Laevi

The Laevi were a Ligurian or Gallic ^[1] people living in Gallia Transpadana, in northern Italy. Together with the Marici, they founded the town of Ticinum (modern Pavia) on the river Ticinus.

Geography

An important centre of the Laevi can perhaps be hypothesised in the area of present-day Gropello Cairoli (in Lomellina). ^[2]

Their territory was likely located south of the Marici, if the Boii, in order to reach the territory of the Libui and devastate them during the Gallic Wars, had to cross their territory. ^[2]

The Laevi and Marici occupied a central position within a system of road and river communications, a location that would retain strategic importance for controlling central Transpadana for many centuries, especially with the development of Ticinum in Roman times. ^[3]

History

According to Livy, they joined Bellovesus' migrations towards Italy, together with the Aedui, Bituriges, Ambarri, Arverni, Aulerci, Carnutes and Senones. In conjunction with the Marici, they built the town of Ticinum (modern Pavia). ^[4]

We do not know whether the Laevi in the 6th-5th centuries BC represented a recognisable reality, or whether they were united with the Marici, traditionally referred to in bibliography as Latenians, while the Laevi are generally referred to as Ligurians. ^[2] Ermanno A. Aslan has proposed a location of the two peoples in distinct territorial areas in the 6th–5th centuries BC, with a Latenisation of the Laevi, located north of the Po, depending on their connections with the Marici, on the other side of the river. ^[5]

During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), the Laevi and Libui remained allies of the Romans, and for this reason their territory was devastated by the Boii. ^[6]

See also

• History of Cilavegna

References

1. Olshausen, Eckart, "Laevi", Brill's New Pauly, Brill, doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e628700
2. Arslan 2019, p. 289.
3. Arslan 2019, pp. 327–328.
4. Livius, Ab Urbe condita 5.34-35.3.
5. Arslan 2004, pp. 141–143.
6. Arslan 2019, p. 324.

Bibliography

• Arslan, Ermanno A. (2004). "La seconda età del Ferro in Lomellina". Ligures celeberrimi: la liguria interna nella seconda età del ferro. Istituto internazionale di studi liguri. pp. 141–157. ISBN   978-88-86796-14-9.
• Arslan, Ermanno A. (2019). "Laevi e Statielli, popoli celto-liguri cispadani tra Po e Ticino nel bacino del torrente Arquata: due casi di latenizzazione incompiuta". La chevauchée des Celtes: mélanges offerts à Venceslas Kruta. Yoran. ISBN   978-2-36747-068-9.