Gaius Julius Vercondaridubnus (''

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

'' 1st century BCE) was a

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

of the ''

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

Aedui The Aedui or Haedui (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Aiduoi'', 'the Ardent'; ) were a Gauls, Gallic tribe dwelling in what is now the region of Burgundy during the La Tène culture, Iron Age and the Roman Empire, Roman period. The Aedui had an ambi ...

. He was the first high priest ('' sacerdos'') of the Altar of the Deified Caesar at

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Colonia (Roman), Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon, France, Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but cont ...

(modern

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France), which was inaugurated August 1 in either 12 or 10 BCE at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

and Rhone rivers. The dating of the inauguration to 12 would connect it to the year in which

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

assumed the office of pontifex maximus. The

Imperial cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult (religious practice), Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejor ...

at Lugdunum was the first and most important in the Western empire. It was established by

Drusus Drusus may refer to: * Gaius Livius Drusus (jurist), son of the Roman consul of 147 BC * Marcus Livius Drusus (consul) (155–108 BC), opponent of populist reformer Gaius Gracchus * Marcus Livius Drusus (reformer) (died 91 BC), whose assassinatio ...

, the stepson of Augustus, in the wake of a Gallic rebellion. Representatives from more than 60 Gallic nations attended. The date of August 1 seems to have been chosen to honor Augustus, being the

Kalends The calends or kalends () is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word. Use The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a new lunar pha ...

of the month newly renamed after him, and in the

Celtic calendar The Celtic calendar is a compilation of pre-Christian Celtic systems of timekeeping, including the Gaulish Coligny calendar, used by Celtic countries to define the beginning and length of the day, the week, the month, the seasons, quarter days, ...

also a significant date, later celebrated as

Lughnasadh Lughnasadh, Lughnasa or Lúnasa ( , ) is a Gaels, Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Traditionally, it is held on 1 August, or abo ...

. In addition to his priesthood of the

for the Three Gauls (''Tres Galliae''), Vercondaridubnus held

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...

. He also had a role in his

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Canad ...

deliberative body (''concilium''), which had legal power to negotiate with the Roman administration. Although the priesthood was an annual office, its holders would have held great influence thereafter. As the most notable men of the Three Gauls were invited to the inaugural ceremony, Vercondaridubnus would have been someone of great consequence to both Romans and Gauls in his province. The Aedui had been allies of Rome since the 120s BCE, with the relationship expressed formally as that of “brothers” (''fratres''), and in the 1st century AD produced the first

Roman senators The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Senat ...

from

Gallia Comata Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . According to Ju ...

. The name Gaius Julius Vercondaridubnus is a hybrid of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

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 ...

nomenclature. His Latin

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...

and nomen are markers of his citizenship; he may have assumed the name Gaius Julius in honour of

Gaius 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 a civil war. He ...

(as the ''

divus Julius The Roman imperial cult () identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority (''auctoritas'') of the Roman State. Its framework was based on Roman and Greek precedents, and was formulated during the e ...

'' of Imperial cult). His father, like other Gaii Julii of the Aedui, may even have been granted Roman citizenship directly by Caesar in the aftermath 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 ...

, since it was customary for naturalized citizens to take the gentilic name of their

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

. The Celtic

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

Vercondaridubnus has been interpreted as meaning “The Dark One of Great Wrath.” The

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

''ver-'' is

hierarchical A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an importan ...

(“above, highest, supreme”); ''con-'' (''com''-) is combinative (“with”) or

intensive In grammar, an intensive word form is one which denotes stronger, more forceful, or more concentrated action relative to the root on which the intensive is built. Intensives are usually lexical formations, but there may be a regular process for for ...

. The element ''dari-'' refers to a violent emotion such as

rage Rage may refer to: * Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger Games * Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game * Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell * ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first- ...

. ''Dubn-'' is a relatively common Celtic element meaning “dark, shadowy,” perhaps “hidden, secret” and hence “deep, profound”; as a noun, ''dubnos'' can mean “the Deep World,” i.e., the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

. Since Vercondaridubnus was a priest, this meaning of ''dubnos'' may apply. In the 1st century CE, the successors of Vercondaridubnus included Marcus Lucterius Sencianus of the Cadurces and Gaius Julius Rufus 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 ...

.C. Goudineau, "Gaul," in ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1996, reprinted 2004), p. 50
online.
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vercondaridubnus, Gaius Julius 1st-century BC Gallo-Roman people Aedui Vercondaridubnus, Gaius