The Ampsivarii: The Tragic Search for a Home

The Ampsivarii ("those of the Ems land") were a Germanic tribe on the Ems. Tacitus records their tragic fate in the 1st century AD.

Driven out and homeless

Pushed from their territory by the Chauci, the Ampsivarii wandered and asked the Romans to be allowed to settle on unused border land.

The speech of Boiocalus

Their old leader Boiocalus, once a loyal ally of Rome, gave a moving speech: the heavens belong to the gods, the earth to men – no one may keep empty land for himself. Rome refused; the people wore themselves out in the search for a home.

"As the heaven is given to the gods, so the earth is given to the race of men."Boiocalus, after Tacitus, Annals 13 (public domain, own translation)

The Ampsivarii show the dark side of the movements of peoples. Continue with the Chauci and Angrivarii.

Read more with us

The Chamavi · The Bructeri · The Chatti · The Cherusci & Arminius · The Angrivarii.

Sources & literature

Tacitus, Annals 13; quote public domain (own translation).

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