Ambiliati

The Ambiliati or Ambilatri were an ancient Gallic tribe living in the southern part of Armorica, near modern Cholet, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Name

They are attested as Ambiliati by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC). ^[1] They are probably the same as the Ambilatri mentioned by Pliny (1st c. AD). ^[2]

The Gaulish prefix ambi- in their name likely reflects a location on both sides of a river. ^[3]

Venceslas Kruta suggests to identify them to the Ambibarii, ^[4] although Julie Rémy notes there is no real evidence to support this proposal, apart from the fact that in both cases the names are associated with Armorican peoples. ^[5]

Geography

Location of the Ambiliati (Ambilatres) in Armorica

Caesar's account seems to imply that the Ambiliati lived near the coastline. ^[4] Pliny mentions the Ambilatri as living in Gallia Aquitania. ^[6]

Modern scholarship, following Pierre-Marie Duval and Jean Hiernard, generally identifies the Ambiliati and Ambilatri as a single tribe occupying both sides of the Sèvre Nantaise valley, particularly the Mauges and the Choletais regions. ^[3] Hiernard placed their territory west of the Pictones and south of the Loire river, a hypothesis supported by the presence of an equoranda-type toponym in Vendée and by the distribution patterns of Picton and Armorican coinage in the greater Poitou region. ^[6]

History

During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), the Ambiliati are listed among the Armorican allies of the Veneti against Caesar. ^{[6] [7]}

The circumstances and date of their attachment to the civitas of the Pictones remain uncertain. They may have been incorporated into Picton territory as early as the Augustan period, possibly as a reward for Picton support at the end of the Gallic Wars, or initially attached to the Andecavi and later separated from their civitas following the revolt of 21 AD. ^[3] In any case, this administrative boundary was significant in that it initially separated two Roman provinces (Gallia Aquitania and Gallia Lugdunensis) and, after the reform of Diocletianic Reforms, two dioceses (Dioecesis Galliarum and Dioecesis Viennensis). By at least the aftermath of the revolt of 21, it had detached the Mauges region (pagus Medalgicus) of the Ambiliati from the city of Iuliomagus (modern Angers). ^[3]

References

1. Caesar, III 9
2. Pliny, IV 108. For the identification of the Ambiliati and Ambilatri as a same tribe, see Pascal et al. 1992 , p. 112; Hiernard & Simon-Hiernard 1996 , p. 60 and Molin 2020 , p. 20.
3. Molin 2020, p. 20.
4. Kruta 2000, p. 408.
5. Rémy 2021, p. 32.
6. Pascal et al. 1992, p. 112.
7. Kruta 2000, p. 472.

Primary sources

• Caesar (1917). The Gallic War. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Edwards, H. J. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-674-99080-7.

Secondary sources

• Hiernard, Jean; Simon-Hiernard, Dominique (1996). Carte archéologique de la Gaule: 79. Deux-Sèvres. Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme. ISBN   978-2-87754-044-5.
• Kruta, Venceslas (2000). Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme. Robert Laffont. ISBN   2-221-05690-6.
• Molin, Michel (2020), Une cité de Gaule Romaine d'importance moyenne : les Andicaves, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
• Pascal, Jérôme; Pirault, Lionel; Deschamps, Stéphane; Guérin, Frédéric (1992). "Ratiatum (Rezé, Loire-Atlantique) : origines et développement de l'organisation urbaine". Revue Archéologique de l'Ouest. 9 (1): 111–127. doi:10.3406/rao.1992.985.
• Rémy, Julie (2021). Territoires et réseaux en Bretagne et Pays de la Loire à la fin de l’âge de Fer (IIIe-Ier siècles a.C.). Ausonius Éditions. doi:10.4000/books.ausonius.19828. ISBN   978-2-35613-593-3.