The Taurisci were a federation of Celtic tribes who dwelt in today's Carinthia and northern Slovenia (Carniola) before the coming of the Romans (c. 200 BC). [1] According to Pliny the Elder, they are the same as the people known as the Norici. [2] [3]
The etymology of the name is disputed. Taurisci may stem from a root meaning 'mountain' or 'high rock', although it has been demonstrated that it is not related to the neighbouring Tauern mountain. Another proposed etymology is the Celtic root *tarwo 'bull' (see Gaulish taruos). [4]
Affiliated with the Celto-Ligurian Taurini, the Taurisci settled on the upper Sava river after their defeat at the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC. Following in the wake of the Boii, they migrated to northern Italia and the Adriatic coast. The Greek chronicler Polybius (ca. 203–120 BC) mentioned Tauriscian gold mining in the area of Aquileia. Along with the troops of the Roman Republic, they were defeated by invading Germanic Cimbri and Teutons at the Battle of Noreia in 112 BC.
The identity of Taurisci and Norici has not yet been conclusively established: According to historian Géza Alföldy, the Norici were one tribe of the larger highlandic Taurisci federation, while the Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde defines the Norici as Celts settling in the Regnum Noricum in present-day Carinthia, with the Taurisci as their southeastern neighbours. Other people settling in the region were the Pannonians in the south-east of Carniola, the Iapydes, an Illyrian tribe, in the south-west, and the Carni, a Venetic tribe.
Teurisci, attested by Ptolemy in Dacia, were originally a group of the Celtic Taurisci from the Austrian Alps established in North-Western Dacia at the end of Iron Age. [5]
In the period spanning 60-50 BC, the formidable King Burebista of Dacia initiated a relentless campaign, launching an aggressive invasion against the Taurisci. This resulted in the decisive defeat of the Taurisci, leading to the annexation of their territory by the Dacians. Strabo vividly depicts the outcome, stating that Burebista not only conquered the Taurisci, but utterly eradicated them from existence
The Bastarnae, sometimes called the Peuci or Peucini, were an ancient people who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited areas north of the Roman frontier on the Lower Danube. The Bastarnae lived in the region between the Carpathian Mountains and the river Dnieper, to the north and east of ancient Dacia. The Peucini were a subtribe who occupied the region north of the Danube Delta. Their name was sometimes used for the Bastarnae as a whole.
Noricum is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, Raetia and Vindelici to the west, Pannonia to the east and south-east, and Italia to the south. The kingdom was founded around 400 BC, and had its capital at the royal residence at Virunum on the Magdalensberg.
The Dacians were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. This area includes mainly the present-day countries of Romania and Moldova, as well as parts of Ukraine, Eastern Serbia, Northern Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Southern Poland. The Dacians and the related Getae spoke the Dacian language, which has a debated relationship with the neighbouring Thracian language and may be a subgroup of it. Dacians were somewhat culturally influenced by the neighbouring Scythians and by the Celtic invaders of the 4th century BC.
Burebista was the king of the Getae and Dacian tribes from 82/61 BC to 45/44 BC. He was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the Dacian kingdom, which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers, and modern day Romania and Moldova. In the 7th and 6th centuries BC it became home to the Thracian peoples, including the Getae and the Dacians. From the 4th century to the middle of the 2nd century BC the Dacian peoples were influenced by La Tène Celts who brought new technologies with them into Dacia. Sometime in the 2nd century BC the Dacians expelled the Celts from their lands. Dacians often warred with neighbouring tribes, but the relative isolation of the Dacian peoples in the Carpathian Mountains allowed them to survive and even to thrive. By the 1st century BC the Dacians had become the dominant power.
The Getae or Gets were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Although it is believed that the Getae were related to their westward neighbours, the Dacians, several scholars, especially in the Romanian historiography, posit that the Getae and the Dacians were the same people.
The so-called Free Dacians is the name given by some modern historians to those Dacians who putatively remained outside, or emigrated from, the Roman Empire after the emperor Trajan's Dacian Wars. Dio Cassius named them Dakoi prosoroi meaning "neighbouring Dacians".
The Battle of Noreia, in 113 BC, was the opening battle of the Cimbrian War fought between the Roman Republic and the migrating Proto-Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and the Teutons (Teutones). It ended in defeat, and near disaster, for the Romans.
Noreia is an ancient lost city in the Eastern Alps, most likely in southern Austria. While according to Julius Caesar it is known to have been the capital of the Celtic kingdom of Noricum, it was already referred to as a lost city by Pliny the Elder. The location of Noreia has not been verified by modern researchers.
The Salassi or Salasses were a Gallic or Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the Dora Baltea river, near present-day Aosta, Aosta Valley, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
The Carni were a tribe of the Eastern Alps in classical antiquity of Celtic language and culture, settling in the mountains separating Noricum and Venetia. They probably gave their name to Carso, Carnia, Carinthia, and Carniola.
The Latobici or Latovici were a Celtic tribe dwelling in Pannonia Superior, around present-day Drnovo (Slovenia), during the Roman period.
The Alpine regiments of the Roman army were those auxiliary units of the army that were originally raised in the Alpine provinces of the Roman Empire: Tres Alpes, Raetia and Noricum. All these regions were inhabited by predominantly Rhaetian peoples and Celtic-speaking tribes. They were annexed, or at least occupied, by the emperor Augustus' forces during the period 25–14 BC. The term "Alpine" is used geographically in this context and does not necessarily imply that the regiments in question were specialised in mountain warfare. However, in the Julio-Claudian period, when the regiments were still largely composed of Alpine recruits, it is likely that they were especially adept at mountain operations.
The Raeti were a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture was related to those of the Etruscans. Before the Roman conquest, they inhabited present-day Tyrol in Austria, eastern Switzerland and the Alpine regions of northeastern Italy. After the Roman conquest, the province of Raetia was formed, which included parts of present-day Germany south of the Danube.
The Caturiges were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper Durance valley, around present-day towns of Chorges and Embrun, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Critasiros was a king of the Celtic tribes of the Boii and Taurisci. In 59 BC The Boii and Taurisci were defeated under the leadership of Critosiros by the Dacians in today's Hungary. Burebista, the ruler of the Dacians, then demanded tribute from them. The Boii decided to move west through Noricum to settle with the Helvetii tribe in modern-day Switzerland. On the way they besieged Noreia, the capital of Noricum, but were repulsed by the Noricans. Voccio, the ruler of Noricum, then allied himself with the politically rising Roman proconsul Julius Caesar, who in turn intended to subdue all of Gaul, and defeated the Helvetii and their allies in 58 BC in the battle of Bibracte.
Teurisci was a Dacian tribe at the time of Ptolemy. They were originally considered a branch of the Celtic Taurisci (Noricum), who moved to Upper Tisza. However, the archaeology shows that Celts have been absorbed by Dacians, at some point creating a Celto-Dacian cultural horizon in the upper Tisza.
This section of the timeline of Romanian history concerns events from Late Neolithic until Late Antiquity, which took place in or are directly related with the territory of modern Romania.
The Cadurci were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later region of Quercy during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
The Vennones or Vennonetes were a Rhaetian tribe dwelling in the northern Alps, between Chur and Lake Constance, during the Iron Age and the Roman era.
The Gallitae were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the Bléone river (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) during the Iron Age.
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