The Lexovii (

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, ...

: *''Lexsouioi'', 'the leaning, lame'), were a Gallic tribe dwelling immediately west of the mouth of the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, around present-day Lisieux, 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 period.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Lexovii'' (var. ''Lexobii'') and ''Lexovios'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''Lēxobíous'' (Ληξοβίους) and ''Lēxooúioi'' (Ληξοούιοι) 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), ''Lexovios'' (var. ''lexobios'', ''lixouios'') by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Lēxoubíōn'' (Ληξουβίων; var. Λειξουβίων) and ''Lēxoúbioi'' (Ληξούβιοι; var. Λιξούβιοι) 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. ''Lexovii.'' The ethnic name ''Lexovii'' is a latinized form of 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 ...

*''Lexsouioi'' (sing. ''Lexsouios''), which means 'leaning', possibly 'lame' (cf.

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

''losc'', 'lame'; Welsh ''llesg'', 'lame', 'crippled'). It is a derivative of the adjective *''leksu''- ('oblique'; cf. Greek λοξός). An exact parallel has been highlighted in the Welsh ''llechwedd'' ('slope'), itself derived from an earlier ''*lexsouíiā''. Given the semantic connotation of the name, ''Lexovii'' was probably an

exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

, meaning that it was given by outsiders to this tribe. The city of Lisieux, attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Lexoviorum'' ('

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 Lexovii', ''Loxovias'' in 614, ''Lisiue'' in 1024), and the region of Lieuvin, attested in the 6th c. as ''Luxoviensis'' (''pagus Lisvinus'' in 802, ''Liévin'' in 1155), are named after the Gallic tribe.

Geography

At the time of the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), the Lexovii were part of the ''civitates Aremoricae''. Their chief town was Noviomagus (modern Lisieux).

History

When the Veneti and their neighbours were preparing for

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 Caesar's civil wa ...

's attack (56 BC), they applied for help to the Osismii, Lexovii, Namnetes, and others. ('' B. G.'' iii. 9, 11.) Caesar sent Quintus Titurius Sabinus against the Unelli, Curiosolites, and Lexovii, to prevent their joining the Veneti. A few days after Sabinus reached the country of the Unelli, the Aulerci Eburovices and the Lexovii murdered their council or senate, as Caesar calls it, because they were against the war; and they joined Viridovix, the chief of the Unelli. The Gallic confederates were defeated by Sabinus, and compelled to surrender. (''B. G.'' iii. 17–19.) The Lexovii took part in the great rising of the Galli against Caesar (52 BC); but their force was only 3000 men. (''B. G.'' vii. 75.)

Religion

In Berthouville were found three coins engraved with the name of a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

god Mercurius Canatonnessis (''Mercurio Kanetonnessi, M rcurioC netonnessi Merc rioCan nnessi'). At the border of the civitas of the Lexovii and Viducasses, in Jort (ancient ''*Divo-ritum'', named after the ''* Diva'' river), was found a bronze stylus found carved with the name of the Celtic god

Toutatis Teutates (spelled variously Toutatis, Totatis, Totates) is a Celtic god attested in literary and epigraphic sources. His name, which is derived from a proto-Celtic word meaning "tribe", suggests he was a national god, tribal deity. The Roman po ...

(''Toutati'').

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars Lisieux