A leading Suebian people located between the Elbe, Spree, and Havel rivers (between modern Magdeburg and Berlin), regarded by Tacitus as the oldest and noblest of the Suebi. Augustus's Res Gestae records the Semnones, alongside the Cimbri and Charydes, sending envoys seeking Rome's friendship after his fleet reached the Danish coast.
Continued as a recognized Suebian people through the 2nd century AD per Ptolemy's geography; later history merges into the broader Suebian/Alamannic sphere.
Tacitus's Germania (c. 98 AD) singles out the Semnones as the leading and most ancient Suebian people.