The Lugii are first mentioned in
Strabo's
Geographica. He writes that the Lugians were "a great people" and—together with other peoples like
Semnones,
Lombards and the otherwise unknown Zumi, Butones, Mugilones and Sibini—were part of a federation subjected to the rule of
Maroboduus, ruler of the
Marcomanni with their centre in modern
Bohemia 9 BC–19 AD. In 19 AD Maroboduus was overthrown with the help of
Arminius of the
Cherusci. The next mention of Lugii are the times of the Roman emperor
Claudius (41–54). According to
Tacitus's
Annales, in 50 'a great multitude' of Lugians and
Hermunduri, led by the Hermundurian
Vibilius, took part in the fall of
Vannius, who the Romans had imposed as a ruler to replace Maroboduus. In the book
Germania (43:3), Tacitus mentions the name
Vandilii as a "genuine and ancient name", but does not mention the Vandilii in the list of peoples at all. The 12th century
Chronica Polonorum by
Wincenty Kadlubek mentions the alliance between the Lugii and the Romans.
Ptolemy mentions the Lugi Omani (Λοῦγοι οἱ Ὀμανοί), the Lugi
Diduni (Λοῦγοι οἱ Διδοῦνοι) and the Lugi
Buri (Λοῦγοι οἱ Βοῦροι) located on or near the upper Vistula in Germania Magna in what is now south Poland (Book 2, Chapter 10, 4th map of Europe). Ptolemy does not mention the Vandals at all.
Herwig Wolfram notes that "In all likelihood the Lugians and the Vandals were one cultic community that lived in the same region of the Oder in Silesia, where it was first under Celtic and then under Germanic domination." ==Notes==