Editing Angles (tribe) (section)

==Greco-Roman historiography==

===Tacitus===
[[File:AngelnAngel.png|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Angeln in northern [[Schleswig-Holstein]].]]
[[File:Over Jerstal.png|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Possible locations of the Angles and Jutes before their migration to Britain]]

The earliest surviving mention of the Angles is in chapter 40 of Tacitus's ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' written around AD 98. [[Tacitus]] describes the "Anglii" as one of the more remote [[Suebi]]c tribes living beyond the Semnones and Langobardi, who lived near the lower [[Elbe]], and were better known to the Romans. He grouped the Angles with several other tribes in that region, the [[Reudigni]], [[Aviones]], [[Varini]], [[Eudoses]], [[Suarines]], and [[Nuithones]].<ref name=Tacitus>{{harvp|Tacitus|loc=[[s:la:De origine et situ Germanorum (Germania)#XL|Cap. XL]]}}</ref><ref name=CB>{{harvp|Church|Brodribb|1876|loc=[[s:Germany and Its Tribes#40|Ch.&nbsp;XL]]}}</ref> According to Tacitus, they were all living behind ramparts of rivers and woods, and therefore inaccessible to attack.<ref name=Tacitus /><ref name=CB />

He gives no precise indication of their geographical situation but states that, together with the six other tribes, they worshipped [[Nerthus]], or Mother Earth, whose sanctuary was located on "an island in the Ocean".{{sfnp|Chadwick|1911|pp=18–19}} The Eudoses are generally considered to be the [[Jutes]] and these names have been associated with localities in [[Jutland]] or on the Baltic coast. The coast contains sufficient estuaries, inlets, rivers, islands, swamps, and marshes to have been inaccessible to those not familiar with the terrain, such as the Romans, who considered it unknown and inaccessible.

The majority of scholars believe that the Anglii lived on the coasts of the [[Baltic Sea]], probably in the southern part of the Jutland peninsula. This view is based partly on Old English and Danish traditions regarding persons and events of the fourth century, and partly because striking affinities to the cult of Nerthus as described by Tacitus are to be found in pre-Christian [[Scandinavia]]n religion.{{sfnp|Chadwick|1911|pp=18–19}}

===Ptolemy===
Surviving versions of the work of [[Ptolemy]], who wrote around AD 150, in his ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'' (2.10), describe the Angles in a confusing manner. In one passage, the ''Sueboi Angeilloi'' (or ''Suevi Angili''), are described as living inland between the northern [[Rhine]] and central [[Elbe]], but apparently not touching either river, with the Suebic Langobardi on the Rhine to their west, and the Suebic Semnones on the Elbe stretching to their east, forming a band of Suebic peoples. This positioning of the Langobardi and Angli is unexpected, as are the positions of many of the peoples in this passage. The text is believed to result from the combining of different types of older texts. As pointed out by [[Gudmund Schütte]], the neighbouring Langobards appear in two places, and the ones near the Rhine appears to be there by mistake.<ref>Ptolemy, ''Geography'', [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171020085906/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/2/10/limited.html 2.10].</ref>{{sfnp|Schütte|1917|p=[https://archive.org/details/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich/page/34 34]|ps= See also pp. 119–120, & 125–127}} Schütte, in his analysis, believes that the Angles are placed correctly relative to the Langobardi to their west, but that these have been positioned in the wrong place. The Langobardi also appear in the expected position on the lower Elbe, and the Angles would be expected to their northeast, based upon Tacitus.{{sfnp|Schütte|1917|p=[https://archive.org/stream/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich#page/34/mode/2up/search/angles 34] & [https://archive.org/stream/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich#page/118/mode/2up/search/angles 118]}}

Another theory is that all or part of the Angles dwelt or moved among other coastal people, perhaps confederated up to the basin of the [[Saale]] (in the neighbourhood of the ancient canton of [[Unstruttal (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft)|Engilin]]) on the [[Unstrut]] valleys below the [[Kyffhäuserkreis]], from which region the ''Lex Anglorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum'' is believed by many to have come.{{sfnp|Chadwick|1911|pp=18–19}}<ref name="lex anglorum">{{Cite book|title=[[:la:s:Lex Anglorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum|Lex Anglorum et Werinorum hoc est Thuringorum]]|via=Vikifons|language=la}}</ref> The ethnic names of [[Frisii|Frisians]] and [[Warini|Warines]] are also attested in these Saxon districts.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

===Procopius===
An especially early reference to the Angli in Britain is by the 6th-century Byzantine historian [[Procopius]] (who however expressed doubts about the stories he had heard—apparently from Frankish diplomats—about events in the west). He does not mention the Saxons, but he states that an island called ''Brittia'' (which he says is separate and distinct from Britain itself) was settled by three nations, each ruled by its own king: the Angili, Frissones, and Brittones. Each nation was so prolific that it sent large numbers of individuals every year to the Franks, who <blockquote>allow them to settle in the part of their land which appears to be more deserted, and by this means they say [the Franks] are winning over the island. Thus it actually happened that not long ago the king of the Franks, in sending some of his intimates on an embassy to the Emperor [[Justinian]] in Byzantium, sent with them some of the Angili, thus seeking to establish his claim that this island was ruled by him.<ref>Procopius [https://archive.org/details/procopiuswitheng05procuoft/page/253/ book VIII, xx].</ref></blockquote> Procopius says that the Angles had recently sailed a large army of 400 ships from Brittia to Europe, to the Rhine, to enforce a marriage agreement with the [[Warini]] who he said were living north of the Franks at that time.