Helisii

The Helisii were one of the tribal states of the Lugii, a Germanic tribe. They were attested by the Roman historian Tacitus (Germania 43:3); this brief reference is the only mention of them as such in history.

Ancient sources consider the border between Greater Germany and Scythia to be the River Vistula. It, however, bends to the east to place all of central and southern Poland on the ancient Germania bank.

That Germanic expansion reached western Poland at least is unquestioned. Silesia was German in later historical times. It probably was the home of the Lugii, who are supposed in the sources to be in the eastern half of Suebia, which name descends to modern Schwaben. The Suebi were divided by the Black Forest. Today's Black Forest, which is a scarcely forested remnant, does not fit the description, but in ancient times it must have extended across most of southern Schwaben. The Lugii, then, as eastern Suebi, were most likely in Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Considering the location, it is possible that Tacitus' name of Helisii is a Germanic form of the ancient municipality of Kalisz in central Poland, often identified with Ptolemy's Calisia, which was in Greater Germany. Helisii would in that case be from *Kalisii. Its location in Ptolemy may not be its modern location, as settlement names over time tend to duplicate or migrate along with their populations.

Sources

Tacitus, Germania.XLIII

Germanic peoples

Languages	Germanic parent language Proto-Germanic language North Germanic languages Old Norse West Germanic languages Ingvaeonic languages South Germanic Northwest Germanic East Germanic languages Germanic philology

Prehistory	Nordic Bronze Age Pre-Roman Iron Age in Northern Europe Jastorf culture Nordwestblock Przeworsk culture Wielbark culture Oksywie culture Chernyakhov culture

Roman Iron Age in northern Europe	Magna Germania Germanic Wars Battle of the Teutoburg Forest Germania Irminones Ingaevones Istvaeones Chatti Marcomanni Suebi

Migration Period	Germanic Iron Age Alemanni Anglo-Saxons Angles Jutes Saxons Burgundians Danes Franks Frisii Geats Goths Visigoths Ostrogoths Vagoth Gothic War (376–382) Gotlander Heruli Lombards Rugii Scirii Suebi Swedes Vandals Varangians Vikings Germanic Christianity Romanization

Society and culture	Mead hall Alliterative verse Migration Period art Runes Runic calendar Sippe Ancient Germanic law Lawspeaker Thing Germanic calendar Germanic kingship Germanic name Numbers in Norse mythology Romano-Germanic culture

Religion	Odin Thor Nerthus Veleda Tuisto Mannus Paganism Anglo-Saxon Continental Germanic mythology Frankish Norse Christianity Arianism Gothic

Dress	Bracteates Fibula Suebian knot

Warfare	Gothic and Vandal warfare Anglo-Saxon warfare Viking Age arms and armour Migration Period spear Migration Period sword

Burial practices	Tumulus Ship burial Norse funeral Alemannic grave fields Sutton Hoo Spong Hill

List of ancient Germanic peoples Portal:Ancient Germanic culture

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/14/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Helisii

See also

Sources