The Nemetes – Germani on the Rhine around Speyer

History & Finds The Nemetes: A Rhine Tribe Becomes Roman

placeholder

The Nemetes were a Germanic tribe on the left bank of the Rhine, in the area of today's Speyer. Tacitus names them together with the Vangiones and Triboci as Germanic peoples settling on the Gaulish side of the Rhine.

Placed on the Rhine by Rome

Like several Rhine tribes the Nemetes were settled by Rome as a border people (civitas) and incorporated into the province of Upper Germania. Their capital was called Noviomagus Nemetum – today's Speyer.

The name lives on

From Nemetum came the old name of Speyer (Nemetes/Nemet). Thus a Germanic Rhine tribe lives on to this day in the name-history of a cathedral city – much like the Ubii in Cologne.

"The Vangiones, Triboci and Nemetes, without doubt Germani, inhabit the bank of the Rhine."after Tacitus, Germania 28 (public domain, own translation)

What is documented: Nemetes as a Germanic Rhine tribe (Tacitus, Germania 28), their settlement as a Roman civitas and Noviomagus Nemetum/Speyer (Roman sources, inscriptions, archaeology).

What is interpretation: Whether the Nemetes were "genuine" Germani or a Romanised mixed population is a modern question of categories – the Rhine frontier was permeable. About their pre-Roman culture we know little directly.

The Nemetes belong to the Rhine peoples between Germania and Rome. Continue with the Vangiones and Ubii.

Glanz & Gravur — From our workshop: Germanic motifs on natural slate, laser-engraved. To the shop →

Sources & literature

Tacitus, Germania 28; Roman inscriptions; quote public domain (own translation).

Visit the Shop More posts

The Nemetes: A Rhine Tribe Becomes Roman

Placed on the Rhine by Rome

The name lives on

Read more with us

Sources & literature

More from History & Finds

The Nervii: Rome's Toughest Foes in the North

Nordalbingia: The Borderland Between Franks and Danes

The North Frisian ring forts – Viking forts on Sylt & Föhr

The Sacrificial Bog of Oberdorla