Sunici

TheSunuci(orSinuciorSunici) was the name of a tribal grouping with a particular territory within theRoman provinceofGermania Inferior,which later becameGermania Secunda.Within this province, they were in theCivitas Agrippinenses,with its capital atCologne.They are thought to have been aGermanictribe, speaking aGermanic language,although they may also have had a mixed ancestry. They lived between theMeuse(DutchMaas,LatinMosa) andRurrivers inRoman imperialtimes. In modern terms this was probably in the part ofGermanynearAachen,Jülich,EschweilerandDüren,and the neighbouring areas in the southernNetherlands,aroundValkenburg,and easternBelgium,in part of the oldDuchy of Limburg.There is a town just over the Belgian border from Aachen called Sinnich, inVoeren,which may owe its name to them. In other words, they lived just north of the modern northern limits ofRomance languagesderived fromLatin.

Name

The etymology of the nameSuniciis uncertain. It could derive from theProto-Indo-European(PIE) root*sūs,*suwós('pig'), or alternatively from PIE*sunus('sons').The name may thus be interpreted as meaning 'the young sons',which evokes the Italic custom of theVer Sacrum.Since the word*sunusis absent fromCeltic languages(which replaced it with *makʷo-), the ethnonym is more probably ofGermanicorigin in this scenario.

Geography

The Sunuci dwelled in the western part of the modernRhinelandregion, around the towns ofEschweiler,Heimbach,orKornelimünster.Their territory was located between that of theTungriandUbii.

Religion

Dedications to their eponymous goddessSunucsal(is)have been found across their territory.She was probably regarded as the original epithet of a tribal goddess.The name may be interpreted as the Germanic form*Sunuc(a)-saliō-('whom provides the Sunici with housing').

History

The origins of the tribe are unknown, but it is likely that, like their eastern neighbours theUbii,their ancestry included Germanic immigrants from the east of the Rhine who had been arriving for generations. Like theCugernifor example, they may descend fromSicambri.Germania Inferior was on the west of theRhineand had been described byJulius Caesar,at the time of Roman conquest of the area, as part ofBelgic Gaul.Many of the tribal names and personal names which he reported from this area, are considered to beCeltic,not Germanic. However already long before his time there appears to have been an influx of people coming from the east of the Rhine, including, in the particular area where the Sunuci lived, the tribal grouping whichTacituslater claimed to be the original tribal group which had been called "Germani", the so-called "Germani Cisrhenani".Whether these originalGermanihad all spoken a Germanic language is unknown. Caesar and Tacitus were more interested in the fact that tribes from the east of the Rhine, who all eventually came to be referred to asGermani(the source of the modern word "Germany"), and all eventually came to speak a Germanic language, were less softened by civilization, and therefore difficult to defeat in battle or incorporate into the Roman empire.

Some specific tribes who entered the empire later, such as the Ubii who lived between the Rur and the Rhine, are generally understood to be speakers of Germanic languages, and records exist concerning their immigration and settlement. However, for the Sunuci, there is no such clear record and it is their position which generally leads to them being understood as being a group settled during imperial times, and Germanic in the modern sense of speaking a Germanic language. On the other hand, there have been suggestions that they might represent the descendants, at least partly, of theSegni,one of theGermanitribes described by Caesar as having been in this region since at least the 2nd century BCE when theCimbrimoved through the area.

In theNaturalis HistoriaofPliny the Elderdescribed the Sunuci between theTungriand theFrisiavones.They contributed troops to the Roman military, some of whom were stationed in Britain, including modern Wales. There is evidence from tablets found in theRivelinValley south ofStanningtonthat retiringRoman auxiliariesof the Sunuci tribe stationed in Britain were made grants of citizenship and land or money in the modern day city ofSheffield,with some speculation that a Roman villa complex atWhirlow Hall Farmwas part of such a land grant. Tacitusalso mentioned the Sunuci, as a people of this region during theBatavian revolt.Some of them joined the revolt ofGaius Julius Civilis,and were opposed byClaudius Labeo,who held a bridge over the Meuse, with a force ofBetasii,TungriandNervii

Two deity names have been associated with the Sunuci, a goddessSunuxalorSunuxsaland a godVarnenosorVarneno.

What happened to Sunuci in the later part of the Roman era is uncertain. Their territory became the home of new groups who crossed the Rhine, part of the amalgamation of tribes known as theFranks.The Franks united under kings and later became semi-independent within the empire, started moving into more populated Romanized areas to their south, and then proceeded to conquer a large part ofWestern Europeand found theHoly Roman empire.If any of the Sunuci remained in the area, they became part of this development.

References

Bibliography

• Neumann, Günter (1999)."Germani cisrhenani — die Aussage der Namen".In Beck, H.; Geuenich, D.; Steuer, H. (eds.).Germanenprobleme in heutiger Sicht.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN978-3110164381.
• Sergent, Bernard(1991)."Ethnozoonymes indo-européens".Dialogues d'histoire ancienne.17(2): 9–55.doi:10.3406/dha.1991.1932.
• von Petrikovits, Harald (1999)."Germani Cisrhenani".In Beck, H.; Geuenich, D.; Steuer, H. (eds.).Germanenprobleme in heutiger Sicht.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN978-3110164381.