Veneni

The Veneni were a Ligurian tribe dwelling in the Varaita Valley during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as Veneni by Pliny (1st c. AD). ^[1]

The ethnic name Veneni has been compared with the Indo-European stem uen- ('clan, family'). This interpretation depends on phonetic details that cannot be securely established, such as the quantity of the second -e-. According to Jean Loicq, if the name should be read instead as Venenni, by analogy with the neighbouring Vagienni listed by Pliny, the formation could be "palaeo-Ligurian". ^[2]

Geography

Their territory has been identified with the Varaita Valley, a right-bank tributary of the Po river in Piedmont, slightly south of Cuneo. ^{[3] [4]}

References

1. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:47.
2. Loicq 2003, p. 158.
3. Racke 1955.
4. Barruol 1969, p. 345.

Primary sources

• Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN   9780674993648.

Bibliography

• Barruol, Guy (1969). Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. E. de Boccard. OCLC   3279201.
• Loicq, Jean (2003). "Sur les peuples de nom « vénète » ou assimilé dans l'Occident européen". Études celtiques. 35 (1): 133–165. doi:10.3406/ecelt.2003.2153.
• Racke, G. (1955). "Veneni". Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Vol. VIII A.