The Rugii, a tribe of Germanics, lived at various locations in eastern and central Europe and played a part in the power struggle in Europe among other Germanic peoples, Huns, and Romans.
ORIGINS
The name Rugii is thought to be derived from a possible place of origin, Rogaland, now a county in southwestern Norway. By the first century C. E. the Rugii were living across the Baltic sea between the Oder and Vistula Rivers in present-day northern Poland and were competitors of the Goths (then called Gutones) living to the south, at times dominating them and at others allying with them. Other groups in the region with whom they competed were the Vandals and the Lugii.
LANGUAGE
The Rugii spoke an East Germanic dialect. HISTORY
With pressure from the Balts the Rugii migrated southward from the Baltic sea region to the silesian uplands. At the end of the fourth century they migrated farther southward to the Upper Tisza River. some Rugii settled in the region of Bohemia in the present-day Czech Republic, along with the Marcomanni and Quadi.
The Rugii were eventually under the rule and influence of the Huns and were part of the force under Attila that invaded western Europe in 451. In 455 they and Germanic allies under Ardaric of the Gepids defeated remnants of the
Huns in the Battle of Nedao in the Roman province of Pannonia (roughly modern Hungary).
The Rugii became foederati (federates) of the Romans and established a kingdom in the Roman province of Noricum south of the Danube, probably between present-day Linz and Vienna in northern Austria. sometimes in the fifth century the Rugii are mentioned in an anecdote told about saint severinus of Noricum. While in the town today called Passau-innstadt the saint was approached by some Roman merchants and asked to intercede for them with the king of the Rugii, Feletheus, so that they could engage in trade with his people. severinus warned them, however, that soon this and all other towns in the region would lie abandoned, and there would be no more trade for there would no longer be any traders.
His prophesy was soon fulfilled. In 476 Odoacer, probably a SCIRI, leading an alliance of Sciri, Rugii, and Heruli, captured Ravenna, the capital of the Western Roman Empire, causing the deposition of the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustus. The subsequent unraveling of the Roman economic system, which was already well under way, depopulated the cities that owed their existence to the lucrative trading networks of the Romans. in 487 the Heruli and sciri defeated their former allies, the Rugii, and the Lombards moved into their territory—probably, as was their wont, ravaging it with fire and sword. in 489 a good number of Rugii joined the Ostrogoths under Theodoric in their invasion of italy, instigated by the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno (see Byzantines), and defeated Odoacer.
By the mid-sixth century the Rugii as a distinct group disappeared from the historical record, in that all previous political alignments were done away with by the Lombard invasion. Their descendants probably were later part of the populations of Austria, the Czech Republic, and other countries in the region.
Rugii time line
RUGII
Location:
Poland; Czech Republic; Austria; Italy
Time period:
First to mid-sixth century C. E.
Ancestry:
Germanic
Language:
East Germanic
C. E.
455 Rugii help defeat Huns.
476 Sciri, Heruli, and Rugii under Odoacer depose last Western Roman emperor.
487 Heruli and Sciri defeat Rugii.
489 Rugii invade Italy with Visigoths.
CULTURE (see also Germanics)
The Rugii were among the many Germanic tribes who, living close to the border of the Roman Empire, were extensively Romanized as Romans engaged in diplomatic relations with them to facilitate trade. The establishment of a kingdom in Noricum in the fifth century by the Rugii should be seen not as an encroachment on Rome, but as a last desperate means of preserving some semblance of stability, which the depleted Roman administration and army could no longer provide. This is apparent in the deputation of Roman traders who hoped the king of the Rugii could help them in their endeavors. But the Rugii became involved in the larger struggles of Germanic power blocs—those of Odoacer (who was a Roman army officer as well as king) and of the Ostrogoths, who in turn were being used by different factions of Romans in their own rivalries—until the juggernaut of the largely un-Romanized Lombards swept all before them.
As is that of many other East Germanic peoples Rugii history is entwined with that of the dominant Romans, Huns, and Goths.
Rumanians See Romanians.
World History
