Hessen

Equating the medieval and modern Hessen with Tacitus's Chatti involves three phonological problems. The latter presumably represents Germanic *Xatto:z, which has the wrong declension, the wrong internal consonantism, and nothing to umlaut the /a/. If Tacitus had actually known about any ancient Hessen, and their name was native, his term should have been *Chationes.

Modern <Kassel> apparently continues Latin <castellum> 'fortress'. The local development -st- > -ss- suggests that <Hessen> could similarly continue Lat. *hastio:ne:s 'spear-men', from <hasta> 'spear'. A parallel Gmc. borrowing is seen in Old English <cempa> 'soldier, warrior' from Lat. <campio:> '(battle)field-man', in turn from <campus> 'field'.

Kassel, of course, is well beyond the Rhine. What I propose is that Roman colonization was under way in Augustan times, and a fortress was established there. Local warriors were hired as elite guards for the Roman officials in the area, and were known as *Hastio:ne:s, since they carried spears. Then Arminius's attack changed everything, and Augustus in panic ordered the withdrawal of Romans from farther Germany. But the *Hastio:ne:s remained in a privileged position among the native military, and quickly established themselves as the ruling class of the Kassel area after the Romans left.

When the Hessen appear in records of the eighth century (Hessiones, Hessii, Hassii, Hassi), they inhabit only the Hessengau proper (Hessigouui, Hassia). The later expansion of the Hessian name to the much larger area of modern Hesse is the result of dynastic politics, as pointed out by W. Braune, "Germanisches <ss> und die <Hessen>" (IF 4:341-51, 1894). That is, the original Hessen occupied only a small part of the territory of the ancient Chatti, which poses a fourth problem for anyone trying to equate the names.

DGK