CHASUARI
Eth.
CHASUARI (Eth.
Χαττουάριοι, Eth.
Κασουάριοι, Strab. p. 291;
Ptol. 2.11.22), or as Velleius (2.105) and Ammianus Marcellinus (
20.10) call them, ATTUARII, were a German tribe, which, to judge from its name, seems to have been connected with the Chatti.
According to Tacitus (
Germ. 34), they dwelt behind, that is, to the east of the Bructeri.
This statement, however, and still more the passage of Ptolemy, render it extremely difficult to determine to what part of Germany the Chasuari ought to be assigned. Latham places them in the country between the rivers
Ruhr, Lippe, and
Rhine; while others consider the Chasuari and the Chattuarii to be two different people.
The latter hypothesis, however, does not remove the difficulties. Notwithstanding the apparent affinity with the Chatti, the Chasuari never appear in alliance with them, but with the Cherusci, the enemies of the Chatti.
The most probable supposition as to the original abode of the Chasuari is that of Wilhelm (
German. p. 189, foll., who places them to the north of the Chatti, and to the west of the Chamavi and the river
Weser, a supposition which removes to some extent the difficulty of Ptolemy's account, who places them south of the Suevi (for we must read with all the MSS.
ὑπͅὸ τοὺς Σουήβους, instead of
ὑπέρ), and north-west of the Chatti, about the sources of the river
Ems. At a later period the same people appear in a different country, the neighbourhood of
Geldern, between the Rhine and the Meuse, where they formed part of the confederacy of the Franks. (Amm. Marc.
l.c.) In that district their name occurs even in the middle ages, in the
pagus Kattuariorum. (Comp. Wilhelm,
Germ. p. 181, foll.; Latham's
Tacit. Germ. Epileg. p. lxvii. &c.)
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L.S]
