The Diablintes or Aulerci Diablites (also ''Diablintres'' or ''Diablindes'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the north of the modern

Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...

department during the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and the

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. They were part of the Aulerci.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Diablintes'' (var. ''Diablintres'', ''Diablindes'') by

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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. He ...

(mid-1st c. BC), ''Diablinti'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), ''Aúlírkioi hoi'' ''Diablítai'' or ''Diaultai'' (Αύλίρκιοι οἱ Διαβλίται/Διαυλται) by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

(2nd c. AD), and as ''Diablentas'' by

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

(early 5th c. AD). The meaning of the name 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 j ...

has proposed a connection with the

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...

root ''*dwēblo-'' ('double'; cf.

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

''díabul''), attached to an ''-e-nt-'' participial suffix, or perhaps to ''*anto-''/''*ento-'' ('face'; cf. Old Irish ''étan''; also Bret. ''Daou-dal'' 'two-faced'). The city of Jublains, attested ca. 400 as ''civitas Diablintum'' ('

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 Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...

of the Diablintes', ''Jublent'' ca. 1100) is named after the Gallic tribe.

Geography

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

(''B. G.'' iii. 9) mentions the Diablintes among the allies of the Veneti and other Armoric states whom Caesar attacked. The Diablintes are mentioned between the

Morini The Morini (Gaulish language, Gaulish: 'sea folk, sailors') were a Belgae, Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in the modern Pas-de-Calais, Pas de Calais region, around present-day Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the La Tène culture, Iron Age and the Roman ...

and

Menapii The Menapii were a Belgic tribe dwelling near the North Sea, around present-day Cassel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. History The Menapii were persistent opponents of Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, resisting until 54 BC. They ...

. The territory of the Diablintes seems to have been small, and it may have been included in that of the Cenomanni, or the former diocese of Mans. ( D'Anville, ''Notice, &c.''; Walekenaer, ''Géog., &c.'' vol. i. p. 387.) Their position can be calculated from Pliny's enumeration, Cariosvelites, Diablindi,

Rhedones The Redones or Riedones (Gaulish: ''Rēdones'', later ''Riedones'', 'chariot- or horse-drivers') were a Gauls, Gallic tribe dwelling in the eastern part of the Brittany, Brittany peninsula during the La Tène culture, Iron age and subsequent Roma ...

. The capital of the Diablintes, according to Ptolemy, was Noeodunum, probably the Nudium of the

Table Table may refer to: * Table (database), how the table data arrangement is used within the databases * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and column ...

. The Notitia of the Gallic provinces, which belongs to the beginning of the fifth century, mentions ''Civitas Diablintum'' among the cities of Lugdunensis Tertia. A document of the seventh century speaks of ''condita Diablintica'' as situated in ''Pago Cenomannico'' (about modern

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

), and thus one location of the Diablintes is clear. This document also helps explain why Ptolemy used the name ''Aulerci'' for both the Diablintes and Cenomanni. Another document of the seventh century speaks of ''oppidum Diablintes juxta ripam Araenae fiuvioli''; where the Arena (''araenae'') is recognised as the Aron, a tributary of the

. The small town of Jublains (or Jubleins), where

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

remains have been found, not far from the town of

to the southeast, is probably the site of the ''Civitas Diablintum'' and ''Noeodunum'' (also rendered ''Noiódounon;'' Νοιόδουνον). A wooden tablet found in London records the sale of one Fortunata, a Diablintian slave girl.''The Real Lives of Roman Britain'' Guy De la Bédoyère, Yale University Press, 2015, page 54.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul History of Mayenne

Name

Geography

See also

References

Bibliography