Raetia

Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire located in the eastern Alpine region, corresponding to parts of present-day Switzerland, western Austria and southern Germany. The name derives from the Raeti, an Iron Age Alpine people, and the area was later incorporated into the Roman state as a frontier zone along the northern Danube. The province was established during Augustus' expansion in the late Republic, initially as Raetia et Vindelicia around 15 BC; in various periods it was administered as a single unit or as separate provinces, reflecting administrative reforms.

The provincial capital was Augusta Vindelicorum, modern Augsburg, and major settlements included castra and towns along the Via Claudia Augusta and other routes that linked Italy with Noricum and the Danube region. The landscape was predominantly Alpine and pre-Alpine, with mining, timber, and agriculture forming the basis of the economy, protected by a network of forts and roads. The population included the Raeti and Vindelici, peoples who gradually adopted Roman administration, law, and Latin language, while local languages persisted in inscriptional material.

Raetia remained a frontier province through much of the imperial period, serving as a link between Italy and the Danubian frontier and contributing troops to Roman campaigns in the region. With Late Antiquity, administrative reorganizations and external pressures led to the gradual loss of Roman control, and the territory eventually became part of successor kingdoms. In modern geography, Raetia is a historical term often associated with eastern Switzerland (Graubünden and nearby areas) and adjacent Alpine lands.