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RAETIA (so always in inscriptions; in...
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See also:RAETIA (so always in See also:inscriptions; in classical See also:MSS. usually RHAETIA) , in See also:ancient See also:geography, a See also:province of the See also:Roman See also:Empire, bounded on the W. by the See also:country of the See also:Helvetii, on the E. by See also:Noricum, on the N. by See also:Vindelicia and on the S. by Cisalpine See also:Gaul. It thus comprised the districts occupied in See also:modern times by the See also:Grisons, the greater See also:part of See also:Tirol, and part of See also:Lombardy. The See also:land was very mountainous, and the inhabitants, when not engaged in predatory expeditions, chiefly supported themselves by See also:cattle-breeding and cutting See also:timber, little See also:attention being paid to See also:agriculture. Some of the valleys, however, were See also:rich and fertile, and produced See also:corn and See also:wine, the latter considered equal to any in See also:Italy. See also:Augustus preferred Raetian wine to any other. Considerable See also:trade was also carried on in See also:pitch, See also:honey, See also:wax and See also:cheese. Little is known of the origin or See also:history of the Raetians, who are described as one of the most powerful and warlike of.the Alpine tribes. It is distinctly stated by See also:Livy (v. 33) that they were of See also:Etruscan origin (a view favoured by See also:Niebuhr and See also:Mommsen). A tradition reported by See also:Justin (xx. s) and See also:Pliny (Nat. Hist. iii. 24, 133) affirmed that they were a portion of that See also:people who had settled in the plains of the Po and were driven into the mountains by the invading Gauls, when they assumed the name of Raetians from their See also:leader Raetus; a more probable derivation, however, is from See also:Celtic See also:Tait, " See also:mountain land." Even if their Etruscan origin be accepted, at the See also:time when the land became known to the See also:Romans, Celtic tribes were already in See also:possession of it and had amalgamated so completely with the See also:original inhabitants that, generally speaking, the Raetians of later times may be regarded as a Celtic people, although non-Celtic tribes (Lepontii, Euganei) were settled among them. The Raetians are first mentioned (but only incidentally) by See also:Polybius (xxxiv. 1o, 18), and little is heard of them till after the end of the See also:Republic. There is little doubt, however, that they retained their See also:independence until their subjugation in 15 B.C. by Tiberius and See also:Drusus (cf. See also:Horace, Odes, iv. 4 and 14). At first Raetia formed a distinct province, but towards the end of the 1st See also:century A.D. Vindelicia was added to it; hence See also:Tacitus (Germania, 41) could speak of See also:Augusta Vindelicorum (See also:Augsburg) as " a See also:colony of the province of Raetia." The whole province (including Vindelicia) was at first under a military See also:prefect, then under a See also:procurator; it had no See also:standing See also:army quartered in it, but relied on its own native troops and See also:militia for See also:protection. In the reign of See also:Marcus Aurelius it was governed by the See also:commander of the Legio iii. Italica. Under See also:Diocletian it formed part of the See also:diocese of the vicarius Italiae, and was subdivided into Raetia prima and secunda (each under a praeses), the former corresponding to the old Raetia, the latter to Vindelicia. The boundary between them is not clearly defined, but may- be stated generally as a See also:line See also:drawn eastwards from the lacus Brigantinus (See also:Lake of See also:Constance) to the See also:river Genus (See also:Inn). During the last years of the Western Empire, the land was in a desolate See also:condition, but its occupation by the See also:Ostrogoths in the time of See also:Theodoric, who placed it under a See also:dux, to some extent revived its prosperity. The See also:chief towns of Raetia (excluding Vindelicia) were Tridentum (See also:Trent) and See also:Curia (See also:Coire or Chur). It was traversed by two See also:great lines of Roman roads—one leading from See also:Verona and Tridentum across the See also:Brenner (in which the name of the Brenni has survived) to Oenipons (See also:Innsbruck) and thence to Augusta Vindelicorum'; the other from Brigantium (See also:Bregenz) on Lake Constance, by Coire and See also:Chiavenna to See also:Como and See also:Milan.
See P. C. Planta, Das alte Ratien (See also:Berlin, 1872) ; T. Mommsen in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, iii. p. 706; J. See also:Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, i. (2nd ed., 1881) p. 288; L. Steub, fiber See also:die Urbewohner Ratiens and ihren Zusammenhang mit den Etruskern (See also:Munich, 1843); J. See also:Jung, Romer and Romanen in den Donauldndern (Innsbruck, 1877) ; See also: Mommsen, The Roman Provinces (Eng. trans., 1886), i. pp. 16, 161, 196; See also:Mary B. Peaks, The See also:General See also:Civil and Military See also:Administration of Noricum and Raetia (See also:Chicago, 1907). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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