Batavi (Germanic Tribe)

Batavi (Germanic Tribe)

The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe, originally part of the Chatti, that lived around the Rhine delta, in the area that the Romans called Batavia and that is currently the Netherlands, from the second half of the first century BC to the third century AD. The name is also applied to several military units employed by the Romans that were originally raised among the Batavi. The tribal name, probably a derivation from batawjō ("good island", from Germanic bat- "good, excellent" and awjō "island, land near water"), refers to the region's fertility, today known as the fruitbasket of the Netherlands (the Betuwe).

Finds of wooden tablets show that at least some were literate.