Mattium

Its exact location is unknown, though following the description of Tacitus it is generally assumed to be somewhere in the wider neighbourhood of Fritzlar in northern Hesse (Germany).

Tacitus mentions Mattium in his Annals, when he describes the Roman campaign against the Chatti under the command of Germanicus in 15 AD.

According to him the Roman army destroyed the caput gentis Mattium, directly after it crossed the river Adrana (Eder).

[3][4] The term caput gentis being used by Tacitus may not only denote a capital in the sense of a single large fortified settlement, but it could also refer to a central place of worship.

[4][5] Mattium is not to be confused with Mattiacum (Wiesbaden), also called Aquae Mattiacorum, which was the principal settlement of the Mattiaci.