The Tricasses were a Gallic tribe dwelling on the upper

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...

and the

Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),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 ...

. Until the first century AD, they were probably reckoned among the Senones.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Tricasses'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Trikásioi'' (Τρικάσιοι) by

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 ...

(2nd c. AD)., s.v. ''Tricasses''. 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 ...

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 ...

''Tricasses'' derives from the root for 'three', ''tri-''. The meaning of the second element ''-casses'', attested in other Gaulish ethnonyms such as ''

Bodiocasses The Bodiocasses or Baiocasses were an ancient Gallic tribe of the Roman period. They were a tribal division of the ''civitas'' of the Lexovii, in the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. Name They are mentioned as ''Bodiocasses'' by Pliny (1s ...

'', ''

Durocasses The Durocasses were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Dreux during the Roman period. Name They are mentioned ''Durocasis'' (var. ''durocacasis'') on the ''Itinerarium Antonini'' (early 3rd c. AD), as ''Durocassio'' on the '' Tabula P ...

'', '' Sucasses'', ''

Veliocasses The Veliocasses or Velocasses (Gaulish: *''Weliocassēs'') were a Belgic or Gallic tribe of the La Tène and Roman periods, dwelling in the south of modern Seine-Maritime and in the north of Eure. Name They are mentioned as ''Veliocasses'' by ...

'' or ''

Viducasses The Viducassēs (Gaulish: *''Uiducassēs/Widucassēs'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Calvados department during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Viducasses'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Bidouk ...

'', has been debated, but it probably signifies '(curly) hair, hairstyle' (cf. Old Irish ''chass'' 'curl'), perhaps referring to a particular warrior coiffure. The name ''Tricasses'' may thus be translated as 'the three-braided ones' or 'those of the three (many) curls'. The city of

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near ...

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

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 Tricasses'; ''Trecassis'' in the 7th c., ''Treci'' in 890, ''Troies'' in 1230), is named after the Gallic tribe.

Geography

The Tricasses dwelled near the Senones, the Parisii, the Meldi, the

Remi The Remi (Gaulish: ''Rēmi'', 'the first, the princes') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the Aisne, Vesle and Suippe river valleys during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their territory roughly corresponded the modern Marne and Ardennes and ...

and the

Lingones The Lingones (Gaulish: 'the jumpers') were a Gallic tribe of the Iron Age and Roman periods. They dwelled in the region surrounding the present-day city of Langres, between the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica. Name Attes ...

. From 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 ...

, ''Augustobona Tricassium'' (modern

) was the chief town of their ''

''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Gallic peoples Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul Troyes