Teutons
The Teutons (Latin: Teutones, Teutoni) were a Germanic tribe or Celtic people mentioned by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus. According to a map by Ptolemy, they originally lived in Jutland, which is in agreement with Pomponius Mela, who placed them in Scandinavia (Codanonia), although there was disagreement by these scholars whether or not they were related to the Celts. Rather than relating directly to this tribe, the broad term, Teutonic peoples or Teuton in particular, is used now to identify members of a people speaking languages of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family generally, and especially, of people speaking German.
History
In the late second century BC, many of the Teutones, under their leader Teutobod as well as the Cimbri, migrated from their original homes in southern Scandinavia and on the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, south and west to the Danube valley, where they encountered the expanding Roman Republic. The Teutones and Cimbri were recorded as passing west through Gaul before attacking Roman Italy. After decisive victories over the Romans at Noreia and Arausio in 105 BC, the Cimbri and Teutones divided forces and were then defeated separately by Gaius Marius in 102 BC and 101 BC respectively, ending the Cimbrian War. The defeat of the Teutones occurred at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae (near present-day Aix-en-Provence). Some of the surviving captives were reported to have been among the rebelling Gladiators in the Third Servile War.
