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The Ubii were a Germanic tribe who originally lived on the right bank of the Rhine, in the area between Main and Sieg. Unlike many neighbours they sought an early alliance with Rome – and were rewarded for it.
Around 39/38 BC the Roman general Agrippa resettled the Ubii to the left, Roman bank of the Rhine – into the area of today's Cologne and Bonn. There they became loyal allies and border guards of the Empire.
Their capital, the Oppidum Ubiorum, held the central Rhine sanctuary, the Ara Ubiorum. In AD 50 it was raised to a Roman colony – the Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, named after the empress Agrippina, born here. From "Colonia" came Cologne (German Köln).
"They are not ashamed of their origin … once transplanted across the Rhine."after Tacitus, Germania 28, on the Ubii (public domain, own translation)
The Ubii show: the Rhine was not a wall but a bridge – and our home region was borderland between worlds. Continue with the neighbours: the Treveri and Eburones.
The Treveri · The Eburones · The Nervii · The Matronae · Interpretatio Romana.
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