The Nitiobroges ( Gaulish: *Nitiobrogis, 'the indigenous') were a Gallic tribe dwelling on the middle Garonne river, around their chief town Aginnon (modern-day Agen), during Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as Nitiobroges (var. nitiobriges, iciobriges), Nitiobrogum and Nitiobrogibus (var. nit[h]iobrigibus, nithiobrogibus) by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), [1] Nitiobroges (var. antobroges) by Pliny (1st c. AD), [2] Nitióbriges (Νιτιόβριγες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), [3] and as Nisiobroges by Sidonius Apollinaris (5th c. AD). [4] [5] The name is also attested as Nitiobrogeis (νιτιοβρογεις) on an inscription written on a torc with the Greek alphabet, found in Mailly-le-Camp and dated to the mid-1st century BC. [6]
The ethnonym Nitiobroges is a latinized form of the Gaulish *Nitiobrogis (sing. Nitiobrox), which literally means 'those who have their own country/territory', that is to say the 'indigenous', presumably in opposition to their neighbours that were not. [7] [8] [9] It stems from the Celtic prefix nitio- ('from here, proper') attached to brogi-s ('territory, region, march'). The same stem is found in the personal name Nitio-genus ('son of the country'). Their name can be contrasted with that of the Allo-broges ('foreigners'), who lived further northeast between the Rhône and the Alps, and also be compared with the Old Welsh *Kom-brogi-s ('from the same country'), which is at the origin of the ethnonym Cymro ('Welsh'). [7] [9]
Geography
The Nitiobroges dwelled in the modern-day Lot-et-Garonne department. [10] Their territory was located south of the Bituriges Vivisci, west of the Cadurci and Ruteni, north of the Sotiates, Volcae Tectosages and the Ausci, and east the Vasates. [11] [12]
Their chief town was Aginnon (Lat. Aginnum; modern Agen), erected on the middle Garumna ( Garonne). [11]
History
The Nitiobroges settled in their attested homeland during the 4th century BC. [11] They participated in the Gallic coalition of Vercingetorix against Rome, providing 5,000 men led by the Nitiobrogian king Teutomatos at the Battle of Gergovia in 52 BC. [10]
References
- ^ Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 7:7:2, 7:31:5, 7:46:5, 7:75:3.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:109.
- ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:7:11.
- ^ Sidonius Apollinaris. Epistles 8:11:1.
- ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Nitiobroges.
- ^ a b Fages & Maurin 1991, p. 9.
- ^ a b Lambert 1994, p. 36.
- ^ Kruta 2000, p. 71.
- ^ a b Delamarre 2003, p. 91, 235.
- ^ a b Kruta 2000, p. 754.
- ^ a b c Lafond & Olshausen 2006.
- ^ Talbert 2000, Map 14: Caesarodunum-Burdigala, Map 25: Hispania Tarraconensis.
Bibliography
- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
- Fages, Brieuc; Maurin, Louis (1991). "Inscriptions latines d'Aquitaines Nitiobroges". Revue de l'Agenais. CXVIII (1).
- 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.
- Kruta, Venceslas (2000). Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme. Robert Laffont. ISBN 2-221-05690-6.
- Lafond, Yves; Olshausen, Eckart (2006). "Nitiobroges". Brill's New Pauly. doi: 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e823940.
- Lambert, Pierre-Yves (1994). La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies. Errance. ISBN 978-2-87772-089-2.
- Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.
