Eburones

[6] This interpretation is supported by the story, as told by Julius Caesar, of how the Eburonean king Catuvolcus killed himself with poisonous yew in a ritualistic suicide.

[9] Xavier Delamarre points out that coins of the Aulerci Eburovices, in Normandy, show the head of a wild boar, and argues that there might have been, further northeast, a "semantic contamination, in the mixed Germano-Celtic Rhenish areas, of the Gaulish eburos by the Germanic quasi-homonym *eburaz.

[15] When the Germanic Tencteri and Usipetes crossed the Rhine from Germania in 55 BC, they first fell on the Menapii and advanced into the territories of the Eburones and Condrusi, who were both "under the protection of" the Treveri to the south.

[17] However, Caesar also notes that their land bordered on that of the coastal Menapii in the north, and that those among the Eburones "who were nearest the ocean" managed to hide in islands after their defeat against the Romans.

[19][20][21] For instance, Johannes Heinrichs (2008) contends that a territory stretching from the Rhine to the North Sea would be "unrealistically large", especially since they were portrayed as clients of the neighbouring Atuatuci until 57 BC.

[27] The exact location of their stronghold remains uncertain; it is almost certainly not the same as the later Atuatuca Tungrorum, which appears to have been erected ex-nihilo as a Roman military base ca.

Before that event, information from the Remi, a tribe allied with Rome, reported that the Germani (the Condrusi, Eburones, Caeraesi, and Paemani) had collectively promised to send around 40,000 men.

[34] Encouraged by this victory, Ambiorix rode personally first to the Aduatuci and then to the Nervi, arguing for a new attack on the Romans wintering in Nervian territory under the command by Quintus Tullius Cicero, brother of the famous orator.

Caesar reports that he burnt every village and building that he could find in the territory of the Eburones, drove off all the cattle, and his men and beasts consumed all the grain that the weather of the autumnal season did not destroy.

[42] Studies of settlement evidence suggest a significant demographic decrease in the Eburonean territory after that period, which can be plausibly linked with the Caesarian campaigns.

If the systematic destruction of infrastructures by the Roman forces was intended to prevent the local people from regaining power, physical extermination likely proved to be impractical.

The available areas of refuge hardly accessible to the Roman legions were numerous: the low mountain range of the Ardennes, the swamps and wastelands towards the Menapii, the coastal islands, etc.

Moreover, Caesar's second attempt to annihilate the tribe two years later demonstrates that the community survived in some way, and even probably regenerated in such a way that further violent actions were apparently needed.

[44] According to Roymans, their disappearance from the political map could have resulted from "a policy of damnatio memoriae on the part of the Roman authorities, in combination with the confiscation of Eburonean territory".

[46] After the Gallic Wars, the new tribal entities that settled in the Lower Rhine region with Roman support lived on territories previously occupied by the Eburones.

Similarly to the Condrusi (whom Caesar had mentioned, and who continued to exist under Roman rule), the Texuandri were recognized as a distinct grouping for the administrative purpose of mustering troops.

[50] It is clear that the Belgic tribes of Gaul were culturally influenced by both Gaulish and Germanic neighbours, but the details, for example which languages they spoke, remain uncertain.

Despite being regarded as Belgae, a type of Gaul, Julius Caesar says that the Condrusi, Eburones, Caeraesi, Paemani, and Segni were called by the collective name of Germani and had settled there some time ago, having come from the opposite bank of the Rhine.

[55] On the other hand, studies of place names such as those of Maurits Gysseling, have been argued to show evidence of the very early presence of Germanic languages throughout the area north of the Ardennes.

[56] It is generally accepted that the personal names of Catuvolcus and Ambiorix, the Eburonean kings who opposed Caesar during the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), are of Celtic origin.

[58][57] It has been noted that the use of the Proto-Indo-European stem *katu- ('fight') as a compound in personal names is common to both Gallic and Germanic traditions (e.g., Catu-rīx and Haðu-rīh, which are cognates).

[62][63][64] The material culture of the region has been found by archaeologists to be highly Celtised, clearly in contact with the Celts of central Gaul, though far less rich in terms of Mediterranean luxury goods.

As mentioned above, archaeological evidence implies continuity going back to Urnfield times, but with signs that militarized elites had moved in more than once, bringing forms of the Celtic-associated cultures known as Hallstatt and later La Tène.

[68] According to Roymans, "the fact that the Eburones and, somewhat later, the Sugambri were in a position to triumph over Roman armies attests to the ability of groups and individuals in these societies to summon considerable strength, at least in periods of crisis.

"[69] The formation of comitati was probably common during the Late Iron Age, as evidenced by the retinue of equites that escorted Ambiorix as he fled the Roman troops, and by similar practices attested in neighbouring tribes.

[70] They were also paying tribute to the Atuatuci, who were holding Eburonean hostages in chains and slavery, including the son and nephew of the Eburone king Ambiorix.