The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Suebi or Suevi.

Scholars believe their name derives from one of two possible sources:
(1) old Germanic forms of "march" ("frontier") and "men"; or
(2) the name of a Roman captain, Marcus Romanus, who deserted Drusus' legions during his German campaign in ca. 13 BC and is thought to have banded together a ragtag group of Germanic tribes into a cohesive fighting force.

Drusus attacked the Marcomanni in 9 BC, forcing them into what is now Bohemia. There their king Maroboduus established a powerful kingdom that Augustus perceived as a threat to Rome. Before he could act, however, the war in Illyria" intervened. Eventually Maroboduus was deposed and exiled by Catualda (AD 19).
*Note: Illyria is the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, founded by the tribes and clans of Illyrians

The orange area shows one view of the extent of the Suebian tribes in 50 AD

Tacitus, in the first half of the 1st century mention in his Germany Book I, verse 42, the Marcommani as being under kings appointed by Rome.

In the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including the Quadi, Vandals, and Sarmatians, against the Roman Empire. This was probably driven by movements of larger tribes, like the Goths. According to the historian Eutropius, the forces of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius battled against the Marcomannic confederation for three years at the fortress of Carnuntum in Pannonia. Eutropius compared the war, and Marcus Aurelius' success against the Marcomanni and their allies, to the Punic Wars. The comparison was apt in that this war marked a turning point and had significant Roman defeats; it caused the death of two Praetorian Guard commanders. The war began in 166 and lasted until Marcus Aurelius' death in 180. It would prove to be only a limited success for Rome; the Danube river remained as the frontier of the Empire for its duration.

The Christianisation of the Marcomanni occurred under their queen Fritigil (mid fourth century), who corresponded with Ambrose of Milan to bring about the conversion.

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