The Euganei (fr. Lat. ''Euganei'', ''Euganeorum''; cf. Gr. ''εὐγενής'' (eugenēs) 'well-born') were a group of populations, difficult to define, settled in the flat and mountainous areas of

Northeast Italy Northeast Italy ( or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a Italian NUTS level 1 regions, first level NUTS region and a European ...

, between the

Eastern Alps The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Main chain of the Alps, Alpine divide, and down the Liro (Como), Liro River to Lake Como in the south. ...

and the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. With the arrival of the

Adriatic Veneti The Veneti (sometimes also referred to as Venetici, Ancient Veneti or Paleoveneti to distinguish them from the modern-day inhabitants of the Veneto region, called ''Veneti'' in Italian language, Italian) were an Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-Europea ...

they retreated to the Alpine valleys, blending in with the Rhaetians.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, referring to Cato, states that the Euganeans were divided into three lineages, the Triumpilini ( Val Trompia), the

Camunni The Camuni or Camunni were an ancient population located in Val Camonica during the Iron Age (1st millennium BC); the Latin name ''Camunni'' was attributed to them by the authors of the 1st century. They are also called ancient Camuni, to disting ...

(

Val Camonica Val Camonica or Valcamonica (), also Valle Camonica and anglicized as Camonica Valley, is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy, Italy. It extends about from the Tonale Pass to Corna Trentapassi, in the c ...

) and the Stoni.''Ibidem'', p. 32. All these populations were

Romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

before the beginning of the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...

History

It has been hypothesized that "Euganei" derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

εὐγενεῖς ("of noble lineage"), but a connection with Ingauni, a Ligurian population, is also possible. More likely, it is the term with which the Adriatic Venetians referred to a non-homogeneous group of tribes who, at the time of their arrival in

, occupied the vast area from

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

to Garda (or Oglio). According to what is reported by the well-known legend on the origins of the Adriatic Venetians (handed down from a tragedy by

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

and taken up by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

), it was the latter who drove out the Euganeans who, having retreated to the Alpine valleys, mixed with the Rhaetians; it cannot be ruled out, however, that "Reti" referred to the Euganeans themselves after this migration. Further pressured by the arrival of the

Gauls The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...

in the

5th century BC The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. This century saw the establishment of Pataliputra as a capital of the Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha Empire. This city would later become the ruling capital o ...

, the Euganean tribes maintained their independence until the end of the

2nd century BC The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, although depending on the region being studied, other terms may be more suitable. It is also considered to be ...

, when Quintus Marcius Rex and Marcus Aemilius Scaurus subjugated the Stoni to Rome; Camuni and Triumpilini were definitively subjugated by

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 ...

in 16 BC. The Euganeans willingly accepted Roman domination, as demonstrated by the monuments erected in honor of the Augustan dynasty and the existence of a ''

pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geograp ...

'' called ''Livius'' by

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was List of Roman and Byzantine empresses, Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption ...

. According to Pliny, referring to Cato, the Euganeans were distributed in 34 ''

oppida 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 ...

'' among which the "capital" ''Stoenos'', an alpine locality which is difficult to identify, stood out. Pliny himself recalls how

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

was a city of Rhaetian and Euganean origin.

Toponymy

The literature of the imperial era continued to use the term "Euganean" not as an ethnic one, but as a learned geographical name to indicate Northeast Italy, or as a synonym of '' Patavinus''. The expression " Euganean Hills", which indicates the group of reliefs located south-west of Padua, is instead an invention of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, while "Venezia Euganea", coined by the linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, is even later.

References

Bibliography

External links

Euganei
on

Treccani Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani ...

* {{usurped,
Livy, ''Ab urbe condita'', 1:1
}

History

Toponymy

References

Bibliography

External links

See also