The Brigantii (

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, ...

: ''Brigantioi'', 'the eminent, high ones') were a Gallic tribe who lived southeast of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

(''Lacus Brigantinus''), in the area of present-day

Bregenz Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...

(''Brigantion''), in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

's state of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

, during the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

Name

They are mentioned as ''Brigántioi'' (Βριγάντιοι) 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)., s.v. ''Brigantii''. An identification with the '' Brixentes'', a tribe listed on the Tropaeum Alpium, has been proposed by Ernst Meyer. The ethnic name ''Brigantii'' is a Latinized form of

''Brigantioi''. It derives from the stem ''briganti''-, meaning 'high, elevated', which can be compared with the name of their chief town ''Brigantion'' ('eminence'; Latin ''Brigantium''), also attested in other toponyms at the origin of the modern ''

Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...

'', ''Brégançon'' and '' Briantes''. The same stem can also be found in name of the Celtic goddess ''Brigantia''.

Geography

The Brigantii lived southeast of

(''Lacus Brigantinus''), in

Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...

. Their territory was located north of the Vennones, west of the Estiones, east of the Lentienses., Map 19: Raetia. Their chief town was known as Brigantium ('high place'; modern

). The settlement was located on the northeastern bay of Lake Constance, at an intersection of important east–west and north–south traffic routes. Late La Tène finds from the Ölrain plateau suggest the existence of a pre-Roman

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 ...

Name

Geography

References

Primary sources

Bibliography