The Bituriges Vivisci (

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, ...

: ''Biturīges Uiuisci'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling near modern-day

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

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 ...

. They had a homonym tribe, the Bituriges Cubi in the

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

region, which could indicate a common origin, although there is no direct of evidence of this.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Bitourígōn te tō͂n Ou̓iouískōn'' (Βιτουρίγων τε τῶν Οὐιουίσκων) by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

(early 1st c. AD), ''Bituriges liberi cognomine Vivisci'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Bitoúrges oi̔ Ou̓ibískoi'' (Βιτούργες οἱ Οὐιβίσκοι) 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). The

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 used ...

''Biturīges'' means 'kings of the world', or possibly 'perpetual kings'. It derives from the stem ''bitu-'' ('world', perhaps also 'perpetual'; cf. OIr. ''bith'' 'world, life, age', ''bith''- 'eternally',

Old Welsh Old Welsh () is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, ha ...

''bid'', OBret. ''bit'' 'world') attached to ''riges'' ('kings'; sing. ''rix''). Whether the meaning 'perpetual' was already associated with ''bitu''- in ancient Celtic languages or appeared later in Old Irish remains uncertain. In any case, the meaning 'world' probably emerged from the notion of 'living world, place of the livings', since 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 ...

stem *''bitu-'' derives from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

*''gʷiH-tu''-, meaning 'life' (cf. Lat. ''vīta'' 'life', OCS ''žiti'' 'to live').

Geography

The Bituriges Vivisci dwelled in the modern region, between the

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

(Garumna) river and the

Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Their territory was located west of the Petrocorii, south of the

Santones The Santoni or Santones () were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later region of Saintonge during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name These people are noted as ''Santonum'', ''Santonos'' and ''Santonis'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''Santó ...

, northwest of the Nitiobroges and

Cadurci The Cadurci were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later region of Quercy (in present-day France) during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Cadurcus'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''Kadou͂rkoi'' (Καδοῦρκοι) b ...

, and east of the smaller Medulli., Map 14: Caesarodunum-Burdigala. Their port (''emporium'') and chief town was Burdigala (

). Writing in the early 1st century AD,

describes them as the only Gallic tribe dwelling among the

Aquitani The Aquitani were a tribe that lived in the region between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Garonne, in present-day southwestern France in the 1st century BC. The Romans dubbed this region '' Gallia Aquitania''. Classical authors suc ...

, which suggests a relatively late coming to the region. According to historian Venceslas Kruta, they may have settled in their attested homeland as a result of the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland). Gauls, Gallic, Germanic peoples, Germanic, and Celtic Britons, Brittonic trib ...

(58–50 BC), for their presence is not mentioned 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 ...

References

Primary sources

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Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul Bordeaux

Name

Geography

See also

References

Primary sources

Bibliography