Curiosolites coinage 5th 1st century BCE

The Coriosolites or Curiosolitae were a Gallic people dwelling on the northern coast of present-day

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

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 mostly ...

and the

Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

Name

They are mentioned as ''Coriosolitas'' (var. ''coriosolitos'', ''curiosolitas'', ''curiosolitas'') and ''Coriosolites'' (var. ''coriosultes'', ''coricoriosuelites'', ''cariosu''-) by

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

(mid-1st c. BC), and as ''Coriosvelites'' by

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

(1st c. AD).

. ''Naturalis Historia,'' 4:18., s.v. ''Coriosolites''. The etymology of the

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and us ...

''Coriosolites'' remains uncertain. The first element is certainly 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 ...

root ''corio-'' ('army, troop'), derived from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo ...

*''

kóryos The ''kóryos'' (Proto-Indo-European: "army, people under arms" or "detachment, war party") refers to the theoretical Proto-Indo-European brotherhood of warriors in which unmarried young males served for several years, as a rite of passage into ma ...

'' ('army, people under arms'). However, the meaning of the second element is unclear.

Pierre-Yves Lambert Pierre-Yves Lambert (born 30 May 1949) is a French linguist and scholar of Celtic studies. He is a researcher at the CNRS and a lecturer at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Celtic linguistics and philology. Lambert is the director of the ...

has proposed to interpret ''corio-solit-es'' as 'those who purchase (or sell) mercenaries', by positing a Gaulish root ''solitu-'' ('purchase/salary of mercenaries'; cf. Gaul. ''soldurio-'' < 'body-guard, loyal, devoted', OBret. ''solt'' '

solidus Solidus (Latin for "solid") may refer to: * Solidus (coin), a Roman coin of nearly solid gold * Solidus (punctuation), or slash, a punctuation mark * Solidus (chemistry), the line on a phase diagram below which a substance is completely solid * ...

'). Alternatively, a connection with the Gaulish root ''sūli-'' ('

ood The Ood are an alien species with telepathic abilities from the long-running science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future (circa 42nd century). The Ood are portrayed as a slave race, natural ...

sight'; cf. OIr. ''súil'', 'sight', Britt. ''

Sulis In the localised Celtic polytheism practised in Great Britain, Sulis was a deity worshiped at the thermal spring of Bath (now in Somerset). She was worshiped by the Romano-British as Sulis Minerva, whose votive objects and inscribed lead tabl ...

'') has also been conjectured, with ''corio-soli-tes'' as the 'troop-watchers', 'those who watch over the troop'. The city of

Corseul Corseul (; ; Gallo: ''Corsoeut'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. The town was a major Roman town and contains Roman ruins. The town hall contains a small archaeological museum. History Corseul ...

, attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Coriosolitum'' ('

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

of the Curiosolites', ''Aecclesia Corsult'' ca. 869, ''Corsout'' in 1288) is named after the Gallic tribe.

Geography

Territory

The Coriosolites are mentioned by Caesar together with the Veneti,

Unelli The Venellī or Unellī (Gaulish: *''Uenellī/Wenellī'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling on the Cotentin peninsula, in the northwest of modern Normandy, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. In 57 BC, they capitulated to Caesar's legate Publi ...

Osismi The Osismii, Ossismii, or Ostimii (also Ossismi, Osismi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the western part of the Armorican Peninsula (modern Brittany) during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Etymology They are mentioned as ''Osismos'' and ...

, and others that Caesar calls ''maritimae civitates'', "maritime cities" which border on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. In another place he describes the position of the Coriosolites on the ocean in the same terms, and includes them among the Armoric states, a name equivalent to ''maritimae''.Caesar, ''B. G.'' vii. 75.

mentions them with the Unelli,

Diablindi The Diablintes or Aulerci Diablites (also ''Diablintres'' or ''Diablindes'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the north of the modern Mayenne department during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were part of the Aulerci. Name They are menti ...

, and

Rhedones The Redones or Riedones (Gaulish: ''Rēdones'', later ''Riedones'', 'chariot- or horse-drivers') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the eastern part of the Armorican peninsula (modern Brittany), around their chief town Condate (modern Rennes), duri ...

Settlements

The ancient settlement of Corseul was most likely established ''

ex nihilo (Latin for "creation out of nothing") is the doctrine that matter is not eternal but had to be created by some divine creative act. It is a theistic answer to the question of how the universe comes to exist. It is in contrast to ''Ex nihilo ...

'' by the Roman authorities during the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, as the capital of the ''

'' Coriosolitum. The town is generally identified with the settlement of ''Fanum Martis'' ('temple of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

') mentioned on the ''

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

'' (5th c. AD). Due to the lack of early

epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

record, however, the original Gaulish name of the town remains unknown. Corseul reached at size of 47ha in the first centuries of the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

. Around 340 AD, the capital of the ''civitas'' was moved to Aleth (

Saint-Servan Saint-Servan (often abbreviated as St. Servan; br, Sant-Servan) is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of Saint-Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants. History In June 1758, during the Seven Y ...

), situated on the coast.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul Curiosolitae History of Brittany