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The Varisci (
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 **Ge ...
: ''Varisker'') were a
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 The information comes from various ancient historical documents, beginn ...
, the presumed prior inhabitants of a medieval district, ''Provincia Variscorum'', the same (in presumption) as the
Vogtland Vogtland (; cz, Fojtsko) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the forme ...
district of
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...
in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. They do not appear under that name exactly in ancient history, however, but rather come on stage boldly and abruptly in the ''
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 ...
'' (Chapter 42) of
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 ...
as the Naristi, with manuscript variants of Narisci and Varisti. Perhaps the historical name of the mediaeval province is to be regarded as the final authority, but there are other possibilities: *The sources only state Latinized names of native originals that could be spelled in various ways in Latin. * The people were in the process of changing their name. Tacitus describes the location of the Varisci as being along the line of the Danube between the
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 als ...
at its source and 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. O ...
and
Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic * * * people who lived approximately in the area of modern Moravia in the time of the Roman Empire. The only surviving contemporary reports about the Germanic tribe are those of the Romans, whose empire had its bord ...
in Bohemia.
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 importanc ...
(Book 2, Chapter 10) adds that the Ouaristoi were south of the Sudeten Mountains and west of Gabreta Forest. The sources thus agree on their location. Tacitus says that they were allies of the Marcomanni and Quadi in their bold expulsion 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
Boii The Boii ( Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; grc, Βόιοι) were a Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul ( Northern Italy), Pannonia ( Hungary), parts of Bavaria, in and around Bohemia (after whom ...
from their ancient home. Very likely, then, all three allies were not from that region, but moved into it in the time of
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
(in the 1st century BC). We do not know where they had been or what they had been called. One presumes that the Marcomanni ("border men") took their name from being on the Danubian frontier. The Narisci are stated to be of the Suebi. That is all history tells us.
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 importanc ...
states the names of some towns in the district, but what language they are or whether they were taken over or founded anew he does not say. The towns that might reasonably be interpreted as in the Variscan domain are
Bicurgium Bicurgium (''Βικούργιον'') is a German town mentioned in Ptolemy's ''Geography'' (2, 11, 14) in the year 150. The place, which according to Ptolemy lay in the interior of Germania, has not yet been positively identified. For example Bi ...
,
Menosgada Menosgada ("town above the Main valley")Motschmann 2006, p. 10 was a Celtic metropolis on the Upper Main (river) that was mentioned by the Greek geographer, Ptolemy. It was probably located on the hill known today as the Staffelberg. In the 1st ...
, Marobudum, Setuacotum, Brodentia, Abilunum and Usbium on the Danube. History records the probable end of the Varisci without giving us anything in between. It was equally bold and sudden as the beginning. On or about the year 167, all the peoples along the Danube, Germanic and other, suddenly attacked the Roman frontier in the reign of
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
. Perhaps they mistook goodness for weakness. He rushed to the defense of the realm and after a long series of episodes, called by us 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 Quad ...
, because 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. O ...
had instigated and coordinated the attack, forced the enemy to terms. During the fight, the chief of the Naristi ...Valao was killed by the Roman General
Marcus Valerius Maximianus Marcus Valerius Maximianus was an important Roman general of the period of the Marcomannic Wars during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He was born (year unknown) in the Roman colony of Poetovio (modern Ptuj, in Slovenia), where his father, also ca ...
. The Marcomannic Wars are chronicled and explained in
Marcellinus Ammianus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae'' ...
, although the Varisci are not mentioned there. They do find brief mention as the Varistae of the ''Vita Marci Antonini Philosophi'' (Chapter 22) of
Julius Capitolinus The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...
. They were among the tribes who crossed the Danube, but are not mentioned after that, nor do they continue in their province, as the
Armalausi The Armalausi (or Armilausini) were an obscure Germanic tribe of late antiquity. Their name means "those who wear the ''armilausa''", a type of shirt open at the front and back but connected at the shoulders.Agustí Alemany, ''Sources on the Alans: ...
inhabit it in the Peutinger Tables. The best guess as to their eventual fate is that they were transplanted to Italy, along with many other Danube-dwelling warrior peoples, by Marcus Aurelius, where he could watch over them. This kind of solution is familiar to us in modern times. Subsequent Germanic attacks overwhelmed and overran the empire. The Varisci probably lost their identity after the fall of the Roman Empire.


See also

*
List of ancient Germanic peoples 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 ...
*
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 nor ...


References

{{Reflist Early Germanic peoples