Tulingi
The Tulingi were a Germanic and/or a Belgic tribe located in between modern day Strasbourg, France and Heidelberg, Germany. They were neighboured to the South by the Latobrigi, a Celtic tribe, with whom the Tulingi were in an alliance. In the North they were neighboured by the Marcomanni.
Their origin is not yet fully known. They might have been completely Germanic in origin and settled in these lands around 100AD but they could also be Belgic in origin and adopted the Germanic culture or were taken over by force. They could also be a mix of both.
Their name might come from the Proto-Germanic word Tulguz, which means 'steadfast'. The ingi' suffix you see often in tribe names, means 'to belong' so Tulingi could possibly mean 'the firmly/steadfast people.
Sadly barely anything is known about this tribe. The only written evidence we have about the Tulingi comes from Julius Caesar in his work 'Bello Gallico'. He described the Tulingi as a migrating tribe. Caesar managed to drive away these migrating tribes in 58BC which resulted in the battle between the Romans and the Suebi about which I wrote a post before.
Ceasar however also fought the battle of Bibracte in 58BC between six of his legions and the Celtic tribe of Helvetii, the Helvetii were supported by the Boii, Rauraci and the Tulingi tribes. This battle led to a huge disaster for the Celts, losing around 238,000 people according to Caesar. The Tulingi fought with 36,000 men in this battle.
The beaten tribes were forced back into their homelands, including the Tulingi and that is sadly all we know about this tribe. The debate whether they were Germanic is still on. Why would they ally themselves with the Celts instead of the invading Germanics during Caesar's campaign?
Here is a map that shows the location of the tribe and a painting by Karl Jauslin that shows the parley after the battle of Bibracte.
