The Adanates or Edenates were a small
Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day
Seyne, in the
Alpes Cottiae
The Alpes Cottiae (; English: 'Cottian Alps') were a small province of the Roman Empire founded in 63 AD by Emperor Nero. It was one of the three provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy, along with the Alpes Graiae et Poenin ...
, during the
Iron Age.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Edenates'' (
var. '-) by
Pliny (1st c. AD),
[ Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia'']
3:20
and as ''Adanatium'' on the
Arc of Susa.
[, s.v. ''Edenates''.]
The etymology of the name ''Adanates'' is unclear.
Guy Barruol has proposed to compare it with ''Adenatius'' (or ''Adenatis'') and ''Adana'', and postulated an original *''Senedenates'', with loss of the initial ''s-'' retained in ''Sedena''. According to Alexander Falileyev, "if the original form was indeed *''Sed-'', the name could be Celtic, from ''sedo-'' 'seat, location'; but in view of the form recorded in inscriptions, it is unlikely. If ''Eden-'' is the original form, the name does not appear Celtic."
has proposed to interpret the name as ''Ed-en-ati'' ('those from the land/country'), from a Gaulish stem ''edo-(n)-'' ('space, land').
Geography
The Adanates dwelled around the settlement of Sedena (modern
Seyne). Their territory was located south of the
Avantici, west of the
Savincates, east of the
Sebaginni, and north of the
Gallitae and
Eguiturii.
[, Map 17: Lugdunum.]
History
They are mentioned once in ancient texts by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the
Tropaeum Alpium.
They also appear on the
Arch of Susa, erected by
Cottius in 9–8 BC.
References
Primary sources
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Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul