The Catalauni ( Gaulish: *Catu-uellaunoi 'war-chiefs') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the modern Champagne region during the Roman period. [1] The Catalauni probably belonged to a larger tribe, either the Remi in the north or the Lingones in the south. [2] The Catuvellauni, who migrated to southern Britain in the 1st century BC, are likely part of the same tribal group. [1]
Name
They are mentioned as Catalaunos by Eutropius (4th c. AD), [3] and as (Cat)alaunorum in the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD). [4] [5]
The ethnonym Catalauni is probably a latinized contracted form of Gaulish *Catu-uellaunoi ('war-chiefs, chiefs-of-war'), deriving from the stem catu- ('combat') attached to uellauni ('chiefs, commandants'). [2] [6] The name Catuvellauni, borne by a Celtic tribe of southern Britain, is thus likely related. [1] [7]
The city of Châlons-sur-Marne, attested in the 4th century as Durocatelaunos (Cathalaunum in 1185), is named after the Belgic tribe. [8]
Geography
They probably originally settled in the area of the Remi, within the modern Champagne region. [1]
Their chief town, known as civitas Catalaunorum (modern-day Châlons-sur-Marne), is not mentioned before the 4th century AD. [8] [1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Schön 2006.
- ^ a b Wightman 1985, p. 29.
- ^ Eutropius. Breviarium Historiae Romanae, 9:9:13.
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, oc XLII.68.
- ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Catalauni.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 311.
- ^ Busse 2006, pp. 197–198.
- ^ a b Nègre 1990, p. 153.
Bibliography
- Busse, Peter E. (2006). "Belgae". In Koch, John T. (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 195–200. ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0.
- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
- Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
- Nègre, Ernest (1990). Toponymie générale de la France. Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2-600-02883-7.
- Schön, Franz (2006). "Catalauni". Brill's New Pauly. doi: 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e228980.
- Wightman, Edith M. (1985). Gallia Belgica. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05297-0.
