Velaunii

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The Velaunii or Velauni (Gaulish: *Uelaunoi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the western Alps during the Iron Age.

Contents

Name

They are mentioned as Velauni by Pliny (1st c. AD), [1] and probably as Οὐελαυνίους on an inscription. [2] [3]

The ethnonym Velaunī is a latinized form of Gaulish *Uelaunoi (sing. *Uelaunos). It may mean the 'chiefs, commandants', [4] or else be derived from the Indo-European root *wel- ('to see') attached to the suffix -auni (< *āmn-ī), also found in Ingauni and Ligauni . [5]

Geography

The Velaunii dwelled in the western Alps, [6] possibly in the valley of the Estéron, a tributary of the Var. [3] Their chief town may have been Brigantio (modern Briançonnet). Although no pre-Roman occupation has been found in archaeological records, the development of the Roman city suggests the presence of preexisting communities in the valley of the Estéron. [7]

History

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium. [6] [1]

A treaty of hospitality with a Greek city, possibly Massalia, was recorded by an inscription on a bronze hand dated to the 2nd–1st century BC. [6] [3] According to Guy Barruol, it may have been a laissez-passer for Greek caravan merchants on the Velaunian territory. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.
  2. 1 2 Barruol 1969, pp. 372–373.
  3. 1 2 3 Mullen 2013, pp. 161–162.
  4. ↑ Evans 1967, p. 276.
  5. ↑ Barruol 1969, p. 141.
  6. 1 2 3 Graßl 2006.
  7. ↑ Barruol 2004, p. 376.

Primary sources

  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674993648.

Bibliography

  • Barruol, Guy (1969). Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. E. de Boccard. OCLC   3279201.
  • Barruol, Guy (2004). "Briançonnet / Brigantio (Alpes-Maritimes)". Supplément à la Revue archéologique du centre de la France. 25 (1): 375–376. ISSN   1951-6207.
  • Evans, D. Ellis (1967). Gaulish Personal Names: A Study of Some Continental Celtic Formations. Clarendon Press. OCLC   468437906.
  • Graßl, Herbert (2006). "Velauni(i)". Brill's New Pauly. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1229250.
  • Mullen, Alex (2013). Southern Gaul and the Mediterranean : multilingualism and multiple identities in the Iron Age and Roman periods. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-107-34165-4.
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