Everything about the Sicambri totally explained
The
Sicambri (var.
Sicambers, Sicambres, Sigambrer, Sugumbrer, or
Sugambri) were a
Germanic people living in what is now called the
Netherlands at the turn of the first millennium.
Originating in the
Germanic-
Celtic contact zone (c.f.
Nordwestblock), they'd become
Frankish by the 4th century, associated with the
Low Franconian Salians.
History
The Sicambri appear in history around
55 BC, during the time of conquests of
Gaul by
Julius Caesar and his expansion of the
Roman Empire. Caesar wrote in his
Commentarii de Bello Gallico that at the confluence of the
Rhine and
Meuse River a battle took place in the land of the
Menapii with
Tencteri and
Usipetes. When these two peoples were routed by him their cavalry escaped and found asylum north of the river with the Sicambri. Caesar then built a bridge across the river to punish the Sicambri.
Claudius Ptolemy located the Sicambri, together with the
Bructeri Minores, at the most northern part of the Rhine and south of the
Frisians who inhabit the coast north of the river.
Strabo located the Sicambri next to the Menapii, “who dwell on both sides of the river
Rhine near its mouth, in marshes and woods. It is opposite to these Menapii that the Sicambri are situated". So the Sicambri must have lived at the lower Rhine in what is now called the Netherlands.
When Caesar defeated the
Eburones he invited all of the peoples that were interested to destroy the remainder. The Sicambri responded to Caesar's call. They took large amounts of cattle, slaves and plunder. Caesar commented that "these men are born for war and raids", "No swamp or marsh will stop them". After the raid on Eburones they moved on against the Romans. They destroyed some of Caesars units, in revenge of his campaign against them and when the remains of the legion withdrew into the city
Atuatuca the Sicambri went back across the Rhine.
In
16 BC their leader Melo, brother of Baetorix, organised a raid and defeated a Roman army under the command of
Marcus Lollius, which sparked a reaction from the Roman Empire and helped start the series of
Germanic Wars. Later the Sicambri under Deudorix, son of Baetorix, joined the rebellion of
Arminius with whom they terminated the 3 Roman legions of
Publius Quinctilius Varus.
In
11 BC, a part of this tribe was forced by
Nero Claudius Drusus to move to the south side of the lower Rhine, where they evidently formed a component of the
Franks. The main part of the Sicambri "migrated deep into the country anticipating the Romans" according to
Strabo.
Language
Many names of Sicambrian leaders end in typical
Belgicized suffixes like -rix, probably indicating intense contacts with Belgium neighbours like the Menapi, and different from other Germanic tribes. In Frankish times, these Belgicisms are attested as the main difference by which to distinguish Frankish and Old Dutch from other Germanic languages like High German.
Sicambri as poetic equation of Salian Franks
In Roman and
Merovingian times, it was a custom to declare
panegyrics. These poetic declarations were held for fun or propaganda to entertain guests and please rulers. Those panegyrics played an important role in the transmission of culture. One of the ritual customs of these poetic declarations is the use of archaic names for contemporary things. Romans were often called "Trojans", and
Salian Franks were called Sicamber. An example of this custom is remembered by the
6th century historian
Gregory of Tours (II, 31), who states that the Merovingian Frankish leader
Clovis I, on the occasion of his baptism into the
Catholic faith, was referred to as Sicamber by
Saint Remigius, the officiating
bishop of Rheims. At the crucial moment of Clovis' baptism, Remigius declared "Bend down your head Sicamber. Honour what you've burnt. Burn what you've honoured". It is likely that in this way, a link between the Sicambri and the Salian Franks, who were Clovis' people, was recalled.
More examples of Salians being called Sicamber can be found in the
Panegyrici Latini, Life of King Sigismund, Life of King Dagobert and other sources.
Sicambri in Frankish mythology
An anonymous work of 727 called
Liber Historiae Francorum states that following the fall of
Troy, 12,000 Trojans led by chiefs
Priam and
Antenor moved to the
Tanais (Don) river, settled in
Pannonia near the
Sea of Azov and founded a city called "Sicambria". In just 2 generations from the fall of Troy (by modern scholars dated in the late Bronze Age) they arrive in the late 4th century AD at the Rhine. A variation of this story can also be read in
Fredegar, and similar tales continue to crop up repeatedly throughout obscure, mediaeval-era European literature.
These stories have obvious difficulties. Historians, including eyewitnesses like Caesar, have given us accounts that place the Sicambri firmly at the delta of the Rhine, and archaeologists have confirmed ongoing settlement of peoples. Furthermore the myth doesn't come from the Sicambri themselves, but from later Franks, and includes an incorrect geography. But most of all these stories are a "farrago nonsense" (Wood), for a man doesn't live that long. For these reasons, and since the Sicambri were known to have been
Germanic, and not
Scythian or
Cimmerian as the story claims, modern scholars reject it as an unhistorical legend. For example J.M. Wallace-Hadrill states that "this legend is quite without historical substance". Ian Wood says that "these tales are obviously no more than legend" and "nonsensical", "in fact there's no reason to believe that the Franks were involved in any long-distance migration".
Further Information
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