In his work "Germania" from around 98 AD, Tacitus writes that the Gotones (or Gothones) and the neighboring Rugii and Lemovii were "Germani" who carried round shields and short swords, and lived near the ocean, beyond the Vandals. He described them as "ruled by kings, a little more strictly than the other German tribes". In another notable work, the "Annals", Tacitus writes that the Gotones had assisted Catualda, a young Marcomannic exile, in overthrowing the rule of Maroboduus. Prior to this, it is probable that both the Gutones and Vandals had been subjects of the Marcomanni.