Little is known of the origin or history of the
Raetians, who appear in the records as one of the most powerful and warlike of the
Alpine tribes.
Livy states distinctly that they were of
Etruscan origin (a belief that was favored by
Niebuhr and
Mommsen). A tradition reported by
Justin and
Pliny the Elder affirmed that they were a portion of that 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 an
eponymous leader Raetus. Even if their Etruscan origin be accepted, at the time when the land became known to the Romans,
Celtic tribes were already in possession of much of it and had amalgamated so completely with the original inhabitants that, generally speaking, the Raetians of later times may be regarded as a Celtic people, although non-Celtic tribes (es.
Euganei) were settled among them. and little is heard of them till after the end of the
Republic. There is little doubt, however, that they retained their independence until their subjugation in 15 BC by
Tiberius and
Drusus. At first Raetia formed a distinct province, but towards the end of the 1st century AD Vindelicia was added to it; hence,
Tacitus (
Germania, 41) could speak of
Augusta Vindelicorum (
Augsburg) as "a
colony of the province of Raetia". The whole province (including Vindelicia) was at first under a military
prefect, then under a
procurator; it had no standing army quartered in it but relied on its own native troops and
militia for protection until the 2nd century AD. During the reign of
Marcus Aurelius, Raetia was governed by the commander of the
Legio III Italica, which was based in Castra Regina (
Regensburg) by 179 AD. Under
Diocletian, Raetia formed part of the
diocese of the
vicarius Italiae, and was subdivided into
Raetia prima, with a
praeses at Curia Raetorum (
Chur) and
Raetia secunda, with a
praeses at Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg), 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 line drawn eastwards from the
lacus Brigantinus (
Lake Constance) to the
Oenus (
River Inn). During the last years of the
Western Roman Empire, the land was in a desolate condition, but its occupation by the
Ostrogoths in the time of
Theodoric the Great, who placed it under a
dux, to some extent revived its prosperity. Much of
Raetia prima remained as a separate political unit,
Raetia Curiensis, for several centuries, until it was attached to the
Duchy of Swabia in AD 917. ==Economy==