The Ruccones (also called Rucones, Runcones, or Roccones) were a tribal group, probably related to the Astures or the
Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
, who lived semi-autonomously in northern Hispania from the fifth through to the seventh centuries. Their population area extended approximately from modern-day Asturias to La Rioja.
Primary sources
The ''Chronica'' of John of Biclar says, under the sixth year of the Emperor Justin II and the fourth of Leovigild, that is, 572, ''Miro Suevorum rex bellum contra Runcones movet'' ("Miro, king of the Suevi, moved
o make
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
war on the Runcones"). The ''
Historia Suevorum
The ''Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum'' ("History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals and Suevi") is a Latin history of the Goths from 265 to 624, written by Isidore of Seville. It is a condensed account and, due to its diver ...
'' of
Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...
notes that "the Suevic king Miro, son of Theudemir, in the year 572, attacked and lorded it over the Arragones and the Rucones." In the same author's ''
Historia Gothorum
The ''Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum'' ("History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals and Suevi") is a Latin history of the Goths from 265 to 624, written by Isidore of Seville. It is a condensed account and, due to its diver ...
'', he writes, under the heading ''Sisebutus rg. an. VIII°'' (the eighth year of Sisebut) that ''Astures et Ruccones in montibus reuellantes humiliabit et suis per omnia benibolus fuit'' ("the Astures and Ruccones, surrounded in the mountains, he isebuthumiliated and forced to submit"). The tenth-century '' Chronica Albeldense'' copies the record of Isidore:
:''Iste potestate Iudeos ad fidem Xpi perduxit. Eclesiam sancte Leocadie Toleto opere miro fundabit. Astures et Ruccones in montibus reuellantes humiliabit et suis per omnia benibolus fuit. Hunc uni proprio morbo, alii inmoderato potionis austo asserunt interfectum sub imperatore Eraclio. Tune nefandus Mahomat in Africa nequitiam legis stultis populis predicabit.''
Suevi
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 names ...
of
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
, campaigned against the Ruccones, as much to prevent them from falling under the sway of the Visigoths as to reassert his own sovereignty over them. In 616 the Visigothic king Sisebut is recorded as having reduced some Asturian rebels and then surrounded the Ruccones in the mountains and defeated them. Under Sisebut the general
Suinthila
Suintila, or ''Suinthila'', ''Swinthila'', ''Svinthila''; (ca. 588 – 633/635) was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia from 621 to 631. He was a son of Reccared I and his wife Bado, and a brother of the general Geila. Under Suinti ...
attained the rank of '' dux'' (duke) and is recorded as scoring a victory over the Ruccones. Campaigns against the Ruccones may be related to the foundation of a mint at Pésicos, which coined '' trientes'' for Gundemar and Sisebut. The Visigoths are known to have established mints in territories recently conquered as a way of spreading their authority.
Identification
Scholars have worked out many identifications for the obscure Ruccones with more well known peoples. Ignacio Fernández de Mata identified them with the Cantabri. On another hypothesis they may be the Araucones, who lived in a semi-autonomous state on the border of the Visigothic and Suevic kingdoms. According to the '' Parroquial Suevo'' they were attached to the
diocese of Astorga
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Astorga ( la, Asturicensis) is a diocese whose seat is in the city of Astorga, in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain.toponymic evidence, they may have inhabited the region around Villuercas, along the banks of the Ruecas and Árrago rivers in the modern Extremadura between Trujillo and Logrosán, which was a Suevic territory in the fifth century. The Spanish Royal Academy of History makes the case for an identification with the
Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
, considering them, like the Cantabrians, a regional subcategory. Finally, they may be identified with the Luggones, one of the principal peoples of the Asturias. Among scholars assenting to this last suggestion are the archaeologist José Luis Maya, who follows Diego Santos, and Miguel Calleja Puerta, who regards it as at least an increasing possibility.In ''Historia de Asturias'', Adolfo Fernández Pérez and Florencio Friera Suárez, edd. (2005), 173.