Little is known about the Tubantes. They are first mentioned in a description of the first expedition of Germanicus against the Marsi in 14 AD, when they, in coalition with the
Bructeri and
Usipetes, ambushed the Roman forces returning to their winter-quarters, probably somewhere in the
Münsterland. In 17 AD, the Tubantes are apparently referred to as the
Tubattii, in
Strabo's in a list of Germanic peoples defeated by Rome under
Germanicus. (The Usipii are known to have moved into the Rhine region around the time of Caesar (55 BC), but not yet to have found permanent settlement in that time, and to have been resident at the afore-mentioned northern bank of the Rhine by the time of
Drusus around 11 AD.) In 69 AD, they provided a
cohort during the
Batavian Revolt, which was destroyed by the
Ubii.
Claudius Ptolemy in his
Geographia (2.10) appears to describe a north to south series starting with the Chamavi "under" whom are the
Chatti and Tubanti, and then between these and the Sudetes mountains, thought to be the
Ore Mountains, the Teuriochaemae (an otherwise unknown name, but in the place previously inhabited by the
Hermanduri and later by the
Thuringii, with these three names often thought to be equivalent). But the position of the Chamavi and Tubantes so far to the southeast does not match other sources, and Chamavi also seem to be mentioned under another name in a more expected place, south of the coastal
Chauci, and north of the Bructeri, in between Ems and Weser. Confusingly, other tribes normally from the region of the Tubantes, the
Chattuari and
Chasuarii, are also described as if they are in southern Germany in this passage. Two third-century sacral inscriptions found near
Hadrian's Wall make mention of
Tuihanti serving in an auxiliary unit of the Roman army, the
Cuneus Frisiorum. "Mars Thingsus" is understood as referring to the Germanic God "
Tyr", who was often considered equivalent to Roman
Mars, and was associated with the Germanic traditions of assemblies called "
Things". Gallienus reigned solo from 260 to 268 AD, and during this period the document known as the
Laterculus Veronensis, which was made about 314 AD, notes that the Romans lost five
civitates (cities, and the countries around them) on the other side of the Rhine. The three which are legible are those of the
Usipii, Tubantes, and
Chattuari. In 308 AD the Tubantes joined the alliance against
Constantine the Great during his campaign against the
Bructeri. The name reappears as
Tuianti and
Tueanti in two acts from 797 and 799 AD concerning the donation of some farms in Twente and
Salland to the church of
Wichmond,
Gelderland. == Archaeology ==