Lacringi

The Lacringi are a people who received brief mention in ancient history for their role in the border wars conducted by the peoples along the Danube against the emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Julius Capitolinus in his Life of Marcus Antoninus tells us (Chapter 22) that the Lacringes were part of the general invasion over the Danubian border. Cassius Dio (Epitome of Book 72, Chapter 11, 12), relates their fate after Marcus Aurelius fought the invaders to a stand-off.

They had been close allies with the Astingi. The latter crossed the Danube once more into Dacia for the purpose of petitioning the emperor for lands within the empire and were refused. Reasoning that if they could demonstrate they were a threat the emperor would buy them off, they began to plunder Dacia, a move which threatened their old allies, the Lacringi. The latter attacked them suddenly and defeated them, taking away most of their military capability, but the story has a happy ending: the emperor, moved by their destitution, granted them financial aid. He received the Lacringi as allies.

Nowhere in this brief mention are the Lacringi called "Germans." In Capitolinus, who lists the invading peoples in order downstream, they fall east of the Marcomanni and Quadi, next to the Sarmatians. However, the charming story of their volte face implies that they were located on the Dacian side of the river. They were, perhaps, Dacian allies of the Marcomanni, but their real ethnicity remains a blank.