Irminones
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Also referred to as Herminones, Hermiones, Elbe Germans (Irminonen, sometimes called Elb-Germanen in German), a Germanic proto-tribe or cultural group.
The name Irminones comes from Tacitus’s Germania (98 CE) who categorized them as one of the tribes of Mannus. Other West Germanic proto-tribes were the Ingvaeones and Istvaeones.
Pomponius Mela writes in his Description of the World (III.3.31) in reference to the Baltic Sea which he calls the Codanonian Bay:
- On the bay are the Cimbri and the Teutoni; farther on, the farthest people of Germany, the Hermiones.
Mela then begins to speak of the Scythians.
Pliny's Natural History (4.100) claims that the Irminones include the Suebi, Hermunduri, Chatti, and Cherusci.
In Nennius the name Mannus and his three sons appear in corrupted form, the ancestor of the Irminones appearing as Armenon. His sons here are Gothus, Valagothus/Balagothus, Cibidus, Burgundus, and Longobardus from whence come the Goths, Valagoths/Balagoths, Cibidi, Burgundians and Lombards.
They may have have differentiated into the tribes Alamanni, Hermunduri, Marcomanni, Quadi, Suebi) circa 10 CE. At this time the Suebi, Marcomanni and Quadi had moved southwest into the area of modern day Bavaria and Swabia. In 8 BCE, the Marcomanni and Quadi drove the Boii out of Bohemia.
The term Suebi is usually applied to all the groups that moved into this area, though later in history (ca. 200 CE) the term Alamanni (meaning "all-men") became more commonly appied to the group. This became the basis for the French name for Germany and the Germans.