People

Varii

Attuarii

Listen to the story

Varii is a stray word beyond the Rhine, standing directly after the label for the Chamavi, "who are also Franks". It is probably the tail end of a people's name ending in varii, such as the Chattuarii or the Amsivarii, the dwellers on the river Ems. One reading holds that an older model of the map simply said Chamavi Varii, until the words "who are also Franks" were wedged in later and split the phrase. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus knew a Frankish group called the Attuarii, and the name's position beyond the Rhine hints at very old material behind the map.

Find Varii on the interactive Roman map →

Auf Deutsch anhören · All place stories

More Peoples on the Tabula Peutingeriana