The interactions of the Cimbri and Teutones with local tribes were at times prone to turn violent. In Bohemia, they entered the Celtic lands of the Boii from whence they struck for the Balkan lands of the Celtic Scordisci. The Cimbri and Teutones journeyed south along the Elbe, then east along the Danube, through the realms of Germanic tribes. Plutarch (46-120 CE) stated that the prevalent opinion was that the Cimbri were Germans, though he added that others thought they were Gallo- Scythians or even the Cimmerians of Greek mythology, who lived at the edge of the world. 95-165 CE), by contrast, clearly distinguished the Cimbri from the Germans, and along with Florus (c. Tacitus (56-120 CE) and Strabo (63 BCE - 23 CE) described them as German tribes. Classical authors themselves are divided in opinion whether the two tribes were Germans or Celts. The Cimbri and Teutones also spent many years in Celtic lands before they met the Romans and would have at least picked up a smattering of the Celtic languages. A probable explanation is that the Romans at the time were not familiar with the German tribes and transmitted their names in the more familiar Celtic form. However, the names of their chiefs were Celtic leading others to believe that they were Celts. These lands were within the Germanic tribal realm, leading many scholars to believe that the Cimbri and Teutones were Germanic tribes. Their homelands were on the western side of the Jutland peninsula, beside those of their close allies, the Teutones. The Cimbri appear in Roman history in 113 BCE. OriginĬlassical authors themselves are divided in opinion whether the two tribes were Germans or Celts. Survivors of the battle were enslaved, but fragments of their tribe continued to live for centuries in eastern Gaul and in their Jutland homeland. The following year, they were decisively defeated at Vercellae by the Roman commanders Marius and Catulus. The Cimbri entered Italy in 102 BCE when under the leadership of Boiorix they crossed the Alps and settled north of the Po. Their victory at Arausio (Orange) in 105 BCE, was one of the greatest disasters in the history of Roman warfare. The Cimbri coalition reached the frontiers of the Roman Republic, where they fought and defeated multiple Roman armies. They were joined by other Germanic and Celtic tribes most notably the Teutones who were their neighbors in Jutland and shared much of their history. The late 2nd-century BCE migration of the Cimbri led them to the Balkans, over the Alps, throughout Gaul, along the borders of Spain, and finally into Italy. Their ethnicity is enigmatic scholars generally believe that the Cimbri were Germans, though others maintain that they were Celts. The Cimbri were a tribe who lived in northern Jutland during the Roman era.
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