The Avatici (

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, 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, ...

: *''Auaticoi'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling near the Étang de Berre, between the mouth of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

river and Massilia (modern

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

), during 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 ...

Name

They are mentioned as ''Au̓atilō͂n'' (Αὐατιλῶν; var. Αὐατικῶν) 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 an ''oppidum'' ''Maritima Avaticorum'' is documented by Pliny (1st c. AD) and

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...

(mid-1st c. AD).

Geography

Territory

The Avatici dwelled near the Étang de Berre, southwest of the Saluvii, and possibly northwest of the Tricores., Map 15: Arelate-Massalia. Their territory stretched from the eastern part of the mouth of the

river to the west of Massilia, and from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

to the Crau in the north. According to historian Guy Barruol, they were part of the Saluvian confederation.

Settlements

Their chief town, located in the province of

Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in Occitania and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first ...

, was known as . The location of the settlement is not precisely indicated by the sources, but most scholars place it in modern

Martigues Martigues ( in classical norm, ''Lou Martegue'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte. A ...

, possibly at the site of Tholon, on the coast of the Étang de Berre. Ptolemy, and later the

Ravenna Cosmography The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' (, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a work describing the Ecumene, known world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. It consists of five books describing ...

, calls it a ''Colonia'', but this is likely an error since both Mela and Pliny (who used sources from the Augustan period) refer to the settlement as an

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

in the 1st century AD. The lands situated around the Étang de Berre were probably given to

Arelate Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of Provence. A large part of the ...

(

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

) by the Romans when their subjugated

Massalia Massalia (; ) was an ancient Greek colonisation, Greek colony (''apoikia'') on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, east of the Rhône. Settled by the Ionians from Phocaea in 600 BC, this ''apoikia'' grew up rapidly, and its population se ...

in 49 BC. Another oppidum was located at Mastromela or Mastramélē (Μαστραμέλη). It has been traditionally identified with the , although this has been criticized since the settlement is too far from the Étang de Berre (Stagnum Mastromela), after which it is named. Alternatively, archaeologist has proposed the , occupied from the mid-5th century BC until the end of the 2nd century BC, as the most probable location.

References

Primary sources

Bibliography

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