The Silvanectes (or Sulbanectes) were a small Belgic tribe dwelling around present-day Senlis ( Oise) during the Roman period.
They are mentioned as Ulmanectes by Pliny (1st c. AD), [1] as Soubánektoi (Σουβάνεκτοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), [2] and as Siluanectas in the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD). [3] [4]
The Silvanectes are also attested under the name Sulbanectes in an inscription, [5] and their capital was mentioned as civitas Sulbanectium in 48 AD. [6]
The etymology of the ethnonym remains unclear. It could be a Latinized form of Gaulish *Seluanecti (from seluā- 'possession, property' > 'herd'; cf. Old Irish selb 'property, possession', Welsh ar helw 'in possession of'), corrupted under the influence of Latin silva ('forest'). [7] A comparison with Old Irish sulbair ('eloquent') has also been proposed. [6]
The city of Senlis, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Silvanectum (' civitas of the Silvanectes', Sinleti in the 6th c., Senliz in 1211) is named after the Gallic tribe. [6]
The Silvanectes dwelled southwest of the Suessionnes, near the Meldi and the Bellovaci. [5] Their small territory, a depression surrounded by wooded heights, could be easily dominated by the more powerful Bellovaci, to which they were probably tributary. [5]