The Brixentes or Brixenetes were a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Rhaetian The Rhaetian is the latest age (geology), age of the Triassic period (geology), Period (in geochronology) or the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Triassic system (stratigraphy), System (in chronostratigraphy). It was preceded by the N ...

tribe living in the Alps 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 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 ''Brixentes'' (var. ') by Pliny (1st c. AD), Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia''
3:20
and as ' () 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)., s.v. ''Brixenetes''. An identification with

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 ...

's '' Brigántioi'' (Βριγάντιοι) has been proposed by Ernst Meyer.Ernst Meyer: ''Die geschichtlichen Nachrichten über die Räter und ihre Wohnsitze''. In: ''Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte.'' Vol. 55, 1970, p. 119—125 The Celtic ethnic name ''Brixentes'' might derive from an earlier form *''brig-s-ant''-, built on the root ''brig-'' ('hill, hillfort')''.'' It has been translated as 'those living on hills/hillforts', or as 'those living in the area of *''Brigsa'''.

Geography

There is no scholarly consensus where in the Alps the Brixentes actually lived. Some scholars have pointed out that they are listed on the Tropaeum Alpium between the Calucones and the

Lepontii The Lepontii were an ancient Celtic people occupying portions of Rhaetia (in modern Switzerland and Northern Italy) in the Alps during the late Bronze Age/Iron Age. Recent archeological excavations and their association with the Golasecca cul ...

, which would make modern-day eastern Switzerland or western

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 ...

(in particular the area around

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 ...

) a possible location. This would further corroborate the corresponding information given by

about the ''Brigántioi'' and by Ptolemy about the ''Brixántai''. Drawing on the similarity of the place name, some scholars have located the Brixentes at the confluence of the

Eisack The Eisack (, ; ; or ) is a river in Northern Italy, the second largest river in South Tyrol. Its source is near the Brenner Pass, at an altitude of about 1990 m above sea level. The river draws water from an area of about 4,200 km2. After a ...

and Rienz rivers in modern-day

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

, near the modern city of

Brixen Brixen (; , ; or , ) is a town and communes of Italy, commune in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography Brixen is the third-largest city and oldest town in the province, with a population of nearly twenty-three t ...

,, Map 19: Raetia. which, according to this theory, could be reconstructed as *''Brigsa,'' or *''Brigsina''. This would place their territory south of the Isarci, west of the Saevates, east of the Venostes.

History

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium. According to the ancient geographer

, the Brixentes were a Rhaetian tribe.

. ''Geography'', 2:12:2.

References

Primary sources

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls