{{Short description|Gallic tribe}} thumb|279x279px|Rutenan drachma (2nd–1st c. BC). The '''Ruteni''' were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the southern part of the Massif Central, around present-day Rodez, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

== Name == They are named in Latin as ''Ruteni'' (<small>var.</small> ''roteni'' and ''Rutheni'') by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC);<ref>Caesar. ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'', 1:45:2.</ref> Pliny,<ref>Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia'', 4:109.</ref> and Lucan (both 1st c. AD),<ref>Lucanus. ''Pharsalia'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/lucan-civil_war/1928/pb_LCL220.33.xml 1:400].</ref> and in Greek as ''R̔outēnoì'' (Ῥουτηνοὶ; <small>var.</small> Ῥουταινοὶ) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD)<ref>Strabo. ''Geōgraphiká'', 4:2:2.</ref> and ''R̔outanoì'' (Ῥουτανοὶ) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).<ref>Ptolemy. ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', 2:7:12.</ref><ref name="Falileyev">{{Harvnb|Falileyev|2010}}, s.v. ''Ruteni'' and ''Civitas Rutenorum''.</ref>

The Celticity of the name remains uncertain.{{Sfn|Evans|1967|pp=466–467}}<ref name="Falileyev" /> It has been tentatively translated as 'the blond ones' by extrapolating from a description of the Roman poet Lucan ("The fair-haired Ruteni were freed from the garrison that long had held them").<ref>''An historical geography of France'' by Xavier de Planhol, Paul Claval p.10 [https://books.google.com/books?id=C19glZh7zfoC&pg=PA10]</ref>

The city of Rodez, attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Rutenorum'' ('civitas of the Ruteni'; ''in urbe Rutena'' in the 9th c., ''Rodes'' ca. 1183), and the region of Rouergue, attested as ''in pago Rodonico'' in 767 (''Rodengue'', ''Rodergue'' in 1150, ''Roengue'' ca. 1182), are named after the tribe.{{Sfn|Nègre|1990|p=156}}

== Geography == [[Image:Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png|thumb|A map of Gaul in the 1st century BCE, showing the relative positions of the Celtic tribes]] The Ruteni dwelled in the southern part of the Massif Central, in the later province of Rouergue, north of the river Tarn. Their territory was situated south of the Arverni, east of the Cadurci, west of the Gabali and north of the Volcae.{{Sfn|Kruta|2000|p=799}}{{Sfn|Demarolle|2006}} Because they were vassals of the Arveni, part of their territory was taken by the Romans after the defeat of the Arvenian king Bituitus in 121 BC.{{Sfn|Demarolle|2006}}

During the reign of Augustus, Segodunum (modern Rodez) became the main town of their ''civitas.''{{Sfn|Demarolle|2006}}

== History == In 121 BC, they fought along with the Arveni against Rome.{{Sfn|Kruta|2000|p=799}}

During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), they sent 12,000 men to the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC.{{Sfn|Demarolle|2006}}

== Economy == They were known as producers of lead.<ref>''Ancient Rome at Work: An Economic History of Rome from the Origins to the Empire'' by Paul Louis p.180 [https://books.google.com/books?id=vQmKI9ynHFMC&pg=PA180]</ref>

== Legacy == [[File:Petersfriedhof-Kat-Martyrer.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Latin memorial plate from 1521, that mentions king Odoacer as ''Rex Rhutenorum'' (Petersfriedhof, Salzburg)]]

During the Late Middle Ages, and the Early Modern Period, several claims were made regarding the ancient Ruteni. A memorial plate from 1521, that was placed in the catacombe Chapel of St Maximus in Petersfriedhof, the burial site of St Peter's Abbey in Salzburg (Austria), mentions Italian ruler Odoacer (476–493) as "King of Rhutenes" ({{langx|la|Rex Rhvtenorvm}}), and narrates the story of invasion of several peoples into Noricum in 477. Due to its very late date (1521) and several anachronistic elements, the content of that plate is considered as legendary.<ref>[https://www.stift-stpeter.at/de/kloster/index.asp?dat=Friedhof-Katakomben Friedhof und Katakomben im Stift St. Peter]</ref>{{sfn|Рыбалка|2020|pp=281–307}}

