The Suanetes were an Raetian tribe living in the Alps, near modern Chur (eastern Switzerland), during the Iron Age and the Roman era.
Name
They are mentioned as Suanetes (var. suanene-, suannene-) by Pliny (1st c. AD),[1] and as Souánetes (Σουάνετες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).[2][3]
According to Xavier Delamarre, the name could be interpreted as the Celtic Su-anates, from anatia ('soul').[4] The ethnic name Cosuanetes appears to be linguistically related.[4]
Geography
The tribe was located in the valley of the Hinterrhein and in the Oberhalbstein region, near modern Chur (eastern Switzerland).[5][3][6] Pliny mentions them conjointly with the Cosuanetes and the Rugusci.[6]
History
They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium.[7] Weapons discovered at Tiefencastel and on the Septimer Pass provide further evidence to this account.[6]
References
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:137.
- ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:12:2.
- ^ a b Falileyev 2010, s.v. Suanetes.
- ^ a b Delamarre 2003, pp. 44, 306–207.
- ^ Talbert 2000, Map 19: Raetia.
- ^ a b c Frei-Stolba 2012.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.
Primary sources
Bibliography
- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
- Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
- Frei-Stolba, Regula (2012). "Suanetes". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
- Schumacher, Stefan; Dietz, Karlheinz; Zanier, Werner (2007). "Vindeliker". In Beck, Heinrich (ed.). Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol. 35 (2 ed.). De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110187847.
- Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.
