Salassi

Last updated

The Salassi or Salasses were a Gallic or Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the Dora Baltea river, near present-day Aosta, Aosta Valley, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Contents

Name

They are mentioned as dià Salassō̃n (διὰ Σαλασσῶν) by Polybius (2nd c. BC) and Strabo (early 1st c. AD), [1] as Salassi by Livy (late 1st c. BC), [2] as Salassos by Pliny (1st c. AD), [3] as Salasíon (Σαλασίον) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), [4] as Salassoí (Σαλασσοί) by Appian (2nd c. AD). [5] [6]

The origin of the ethnic name Salassi remains unclear. If Celtic, it may derive from the root sal-, with various possible explanations regarding the word-formation. [6] According to Cato the Elder and Strabo, the Salassi were a Ligurian tribe. [7] [8]

Geography

The Salassi lived in the upper valley of the Dora Baltea river, where they controlled the Great and Little St Bernard passes in the Alps, collecting road tolls, and gold and iron mines. [9] [10] Their territory was located south of the Veragri, north of the Iemerii and Taurini, west of the Lepontii, Montunates and Votodrones, east of the Acitavones. [11] According to Cato, they were part of the Taurisci. [9]

History

They were subjugated by the Roman forces of Claudius in 143 BC. [9] The Roman Republic took over the rich gold deposits, and a colony was later planted in 100 BC at Eporedia (Ivrea) to take control of the Alpine route into the Po Valley and guard over the Salassi. [10]

Relations with the Romans were not uniformly peaceful; Strabo mentions that the Salassi robbed Julius Caesar's treasury and threw rocks on his legions on the grounds that they were making roads and building bridges. [12] There may have been a Roman campaign against the Salassi in 35 or 34 BC, launched from the valley of the Isère river under Antistius Vetus [13] or Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus. [14]

For their last decade of freedom the Salassi – alongside some other, mainly Alpine, tribes subjugated by 14 BC – were almost the only remaining groups not under Roman control in the Mediterranean basin. After the Battle of Actium in 31 BC the Roman world was united under one ruler, Augustus, who could concentrate Roman forces against remaining holdouts. [15]

They were definitively conquered by Aulus Terentius Varro Murena in 25 BC, and the colony of Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta) was founded in the following year with 3,000 settlers. [10] Strabo records that two thousand Salassi were killed and all the survivors, nearly 40,000 men, women, and children, were taken to Eporedia and sold into slavery. However, some remained; an inscription found near the west gate of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum is a dedication to Augustus dated 23 BC of a statue (?) by "the Salassi who had joined the colony from its beginning." [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taurini</span> Celto-Ligurian tribe

The Taurini were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the river Po, around present-day Turin, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Allobroges were a Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Oxybii or Oxubii were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Salyes or Salluvii were an ancient Celto-Ligurian people dwelling between the Durance river and the Greek colony of Massalia during the Iron Age. Although earlier writers called them 'Ligurian', Strabo used the denomination 'Celto-ligurian' in the early 1st century AD. A Celtic influence is noticeable in their religion, which centred on the cult of the tête coupée, as well as in the names of their towns and leaders. During the 2nd century BC, the Salyes were most likely at the head of a political and military confederation that united both Gallic and Ligurian tribes.

The Medulli were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper valley of Maurienne, around present-day Modane (Savoie), during the Iron Age and Roman period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambiani</span> Belgic tribe

The Ambiani were a Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in the modern Picardy region during the Iron Age and Roman periods.

The Seduni were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper Rhône valley, around present-day Sion, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Veragrī were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Martigny, in the Pennine Alps, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Nantuates or Nantuatae were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Massongex, in the modern Canton of Valais (Switzerland) and adjacent areas of France, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Ceutrones were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the Tarantaise Valley, in modern Savoie, during the Iron Age and Roman period.

Aulus Terentius Varro Murena was a Roman general and politician of the 1st century BC.

The Segusini were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Susa, in the Alpes Cottiae, during the Iron Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vindelici</span> Gallic people

The Vindelici were a Gallic people dwelling around present-day Augsburg (Bavaria) during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Segovellauni were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Drôme department, near the present-day city of Valence, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Ingauni were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast, around the modern city of Albenga (Liguria), during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Acitavones were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the Alps during the Iron Age.

The Vennones or Vennonetes were a Rhaetian tribe dwelling in the northern Alps, between Chur and Lake Constance, during the Iron Age and the Roman era.

The Ucennii,Ucenni or Iconii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the Romanche valley, in the Alps, during the Iron Age.

The Rucinates or Rucantii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in near the confluence of the Isar and Danube rivers during the Roman period.

The Licates were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the Lech river during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

References

  1. Polybius. Historíai, 34:10:18; Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:6:5.
  2. Livy. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, 5:35:2.
  3. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:134.
  4. Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 3:1:10.
  5. Appian. Illyr., 17.
  6. 1 2 Falileyev 2010, s.v. Salassi.
  7. Strabo, Geography , Book IV, Chapter 6
  8. Pliny, Natural History , Book 3, paragraph 20
  9. 1 2 3 Graßl 2006.
  10. 1 2 3 Salway & Potter 2016.
  11. Talbert 2000, Map 18: Augustonemetum-Vindonissa, Map 39: Mediolanum.
  12. Strabo Geography 4.6.7
  13. Rivet 1988, p. 78.
  14. Syme R. The Augustan Aristocracy. OUP 1989. pp 204-5
  15. 1 2 "Roman Italy in the North: II—-Aosta". The Nation . New York. 8 August 1907. Retrieved 22 April 2016.

Primary sources

  • Appian (2019). Roman History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by McGing, Brian. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674996472.
  • Livy (2019). History of Rome. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Yardley, J. C. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674992566.
  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674993648.
  • Polybius (2010). The Histories. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Paton, W. R.; Walbank, F. W.; Habicht, Christian. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-674-99637-3.
  • Strabo (1923). Geography. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Jones, Horace L. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674990562.

Bibliography