Suanetes

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The Suanetes were an Raetian tribe living in the Alps, near modern Chur (eastern Switzerland), during the Iron Age and the Roman era.

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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]

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References

  1. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:137.
  2. Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:12:2.
  3. 1 2 Falileyev 2010, s.v. Suanetes.
  4. 1 2 Delamarre 2003, pp. 44, 306–207.
  5. Talbert 2000, Map 19: Raetia.
  6. 1 2 3 Frei-Stolba 2012.
  7. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.

Primary sources

  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674993648.
  • Strabo (1923). Geography. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Jones, Horace L. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674990562.

Bibliography