The Aneuniates (

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 Switzerl ...

: *''Aneuniatis'') were a small Gallic tribe dwelling near

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

, around present-day Samolaco, during 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 ''Aneuniates'' on an inscription dated to the 2nd century AD and found in Gera Lario. AE 1909:204., s.v. ''Aneuniates''. The ethnonym ''Aneuniates'' can be derived from the Gaulish ''aneun-'' ('inspired') attached to the suffix ''-ates'' ('belonging to'), although the etymology of the first element remains unclear.

Xavier Delamarre Xavier Delamarre (; born 5 June 1954) is a French linguist, lexicographer, and diplomat. He is regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on the Gaulish language. Since 2019, he has been an associate researcher for the CNRS-PSL AOrOc l ...

has proposed to posit a deity named *''Aneunos'' ('The Inspired'), with ''Aneuniates'' as 'those of *Aneunos'.

Geography

The Aneuniates dwelled on the northern shores of

, around the settlement of Summus Lacus (modern Samolaco). Their territory was located north of the

Ausuciates The Ausuciates (Gaulish: *''Ausuciatis'') were a small Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Ossuccio, on the western shore of Lake Como, during the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Ausuciatium'' on an inscription dated to the e ...

and

Orobii The Orobii (also Orobi, Oromobi or Orumbovii) were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling around present-day Como and Bergamo during the Iron Age. Name They are mentioned as ''Orobii'' by Cato the Elder (early 2nd century BC). The ethnic name ''Orobii ...

, and south of the

Bergalei The Bergalei were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the Val Bregaglia during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name The ethnic name ''Bergalei'' appears to derive from the Gaulish stem for 'mountain, mount', *''berga''-. It has been translated as the ...

., Map 19: Raetia.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul Ancient peoples of Italy {{society-stub