Aesti

The Aesti (also Aestii, Astui or Aests) were an ancient people first described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise Germania (circa 98 AD).

To themselves it is of no use: they gather it rough, they expose it in pieces coarse and unpolished, and for it receive a price with wonder.The placement of the Tacitean Aesti is based primarily on their association with amber, a popular luxury item during the life of Tacitus, with known sources at the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic amber trade, which appears to have extended to the Mediterranean Sea, has been traced by archaeologists back to the Nordic Bronze Age; its major center was in the region of Sambia.

[citation needed] This trade probably existed before the historical Trojan War in the 13th century BCE, as amber is one of the substances in which the palace of Menelaus at Sparta was said to be rich in Homer's Iliad.

We sent you some presents by our ambassadors, and shall be glad to receive further visits from you by the road which you have thus opened up, and to show you future favors.The style of the letter proves that the nation was at that time independent, not ruled by the Ostrogoths.

Sending presents and promising to show future favors were in ancient times a cordial way of giving de jure recognition to another power.

In an 11th-century manuscript of King Alfred's account of the voyage from Hedeby to Truso by Wulfstan, held by the British Museum, includes ethnographic information on the medieval Aesti,[13][14] in which the terms Esti, Est-mere and Eastland are used referring to Old Prussians.

"[17] During the 11th century, Adam of Bremen, citing Einhard (who in the Vita Caroli Magni states that "the Slavs and the Aisti live on the shores of the Eastern Sea"), mentions the coastal tribe as the Haisti, and refers to today's Estonia as Aestland.

The Aesti were located around the Baltic Sea .
The approximate location of the Aesti purported by the Roman historian Tacitus , northeast of the Roman Empire near the Baltic Sea.
In the first half of the 3rd century, a Baltic culture , likely the Aesti, occupied in the area in yellow. The Roman Empire is shown in purple, the red area represents the extent of the Wielbark culture , green the Przeworsk culture , and pink the Debczyn culture .
Willem and Joan Blaeu 's 1645 work Germaniae veteris typus ("Historical map of Germany"). The "Aestui" are on the right upper corner of the map, north east of their likely homeland.
A Map of Europe for the Illustration of King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon translation of Orosius. Engraved by J. Bayly. 1773