In spite of that, the same plate later became a popular "source" for several emerging theories, that were trying to connect Odoacer not only with ancient Celtic Ruthenes from Gaul, but also with later East Slavs, who were labeled by some medieval chroniclers as ''Ruthenians''. Thus, an entire strain of speculative theories was created, regarding the alleged connection between ancient Gallic Ruthenes, and later East Slavic "Ruthenians".{{sfn|Шелухин|1929|pp=20–27}} As noted by professor Paul R. Magocsi, those theories should be regarded as "inventive tales" of "creative" writers.{{sfn|Magocsi|2015|pp=50–51}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Bibliography == {{Refbegin|2}} * {{Cite book|last=Baret|first=Florian|chapter=The Roman Small Town’ in the Massif Central (civitates of the Arverni, Vellavii, Gabali, Ruteni, Cadurci and Lemovices): Methodology and Main Results|title=Regional Urban Systems in the Roman World, 150 BCE – 250 CE|year=2020|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=103–127|isbn=9789004414365|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HjEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103}} * {{Cite journal|last1=Coiffé|first1=Arnaud|last2=Gruat|first2=Philippe|last3=Izac-Imbert|first3=Lionel|last4=Vernhet|first4=Alain|title=Rodez (Segodunum) et Millau (Condatomagos) dans l'Aveyron: Deux exemples d'agglomérations gauloises chez les Rutènes|journal=Supplément à la Revue archéologique du centre de la France|year=2009|volume=35|pages=333–358|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/sracf_1159-7151_2009_act_35_1_1422}} * {{Cite journal|last=Demarolle|first=Jeanne-Marie|date=2006|title=Ruteni|journal=Brill's New Pauly|doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1025990}} * {{Cite book|last=Evans|first=D. Ellis|title=Gaulish Personal Names: A Study of Some Continental Celtic Formations|date=1967|publisher=Clarendon Press|oclc=468437906|author-link=Ellis Evans}} *{{Cite book|last=Falileyev|first=Alexander|title=Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World|publisher=CMCS|year=2010|isbn=978-0955718236}} * {{Cite book|last=Kruta|first=Venceslas|title=Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme|publisher=Robert Laffont|year=2000|isbn=2-221-05690-6|author-link=Venceslas Kruta}} * {{Cite book|last=Magocsi|first=Paul R.|author-link=Paul R. Magocsi|title=With Their Backs to the Mountains: A History of Carpathian Rus' and Carpatho-Rusyns|year=2015|location=Budapest-New York|publisher=Central European University Press|isbn=9786155053467|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nzj2DAAAQBAJ}} * {{Cite book|last=Nègre|first=Ernest|title=Toponymie générale de la France|year=1990|publisher=Librairie Droz|isbn=978-2-600-02883-7|author-link=Ernest Nègre}} * {{Cite journal|last=Рыбалка|first=Андрей А.|title=Сны аббата Килиана|journal=Novogardia: Международный журнал по истории и исторической географии Средневековой Руси|year=2020|volume=5|number=1|pages=281–307|url=http://www.novogardia.info/index.php/1k/article/download/194/187}} * {{Cite book|last=Шелухин|first=Сергій|title=Звідкіля походить Русь: Теорія кельтського походження Київської Русі з Франції|year=1929|location=Прага|url=https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Shelukhyn_Serhii/Zvidkilia_pokhodyt_Rus_Teoriia_keltskoho_pokhodzhennia_Kyivskoi_Rusi_z_Frantsii.pdf}} {{Refend}}

{{Gallic peoples}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Ruteni Category:Historical Celtic peoples Category:Gauls Category:Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul Category:Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars