The Orobii (also Orobi, Oromobi or Orumbovii) were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling around present-day

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

and Bergamo during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

Name

They are mentioned as ''Orobii'' by

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor ( la, Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write his ...

(early 2nd century BC). The ethnic name ''Orobii'' appears to be of Celtic origin. It can be compared with the

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...

noun ''orbioi'' (sing. ''orbios''), meaning 'the heirs', with the feminine forms ''Orobia'' and ''Urbia'' (earlier *''Orbia''), the ancient names of the Orge river and , and with the i-stem ''Orobis'', now the Orb river. Some classical writers such as

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

thought that their name was of Greek origin, tracing the etymology from the Greek ''Orōn bion'' (Ορων βιον).

Geography

The Orobii dwelled between the modern cities of

and Bergamo. The

Sottoceneri The Sottoceneri (''under the Ceneri'', lombard: ''Sotascender'') is the part of the Swiss canton of Ticino that lies to the south of the Monte Ceneri Pass through the Lugano Prealps. It includes the Swiss shore of Lake Lugano, and the cities and ...

was part of their area of influence. Their territory was located north of the Gallianates, Bromanenses, and Anesiates, east of the Subinates and Ausuciates, west of the Gennanates, Trumplini and

Camunni The Camuni or Camunni were an ancient population located in Val Camonica during the Iron Age (1st millennium BC); the Latin name ''Camunni'' was attributed to them by the authors of the 1st century. They are also called ancient Camuni, to disti ...

, south of the Aneuniates.

History

Modern archaeologists and linguists see the Orobii as a population of Celticized

Ligures The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian regi ...

, or Celtic-Ligures, formed with the contribution of Celtic immigrants from the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

areas in an early historical period, before the Gallic invasions of the 4th century BC.

says they founded the cities of

, Bergamo, Licini Forum, and

Parra Parra (Hebrew language, Hebrew: ''גפן'') is a Spanish, Portuguese, and also Jewish surname, meaning grapevine or Trellis (architecture), trellis, for example, a pergola. It is taken from the word meaning latticework and the vines raised on it ...

, Naturalis Historia, III, 124-125.

Culture

Like the

Lepontii The Lepontii were an ancient Celtic people occupying portions of Rhaetia (in modern Switzerland and Northern Italy) in the Alps during the late Bronze Age/Iron Age. Recent archeological excavations and their association with the Golasecca culture ...

and

Insubres The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum (Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the r ...

, the Orobii are associated with the archaeological

Golasecca culture The Golasecca culture (9th - 4th century BC) was a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age culture in northern Italy, whose type-site was excavated at Golasecca in the province of Varese, Lombardy, where, in the area of Monsorino at the beginning of the ...

References

Bibliography