![Drachme « au sanglier » frappée par les Rutènes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Drachme_%C2%AB_au_sanglier_%C2%BB_frapp%C3%A9e_par_les_Rut%C3%A8nes.jpg)
The Ruteni were a
Gallic tribe dwelling in the southern part of the
Massif Central
The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France.
Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...
, around present-day
Rodez
Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...
, during the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
and the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Rutenos'' by
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, 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 Caes ...
(mid-1st c. BC), ''R̔outēnoì'' (Ῥουτηνοὶ;
var. Ῥουταινοὶ) by
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 ...
(early 1st c. AD), ''Ruteni'' (
var. ''roteni'', ''Rutheni'') by
Pliny (1st c. AD), ''Ruteni'' by Lucan, and as ''R̔outanoì'' (Ῥουτανοὶ) by
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 ...
(2nd c. AD).
[, s.v. ''Ruteni'' and ''Civitas Rutenorum''.]
The Celticity of the name remains uncertain.
It has been tentatively translated as 'the blond ones' by extrapolating from a description of the Roman poet
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
("The fair-haired Ruteni were freed from the garrison that long had held them").
The city of
Rodez
Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...
, attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Rutenorum'' ('
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
of the Ruteni'; ''in urbe Rutena'' in the 9th c., ''Rodes'' ca. 1183), and the region of
Rouergue
Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan ...
, attested as ''in pago Rodonico'' in 767 (''Rodengue'', ''Rodergue'' in 1150, ''Roengue'' ca. 1182), are named after the Gallic tribe.
Geography
The Ruteni dwelled in the southern part of the
Massif Central
The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France.
Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...
, in the later province of
Rouergue
Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan ...
, north of the river
Tarn. Their territory was situated south of the
Arverni
The Arverni (Gaulish: *''Aruernoi'') were a Gallic people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were one of the most powerful tribes of ancient Gaul, contesting primacy over the region with the ne ...
, east of the
Cadurci
The Cadurci were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later region of Quercy during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Cadurcus'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''Kadou͂rkoi'' (Καδοῦρκοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. A ...
, west of the
Gabali and north of the
Volcae
The Volcae () were a Gallic tribal confederation constituted before the raid of combined Gauls that invaded Macedonia c. 270 BC and fought the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC. Tribes known by the name Volcae were found si ...
. Because they were vassals of the Arveni, part of their territory was taken by the Romans after the defeat of the Arvenian king
Bituitus in 121 BC.
During the reign of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, Segodunum (modern
Rodez
Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...
) became the main town of their ''
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
.''
History
In 121 BC, they fought along with the Arveni against Rome.
During the
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homela ...
(58–50 BC), they sent 12,000 men to the
Battle of Alesia
The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia (September 52 BC) was a military engagement in the Gallic Wars around the Gallic ''oppidum'' (fortified settlement) of Alesia in modern France, a major centre of the Mandubii tribe. It was fought by ...
in 52 BC.
Economy
They were known as producers of
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
.
Legacy
![Petersfriedhof-Kat-Martyrer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Petersfriedhof-Kat-Martyrer.jpg)
During the
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
, and the
Early Modern Period, several claims were made regarding the ancient Ruteni. A memorial plate from 1521, that was placed in the
catacombe
Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire.
Etymology and history
The first place to be referred ...
Chapel of St Maximus in
Petersfriedhof
The Petersfriedhof or St. Peter's Cemetery is – together with the burial site at Nonnberg Abbey – the oldest cemetery in the Austrian city of Salzburg, located at the foot of the Festungsberg with Hohensalzburg Castle. It is one of Salzburg's ...
, the burial site of
St Peter's Abbey in
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
(Austria), mentions Italian ruler
Odoacer
Odoacer ( ; – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a soldier and statesman of barbarian background, who deposed the child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became Rex/Dux (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustul ...
(476-493) as "King of Rhutenes" ( la, Rex Rhvtenorvm), and narrates the story of invasion of several peoples into
Noricum
Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...
in 477. Due to its very late date (1521) and several anachronistic elements, the content of that plate is considered as legendary.
Friedhof und Katakomben im Stift St. Peter
/ref>
In spite of that, the same plate later became a popular "source" for several emerging theories, that were trying to connect Odoacer not only with ancient Celtic Ruthenes from Gaul, but also with later East Slavs
The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert H ...
, who were labeled by some medieval chroniclers as ''Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...
''. Thus, an entire strain of speculative theories was created, regarding the alleged connection between ancient Gallic Ruthenes, and later East Slavic "Ruthenians". As noted by professor Paul R. Magocsi, those theories should be regarded as "inventive tales" of "creative" writers.
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul
Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars