Condrusi

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The Condrusi were a Germanic tribe ^[1] of ancient Belgium, which takes its name from the political and ethnic group known to the Romans as the Belgae. The Condrusi were probably located in the region now known as Condroz, named after them, between Liège and Namur. The terrain is wooded hills on the edge of the Ardennes. The Belgae were distinguished from the Celts by claiming to be of Germanic descent. From Belgic names we know that the Belgae were of mixed Germanic and Celtic descent, but some were more Germanic than others.

We learn all we know about them from Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico. In 1.4, Caesar states that the Belgian Germani had crossed the Rhine long ago to till the fertile land on the other side. They kept and took pride in a distinct identity, which was able to stop the Cimbri and Teutones from entering their territory prior to 113 BC, when the latter burst in upon Rome's jurisdiction.

In 2.4 the Condrusi are specifically called out as being considered Germanic, along with the Eburones, the Caeroesi and the Paemani. At that time, in 57 BC, they were joining an alliance of Belgic tribes against Caesar. The alliance met with defeat at the Battle of the Sabis, but some of the tribes fought on.

In 4.6 we learn that the Condrusi were dependents of the Celtic Treveri along with the Eburones. How this circumstance came about is not known, perhaps because of the defeat. In 6.32 they are definitely identified as being of Germanic origin. Caesar counted them as German, although their language is not known. At that time they were sending envoys to Caesar to recuse themselves from conflict, a move that saved them from the devastation Caesar shortly inflicted on the Eburones, who were continuing the war.

After their defeat or capitulation, the Belgae became part of the province of Germania Inferior. The Romans hoped to expand northward from there, but the Battle of Teutoburg Forest settled that question definitively in the negative.

The Condrusi, like the other former Belgae, must have been happy with Roman rule, as we hear no more about them. Deprived of sovereignty by Caesar, they must have melted away into the general population of the Netherlands region, becoming eventually constituents of the Franks and then citizens of Luxemburg. The region kept its name; presumably, they were in it as long as they needed to be. No doubt some of its residents have ancestors among the ancient Condrusi. In the 9th century it was known as Condrustum. Alexander Wiltheim, S. J., 1604-1684, includes them in Luxemburgum Romanum, mentioning it in a work of the same name.