river in modern

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populou ...

and Bavaria). Another mention might be a great people of 'Lupiones-Sarmatae' shown on the Latin map Tabula Peutingeriana generally dated to 2nd-4th century AD. The Lugii were probably completely absorbed into the

by the 3rd century. While the two peoples are located by Roman authors as living in the same region, they are never mentioned simultaneously. According to John Anderson, the "Lugii and Vandilii are designations of the same tribal group, the latter an extended ethnic name, the former probably a cult-title."

Herwig Wolfram Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian historian who is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the University of Vienna and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna Scho ...

notes that "In all likelihood the Lugians and the Vandals were one cultic community that lived in the same region of the Oder in Silesia, where it was first under Celtic and then under Germanic domination."

Notes

Sources

Primary sources

, '' ''Germania'' XLIII''

Secondary sources

* * * * * * *{{cite book , last=Wolfram , first=Herwig , author-link=Herwig Wolfram , title=The Roman Empire and its Germanic peoples , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOnQDfRU-poC , access-date=5 May 2013 , year=1997 , publisher=

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, isbn=0-5200-8511-6 Early Germanic peoples Prehistoric Poland Vandals