The Carni (
Greek: Καρνίοι) were a tribe of the
Eastern Alps in
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
of
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
language and culture, settling in the mountains separating
Noricum
Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the nor ...
and
Venetia (roughly corresponding to the more modern Slovenia and
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...
).
History
They are usually considered a
Gaulish tribe
The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...
, although some associate them with the
Venetic
Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language, usually classified into the Italic subgroup, that was spoken by the Veneti people in ancient times in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli) and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po Delta and ...
peoples, a group closely related to but probably distinct from the
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
.
Their area of settlement isn't known with precision.
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
confines them to the mountains, while
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
assigns them two cities near the
Adriatic coast.
They are likely eponymous of the regions of
Carnia,
Carniola and
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...
.
[Sir William Smith (ed.), ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman geography'', Volume 1]
p. 522
/ref>
The first historical date related to the arrival of the Carni is 186 BCE, when some 50,000 Carni, composed of armed men, women and children, descended towards the plains (in which they previously used to winter) and on a hill they founded a stable defensive settlement, ''Akileja''.
Roman expansion
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
troops forced the Carni back into the Alps, destroyed their settlement, and founded a Roman defensive settlement at the northeast boundary. The new settlement was named Aquileia
Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river ...
, after the former Celtic name Akileja.
The triumvirs that founded that settlement were Publius Scipio Nasica, Caius Flaminius, and Lucius Manlius Acidinus.
In order to stem the Roman expansion and to acquire the fertile and more hospitable plains, the Carni tried to form alliances with the Histrian, the Iapydes
The Iapydes (or Iapodes, Japodes; el, Ἰάποδες) were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the Liburnians, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the Istrian peninsula. They occupied the interior of the country between th ...
, and the Taurisci Celts.
As Rome, in turn, was more and more becoming aware of the impending danger coming from the Carni and as it wanted to accelerate its own expansion, it sent to the north-east the legions of consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, who finally defeated the Carni in the battle of 15 November 115 BCE.
The Carni submitted to the Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
in the 2nd century BCE, accepting its commands and its concessions. They received then the permission to populate and colonize the plain between the Julian pre-Alps and the Livenza river they had already tried to occupy previously in conflict with both the Romans and Veneti.
In the meantime, Aquileia enlarged its importance. It became a Municipium
In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the priv ...
Romanum in 90 BCE. It was an important commercial and hand-craft production centre. Also it was the main port on the Adriatic sea and a garrison settlement.
In Late Antiquity, under the pressure of Germanic and Slavic peoples, the mountainous area populated by the Latinized Carni shrank gradually narrowing to Carnia and Friulian plains alone, and accepting migration contributions from Carniola, Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...
and from other areas of the Empire. The phenomenon probably stabilized under the Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
' domination of Friuli.
See also
* Ancient peoples of Italy
*
* Carnia
* Friuli
References
Bibliography
* Grassi, Niccolò: ''Notizie storiche della Provincia della Carnia'', Udine, fratelli Gallici alla Fontana, 1782, VIII+224 p.
* Kruta, Venceslas: ''I celti e il Mediterraneo'', Jaca Book, 2004, 78 p., ,
*Kruta, Venceslas: ''La grande storia dei celti. La nascita, l'affermazione e la decadenza'', Newton & Compton, 2003, 512 p., ,
*Kruta, Venceslas & Manfredi, Valerio M.: "I celti d'Italia", Mondadori, 2000 (Collana: Oscar storia), ,
*Violante, Antonio; introduzione di Venceslas Kruta: ''I Celti a sud delle Alpi'', (Silvana, Milano), 1993 (series: Popoli dell'Italia Antica), 137 p., ill., fot.; 32 cm;
{{Gallic peoples
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Ancient peoples of Italy
Ancient history of Slovenia
History of Carniola
Slovenia in the Roman era
Tribes conquered by Rome
Tribes conquered by the Roman Republic