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( Suebi)
The Suebi or Suevi (from Proto-Germanic *swebaz based on the Proto-Germanic root *swe- meaning "one's own" people,[1] from an Indo-European root *swe-,[2] the third person reflexive pronoun) were a group of Germanic peoples[3] who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c. 58 BC;[4] Ariovistus was defeated by Caesar. Some Suebi remained a periodic threat against the Romans on the Rhine, until, toward the end of the empire, the Alamanni, including elements of Suebi, brushed aside Roman defenses and occupied Alsace, and from there Bavaria and Switzerland. Except for a pocket in Swabia, and migrants to Portugal and Spain, no more was heard of the Suebi. In the classical sources, the ethnonym Suebi is used with two different meanings the specific tribe of Caesar's campaign, "dwelling on the Main", and "broadly, to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany."[5] The broad view is expressed in Tacitus' Germania, a basic written source for the Suebic peoples that states[6] We must come now to speak of the Suebi, who do not, like the Chatti or Tencteri, constitute a single nation. They actually occupy more than half of Germany, and are divided into a number of distinct tribes under distinct names, though all generally are called Suebi.
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