Varisci The Varisci ( German : " Varisker " ) were a Germanic tribe , the presumed prior inhabitants of a medieval district , " Provincia Variscorum " , the same ( in presumption ) as the Vogtland district of Saxony in Germany . They do not appear under that name exactly in ancient history , however , but rather come on stage boldly and abruptly in the Germania ( Chapter 42 ) of Tacitus as the Naristi , with manuscript variants of Narisci and Varisti . Perhaps the historical name of the mediaeval province is to be regarded as the final authority , but there are other possibilities : Tacitus describes the location of the Varisci as being along the line of the Danube between the Hermunduri at its source and the Marcomanni and Quadi in Bohemia . Ptolemy ( Book 2 , Chapter 10 ) adds that the Ouaristoi were south of the Sudeten Mountains and west of Gabreta Forest . The sources thus agree on their location . Tacitus says that they were allies of the Marcomanni and Quadi in their bold expulsion of the Celtic Boii from their ancient home . Very likely , then , all three allies were not from that region , but moved into it in the time of Julius Caesar ( in the 1st century BC ) . We do not know where they had been or what they had been called . One presumes that the Marcomanni ( " border men " ) took their name from being on the Danubian frontier . The Narisci are stated to be of the Suebi . That is all history tells us . Ptolemy states the names of some towns in the district , but what language they are or whether they were taken over or founded anew he does not say . The towns that might reasonably be interpreted as in the Variscan domain are Bicurgium , Menosgada , Marobudum , Setuacotum , Brodentia , Abilunum and Usbium on the Danube . History records the probable end of the Varisci without giving us anything in between . It was equally bold and sudden as the beginning . On or about the year 167 , all the peoples along the Danube , Germanic and other , suddenly attacked the Roman frontier in the reign of Marcus Aurelius . Perhaps they mistook goodness for weakness . He rushed to the defense of the realm and after a long series of episodes , called by us the Marcomannic Wars , because the Marcomanni had instigated and coordinated the attack , forced the enemy to terms . During the fight , the chief of the Naristi . . . Valao was killed by the Roman General Marcus Valerius Maximianus . The Marcomannic Wars are chronicled and explained in Marcellinus Ammianus , although the Varisci are not mentioned there . They do find brief mention as the Varistae of the " Vita Marci Antonini Philosophi " ( Chapter 22 ) of Julius Capitolinus . They were among the tribes who crossed the Danube , but are not mentioned after that , nor do they continue in their province , as the Armalausi inhabit it in the Peutinger Tables . The best guess as to their eventual fate is that they were transplanted to Italy , along with many other Danube - dwelling warrior peoples , by Marcus Aurelius , where he could watch over them . This kind of solution is familiar to us in modern times . Subsequent Germanic attacks overwhelmed and overran the empire . The Varisci probably lost their identity after the fall of the Roman Empire .