Alemanni, Or Alamanni. (Ger. all men), a confederacy of warlike German tribes, with whom the Romans first came into collision in the reign of Caracalla, They then dwelt on the Main, and subsequently spread toward the Danube, the Helvetian Alps, and across the Rhine into eastern Gaul. The Tencteri and Usipetes, who previously inhabited the territories of modern Westphalia, are supposed to have formed the nucleus of the confederation. Caracalla made an unsuccessful campaign against the Alemanni in 214, and boastfully assumed the surname Alemannicus. Alexander Severus and Maximin also fought against them, without impairing their growing power. During the joint reign of Valerian and his son Gallienus they crossed the Rhaetian Alps, invaded Cisalpine Gaul, and advanced as far as Ravenna, but were repulsed, and subsequently suffered greater defeats at the hands of the emperors Aurelinn and Probus. In the 4th century they made constant inroads into Gaul, but were chastised by Constantius Chlorus, Julian, Va-lentinian I., and Gratian; in spite of which, however, their power continued to increase.

They were at that period united with the Suevi, a kindred nation, with whom they gradually became more and more confounded, until both nations were subdued by the Franks under Clovis. The northern portions of the Aleman-nic territories remained a domain of the Frank-ish kings; the rest was afterward formed into a Germanic duchy of Alemannia, between the Alps, the Jura, the Vosges, the Neckar, and the Lech, the eastern part of which finally assumed the name of Swabia (Suevia). The Swabian dialect of the German language is known as the Alemannic.