Ubii
The
Ubii were a
Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the right bank of the
Rhine in the time of
Julius Caesar, who formed an alliance with them in
55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river. They were transported in
39 BC by
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to the left bank. This was apparently at their own request, as they feared the incursions of the
Suebi. Agrippa founded the city of
Cologne as their capital, whose Latin name
Colonia Agrippensis is the origin of the current form. The Ubii remained loyal allies of Rome, and were instrumental in crushing the
Batavian revolt in
70. They seem to have been so thoroughly Romanised that they adopted the name
Agrippenses in honour of their “founder”, and their later history is submerged in that of eastern
Gaul as a whole.