CAERESI
Eth.
CAERESI or
CAERAESI (Cerosi,
Oros. 6.7, Haverkamp's note), a people mentioned by Caesar (
Caes. Gal. 2.4) with the Condrusi, Eburones, and Paenani, and he calls them Germans.
The position of the Caeresi can only be conjectured.
There is a river
Chiers, which rises in
Luxembourg, and flows into the
Maas between
Mouzon and
Sedan; and it is conjectured by D'Anville that this river may indicate the position of the Caeresi. The Condrusi were in
Condroz, in the territory of
Liège. Walckenaer places the Caeresi in the
Carolgau, the
Pays de Caros of the middle ages, between
Bullange, Kerpen, and
Pruyen. Kerpen is on the
Erfft, which joins the
Rhine on the left bank, below
Cologne, near
Neuss. He adds, “they are thus situated near the Condrusi and the Eburones, as the text of Caesar requires;” an argument that is not worth much, for Caesar is not very particular about his order of enumeration in such a case as this.
The exact site of these people must remain doubtful.
[
G.L]
