Velaunii

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

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]

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