TOXANDRI
Eth. TOXANDRI These inhabitants of North Gallia are first mentioned by Pliny (4.17) in a passage which has been interpreted several ways. Pliny's Belgica is limited on the north by the Scaldis (Schelde). [GALLIA TRANS., Vol. I. p. 960.] Pliny says: “A Scaldi incolunt extera Toxandri pluribus nominibus. Deinde Menapii, Morini.” D'Anville and others explain “extera” to signify beyond the limits of the Schelde, that is, north and east of this boundary; and Cluver places the Toxandri in the islands of Zeeland. D'Anville supposes that they took a part of their territory from the Menapii, and that this newly acquired country was the Campen north of Brabant and the bishopric of Liège. This conjecture is supposed to be confirmed by the passage of Ammianus Marcellinus (17.8), in which he says that Julian marched against the Franci named Salii, who had dared to fix themselves on Roman ground “apud Toxiandriam locum.” The geographers who are best acquainted with the Netherlands fix Toxiandri locus at Tessender Lo, a small place in the Campen to the north of Brabant. Ukert (Gallien, p. 372) gives a different meaning to the word “extera.” He remarks that Pliny, describing the north coast of Europe (4.14), says: “Toto autem hoc mari ad Scaldim usque fluvium Germanicae accolunt gentes,” and he then enumerates the peoples as far as the Scaldis. Afterwards (100.17) he adds “a Scaldi incolunt,” &c.; and a few lines further, a word “introrsus” is opposed to this “extera” ; from which Ukert concludes that “extera” here means the coast country, a meaning which it has in two other passages of Pliny (2.67, 4.13). After describing the nations which occupy the “extera,” or coast, Pliny mentions the peoples in the interior, and in the third place the Germanic peoples on the Rhine. Accordingly Ukert concludes that we must look for the Toxandri in the neighbourhood of Ghent and Bruges.[G.L]