The Licates (
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient 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, most of Switzerl ...
: *''Licatis'' 'those of the Licca' or 'those of the rock') were a
Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the
Lech river during the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
and the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Likátioi'' (Λικάτιοι;
var. -ττ-) by
Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as ''Licates'' by
Pliny (1st c. AD),
[ Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia'']
3:20
and as ''Likátoi'' (Λικάτοι) by
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...
(2nd c. AD).
[, s.v. ''Licates''.]
The ethnic name ''Licates'' has been traditionally compared to the river name ''Licca'' (modern
Lech), and translated as 'those of the Licca'. According to
Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel
Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel (born 5 April 1953) is an Italian philologist, linguist and scholar of Celtic studies.
Biography
Patrizia de Bernardo was born on 5 April 1953 in Milan, Italy, the daughter of Mario de Bernardo and Adriana Marra. She ...
, however, "the word formations of the ethnonym and hydronym suggest that they originated independently of each other, even though they both contain the same Celtic lexeme ''lic(c)a'' ('rock'). One would therefore assume that Licates simply denoted the 'rock dwellers' and thus inevitably represented a relatively old ethnic designation."
Geography
The Licates lived in the upper valley of the
Lech river (Licca). Their territory was located east of the
Estiones, north of the
Genauni, west of the
Cosuanetes.
[, Map 19: Raetia.] They were part of the
Vindelici
The Vindelici (Gaulish: ) were a Gallic people dwelling around present-day Augsburg (Bavaria) during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as by Horace (1st c. BC), as (; var. ) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as and ( ...
.
Their chief town, known as Damasia, has been identified with a fortified settlement in
Auerberg
Auerberg is a foothill of the Alps in Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany.
It has a better known sibling, Hoher Peißenberg, 22 km air-line distance to the northeast.
Attached to the little church building (St. George's) on the summit, there is an ...
, near modern
Bernbeuren. Its name stems from a Gaulish word for 'cow' or 'stag', ''damos''.
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
The Tropaeum Alpium (Latin 'Trophy of the Alps', French: ''Trophée des Alpes''), is a Roman trophy (''tropaeum'') celebrating the emperor Augustus's decisive victory over the tribes who populated the Alps. The monument's ruins are in La Turb ...
.
Licates were still serving as auxiliary soldiers in the Roman army ca. 160 AD.
References
Primary sources
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Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls