Rucinates


The Rucinates or Rucantii were a Gallic tribe dwelling near the confluence of the Isar and Danube rivers during the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as R̔oukántioi by Strabo, as Rucinates by Pliny, as R̔ounikátai by Ptolemy, and as Rucinates on an inscription.
The meaning of the name remains uncertain. It has been translated as 'the blushing people', by connecting the first element to the Gaulish *rucco-. Alternatively, Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to derive the name from a form *roukkina, itself from *roukka. In this view, the variant R̔oukántioi handed down by Strabo could be explained as 'those who wear a roukka'. The form given by Ptolemy is a metathesis of the original form.

Geography

The Rucinates lived near the confluence of the Isar and Danube rivers. Their territory was located north of the Catenates, east of the Raetovarii, south of the Iuthungi. They were part of the Vindelici.

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.

Primary sources