On the Danube Theories and the Suavi – Part II

We decided to break up these posts and after a brief Einfuehrung, continue with the additional sources separately.  Here we present Procopius.

It is not often mentioned in popular writing that the well-known word Suebi is more often than not spelled Suevi in actual sources.  It is, however, mentioned even less, and this even in scholarship, that another version that begins to appear in late sources is Suavi.  In fact, while various Slavicists have focused on the Slavs, Antes and the Venethi in the Getica work of Jordanes and the Slavs or Sporoi in the works of Procopius, the same authors also have interesting things to say about the Suavi.  Later writers add more.

Procopius History of Wars Book V – Gothic War, Chapter 12

“And in Gaul there flow numerous rivers, among which are the Rhone and the Rhine.  But the course of these two being in opposite directions, the one empties into the Tuscan Sea, while the Rhine empties into the ocean. And there are many lakes in that region, and this is where the Germans lived of old, a barbarous nation, not of much consequence in the beginning, who are now called Franks.  Next to these lived the Arborychi, who, together with all the rest of Gaul, and, indeed, Spain also, were subjects of the Romans from of old.  And beyond them toward the east were settled the Thuringian barbarians, Augustus, the first emperor, having given them this country.  And the Burgundians lived not far from them toward the south, and the Suevi [but see below] also lived beyond the Thuringians, and the Alamani, powerful nations. All these were settled there as independent peoples in earlier times.”

This language comes from the H.B. Dewing English translation.  As with any translation, much is left to interpretation of the translator.  While a reader should have a right to rely on a translation not to make major conceptual errors, if a reader really cares about something that much, it behooves the reader to check…  This is especially since much of the Anglo-Saxon scholarship in this area at the turn of the century was merely a carbon copy of German scholarship (meaning not that it was necessarily incorrect or biased but rather that it wasn’t very original and, literally, frequently seemed like a copy of Mommsen and his ilk).  And if manuscripts are not easy to track down, there are at least original language editions.

Here is the same passage in the original Greek (and Latin below):

Obviously, the Greek spelling – Σουάβοι – is with an “a” not with an “e”.  Thus, in Latin this reads Souavoi meaning, were we to remain honest to the format followed with Suevi, this would be shown as Suavi (the parallel translation running below not the page has Suabi but this is likely wrong since at the time the Greek β would have been pronounced as a “v”).  This, in Polish and other Lechitic languages (and Venetian!) would be written Soławoi.

Elsewhere in his works, when referring to south-eastern Slavs, Procopius writes (in most cases*) Σκλάβοι, Sklavoi.  The “k” was a Greek (the “c” in Sclaveni, a Latin) insertion to deal with the “l” following the “S”.  In Slavic, this would be written as Slawoi and, indeed, that is how it would be pronounced in Slavic – in East and South Slavic that is.  (Again, in Polish and other Lechitic languages the sound after the “S” is not an “l” but rather an “ł” which represents the “uo” sound.

(Again, in both cases, the β serves in for a “v” sound at that point in time)

But let us not waste more time and see what else these Suevi or, really, Suavi were up to in Procopius and others:

Procopius History of Wars Book V – Gothic War, Chapter 15

“But from the city of Ravenna, where the Ionian Gulf ends, to the Tuscan Sea is not less than eight days’ journey for an unencumbered traveller. And the reason is that the arm of the sea, as it advances, always inclines very far to the right. And below this gulf the first town is Dryus, which is now called Hydrus.  And on the right of this are the Calabrians, Apulians, and Samnites, and next to them dwell the Piceni, whose territory extends as far as the city of Ravenna. And on the other side are the remainder of the Calabrians, the Bruttii, and the Lucani, beyond whom dwell the Campani as far as the city of Taracina, and their territory is adjoined by that of Rome. These peoples hold the shores of the two seas, and all the interior of that part of Italy. And this is the country called Magna Graecia in former times. For among the Bruttii are the Epizephyrian Locrians and the inhabitants of Croton [Crotoniatae – Croatians anyone? Of course, that does not mean that Horvatoi was the same name] and Thurii. But north of the gulf the first inhabitants are Greeks, called Epirotes, as far as the city of Epidamnus, which is situated on the sea.”

“And adjoining this is the land of Precalis, beyond which is the territory called Dalmatia, all of which is counted as part of the western empire. And beyond that point is Liburnia, [modern Croatia] and Istria, and the land of the Veneti extending to the city of Ravenna. These countries are situated on the sea in that region.”

“But above them are the Siscii and Suavi (not those who are subjects of the Franks, but another group), who inhabit the interior. And beyond these are settled the Carnii and Norici. On the right of these dwell the Dacians and Pannonians, who hold a number of towns, including Singidunum [Belgrade] and Sirmium [Sremska Mitrovica?], and extend as far as the Ister [Danube] River. Now these peoples north of the Ionian Gulf were ruled by the Goths at the beginning of this war, but beyond the city of Ravenna on the left of the river Po the country was inhabited by the Ligurians.”

[Denning states here: “Procopius seems to have erred: Liguria, as well as Aemilia (below), was south of the Po. Cf. chap. xii. 4, where Liguria is represented as extending to the Alps” Of course, one could also ask whether Procopius erred rather in spelling only and meant Liburnians not Ligurians with the consequence that the lands North of the Po would have been inhabited by the pre-“Croatians”]

“And to the north of them live the Albani in an exceedingly good land called Langovilla, and beyond these are the nations subject to the Franks, while the country to the west is held by the Gauls and after them the Spaniards. On the right of the Po are Aemilia and the Tuscan peoples, which extend as far as the boundaries of Rome. So much, then, for this.”

Now for the Greek version (with Latin text below):

Again, we have our Σουάβοι.

Procopius History of Wars Book V – Gothic War, Chapter 16

“Now when Vittigis heard this, he was no longer willing to remain quietly in Ravenna, where he was embarrassed by the absence of Marcias and his men, who had not yet come from Gaul. So he sent to Dalmatia a great army with Asinarius and Uligisalus as its commanders, in order to recover Dalmatia for the Gothic rule. And he directed them to add to their own troops an army from the land of the Suavi, composed of the barbarians there, and then to proceed directly to Dalmatia and Salones.”

“And he also sent with them many ships of war, in order that they might be able to besiege Salones both by land and by sea. But he himself was hastening to go with his whole army against Belisarius and Rome, leading against him horsemen and infantry to the number of not less than one hundred and fifty thousand, and the most of them as well as their horses were clad in armor.”

“So Asinarius, upon reaching the country of the Suavi, began to gather the army of the barbarians, while Uligisalus alone led the Goths into Liburnia. And when the Romans engaged with them at a place called Scardon, they were defeated in the battle and retired to the city of Burnus; and there Uligisalus awaited his colleague.”

And again we have the “α”

These appear to be the only and last mentions of the Suevi in Procopius’ Wars.  At this point in his work (Book V, being the first of the Gothic War books) no mention was yet made of the Slavs either.  The Slavs first appear in Book V, Chapter 27 but the Suevi are not mentioned anymore after Chapter 16 as shown above.

All of this before we even get to other excellent sources.