The Mandubii (
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, ...
: *''Mandubioi'') were a small
Gallic tribe dwelling in and around their chief town
Alesia, in modern
Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124. , 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
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
.
Name
An ''oppidum Mandubiorum'' is mentioned by
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 ...
(mid-1st c. BC), and the tribe is designated as ''Mandoubíōn'' (Μανδουβίων) 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).
[, s.v. ''Mandubii''.]
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 ...
''Mandubii'' is a latinized form of
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, ...
*''Mandubioi'' (
sing. *''Mandubios''). It is generally seen as stemming from the root ''mandu-'' ('pony'). Alternatively,
Pierre-Yves Lambert
Pierre-Yves Lambert (born 30 May 1949) is a French linguist and scholar of Celtic studies. He is a researcher at the CNRS and a lecturer at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Celtic linguistics and philology. Lambert is the director of the j ...
has proposed to compare the name with the Welsh ''mathru'' ('trample upon'). The second element may be related to the second element of the vulgar Latin ''vidubium'' 'billhook' (a loan from Gaulish) and mean 'beaters' or 'strikers'.
Geography
The territory of the Mandubii was located in the Haux-Aixois region, between the settlements of
Alesia in the north,
Blessey in the east,
Braux in the west, and
Sombernon in the southeast. During the reign of the Roman emperor
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 ...
, their small territory was incorporated into the
Lingonian territory. In the unstable period following the death of
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...
in 68 AD, the Mandubii were excluded from the Lingonian territory and attached to 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 ...
.
History
Mandubian ceramics are attested in
Villaines-les-Prévôtes by the 2nd century BC. While under the influence of the neighbouring and more powerful
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 ...
and
Lingones
The Lingones (Gaulish: 'the jumpers') were a Gallic tribe of the Iron Age and Roman periods. They dwelled in the region surrounding the present-day city of Langres, between the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica.
Name
A ...
, the Mandubii benefited from a relative autonomy (at least economic and cultural) before the Roman conquest.
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul