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The Sugambri (also Sygambri) were a mighty Germanic tribe on the right bank of the Lower Rhine, in the area between Ruhr, Sieg and Lippe. They were among Rome's toughest opponents in the Rhine region.
Several times the Sugambri crossed the Rhine and beat Roman troops; in 16 BC they even destroyed a legion (the "clades Lolliana"). Rome answered harshly: part of the tribe was resettled under Tiberius to the left bank of the Rhine and absorbed into Roman units.
"Sugambri" or "Sicambri" became a poetic name for the Franks as a whole. When the Frankish king Clovis was baptised around AD 500, Bishop Remigius is said to have called out to him: "Bow your neck gently, Sugambrian." Thus the name bridges Germanic antiquity and the baptism of Clovis.
"Bow your neck gently, Sugambrian: worship what you have burned, burn what you have worshipped."Remigius to Clovis, after Gregory of Tours (public domain, own translation)
The Sugambri belong to the Rhine peoples between Germania and Rome. Continue with the Ubii and Tencteri & Usipetes.
The Ubii · Tencteri & Usipetes · The Eburones · The Treveri · The Cherusci & Arminius.
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