Map of Gaul with tribes, 1st century BC; the Triboci are circled.

In classical antiquity , the Triboci or Tribocci were a Germanic people of eastern Gaul , inhabiting much of what is now Alsace .

Name [ edit ]

Besides the forms Triboci and Tribocci, Schneider has the form “Triboces” in the accusative plural. ^[1] Pliny has Tribochi, and Strabo Τριβ?κχοι (Tribokchoi) . In the passage of Caesar, it is said that all manuscripts have “Tribucorum”. ^[2] "Three beeches " (Celtic tri , Germanic boc ) has been suggested as an etymology , as has Germanic dribon ("drivers [of cattle, livestock]"). ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Geography [ edit ]

Ptolemy places the Tribocci in Germania Superior , but he incorrectly places the Vangiones between the Nemetes and the Tribocci, for the Nemetes bordered on the Tribocci. However he places the Tribocci next to the Rauraci , and he names Breucomagus (Brocomagus, today's Brumath ) and Elcebus (Helcebus) as the two towns of the Tribocci, making Argentoratum ( Strasbourg ) a city of the Vangiones. ^[6] D'Anville supposes that the territory of the Tribocci corresponded to the mediaeval diocese of Strasbourg . Consequently, a Tribocci burial ground was excavated in Diersheim on the right bank of the Rhine in today's Germany. http://dl.ub.uni-freiburg.de/diglit/ortenau1977/0011/ocr?sid=9959984406c34fcd88a0a3f26001cbdf Saletio ( Seltz ), we may suppose, belonged to the Nemetes, as in modern times it belonged to the diocese of Speyer ; and it is near the northern limits of the diocese of Strasbourg. On the south towards the Rauraci, a place named Marckolsheim , on the southern limit of the diocese of Strasbourg and bordering on that of Basel , indicates a boundary by a Teutonic name ( mark ), as fines does in those parts of Gaul where the Roman tongue prevailed. The name of the Tribocci does not appear in the Notitia provinciarum Galliae , though the names of the Nemetes and Vangiones are there; but instead of the Tribocci we have Civitas Argentoratum (Strasbourg), the chief place of the Tribocci.

Political and military history [ edit ]

The Triboci were in the army of the Germanic king Ariovistus in the great battle in which Julius Caesar defeated him; and though Caesar does not say directly that they were Germans, his narrative shows that he considered them to be Germans. ^[7] In another passage Caesar places the Triboci on the Rhine between the Mediomatrici and the Treviri , and he means to place them on the left or Gallic side of the Rhine . ^[8] Strabo , after mentioning the Sequani and Mediomatrici as extending to the Rhine, says, “Among them a German people has settled, the Tribocchi, who have passed over from their native land.” ^[9] Pliny and Tacitus say that the Tribocci are Germans. ^{[10] [11]} The true conclusion from Caesar is that he supposed the Tribocci to be settled in Gallia before 58 BCE.

Nero Claudius Drusus established a military camp at Argentorate ( Strasbourg ) in 12 BCE, near which there had already been a civilian La Tene settlement since around 100 BCE. ^[12]

The Triboci joined the revolt of Civilis in 70 CE, sending reinforcements to the Treveran rebel commander Julius Tutor along with the Caeracates , Vangiones and dissident Romans. This combined force defeated a Roman cohort, but at the approach of the main body of the Roman army, these new reinforcements, including the Triboci, defected to the Roman side. ^[13]

The city of Argentorate was rebuilt in 97 under Trajan after a fire. ^[12]

See also [ edit ]

• List of Germanic tribes

References [ edit ]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1854?1857). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray. {{ cite encyclopedia }} : Missing or empty |title= ( help )