Aesti

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The yellow area is a Baltic culture (probably the Aesti); the red area is the extent of the Wielbark culture in the first half of the 3rd century. The green area is the Przeworsk culture, and the pink area is the Debczyn Culture. The purple area is the Roman Empire
The yellow area is a Baltic culture (probably the Aesti); the red area is the extent of the Wielbark culture in the first half of the 3rd century. The green area is the Przeworsk culture, and the pink area is the Debczyn Culture. The purple area is the Roman Empire

The Aesti (or Aestii) were a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise Germania (ca. 98 CE).[1] According to this account, the Aestii lived on the shore of the Suebian Sea (Baltic Sea), eastward of the Suiones (Scandinavians) and westward of the Sitones. They were a population of Suebia. Tacitus did not know whether to assign the nearby Fenni to Germania or Sarmatia (which extended as far west as the Vistula in places).

Contents

[edit] Historical sources

[edit] Tacitus

Tacitus is apparently the first author known to refer explicitly to the Aestii.[2] The Aestii are said to have used a language related to that spoken in Britain; they worshipped a deity known as the 'mother of the gods', as well as the wild boar commonly found in the region; for weapons they used wooden clubs and occasionally iron implements; they were also the only people to gather and trade amber.

There is as yet no way to reconcile this mysterious statement of Tacitus about the language of the Aestii with any known data. It cannot, however, be written off as impossible. The British after which Britain was named in the ancient geographers were the Pretanni, or Picts, whose extinct language is recorded now only in a few epitaphs and has not been deciphered. At some point the name was extended to the speakers of the Celtic, who, as far as the Picts are concerned, arrived in north Britain as the Scots from Ireland. There is no known ancient presence of Celts on the eastern shores of the Baltic; however, this possibility cannot be certainly written off either: the Celts are known to have been in Denmark earlier and also are believed to have been a strong element in Slavic ethnogenesis.

The Aestii are most easily identifiable as ancient inhabitants of Prussia, most likely speaking a Finno-Ugric language closely related to modern Estonian and Finnish as well as to the historical but now extinct language known as Old Prussian. At this early date they could not have spoken any known Baltic language.

The placement of the Tacitean Aestii 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 located in the region of Sambia. Other sources make it clear that the land of the Aestii extended indefinitely to the east into country that must have been populated by other Finno-Ugrian speakers.

[edit] Ptolemy

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[edit] Jordanes

Sixth Century historian Jordanes makes two references the Aesti in his book "The Origins and the Deeds of the Goths", which was a treatment of Cassiodorus' longer book (which no longer survives) on the history of the Goths. The first quote places the Aestii beyond the Vidivarii, on the shore of the Baltic:

"But on the shore of Ocean, where the floods of the river Vistula empty from three mouths, the Vidivarii dwell, a people gathered out of various tribes. Beyond them the Aesti, a subject race, likewise hold the shore of Ocean."

The next quote concerns the subjugation of the Aesti by Hermanaric, king of the Getae:

"This ruler also subdued by his wisdom and might the race of the Aesti, who dwell on the farthest shore of the German Ocean"

[edit] Alfred the Great

In a 11th century manuscript of King Alfred's account of the voyage from Hedeby to Truso by Wulfstan, held by the British Museum, there are several references Æstum - "Aestii", Æstmere - "sea of the Aestii" and Æstland - "land of the Aestiis"[3][4]

[edit] Archaeological sources

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[edit] Later uses of the name

The name survived as specifically Estonians and is the origin of the modern national name of Estonia: Eesti in Estonian, Eistland in ancient Scandinavian sagas, and Estia, Hestia and Estonia in early Latin sources.

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Chapter 45.
  2. ^ For a theory that the Aestii are the Osismii of Strabo and the Ostimii of Pytheas also mentioned by Strabo, see Bojtàr, Endre (1999). Foreword to the Past: a Cultural History of the Baltic People. Central European University Press, page 104. ISBN 9639116424.  This is not a majority view as there is evidence of the continuity of the Osismii in France.
  3. ^ Kemp Malone, On King Alfred's Geographical Treatise, Speculum, Vol. 8, No. 1. (Jan., 1933), pp. 67-78
  4. ^ Samuel H. Cross, Notes on King Alfred's North: Osti, Este, Speculum, Vol. 6, No. 2. (Apr., 1931), pp. 296-299

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Deutschler, Yorck: "Die Aestii - Bezeichnung für die heutigen Esten Estlands oder die untergegangenen Pruzzen Ostpreußens" , in: Deutschler, Yorck, "Die Singende Revolution" - Chronik der Estnischen Freiheitsbewegung (1987-1991) , pp. 196-198. Ingelheim, March 1998/June 2000. ISBN 3-88758-077-X

[edit] External links