The Seduni were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

valley, around present-day Sion, 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. Along with the Nantuates,

Veragri The Veragrī (Gaulish: *''Ueragroi'', 'super-warriors'; Greek: ) were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Martigny, in the Pennine Alps, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Along with the Nantuates, Seduni and Uberi, they were pa ...

and Uberi, they were part of the Vallenses, a group of tribes living between

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...

and the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ...

, in the modern Canton of Valais ( Switzerland).

Name

They are mentioned as ''Sedunos,'' ''Sedunorum'' and ''Sedunis'' by

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 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, an ...

(mid-1st c. BC),

. ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico''
3:1:3:2:3:7
and as ''Seduni'' 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 in ...

(late 1st c. BC) and Pliny (1st c. AD)., s.v. ''Seduni'' and ''Sedunum''. The meaning of the ethnonym ''Seduni'' remains unclear. According to Alexander Falileyev, it may be based on the Celtic root *''sedo''-, meaning both 'tumulus (inhabited by supernatural beings)' and 'peace'.

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 ...

has also proposed to analyze the name as a haplology (loss of syllable) for *''Se(go)-dunum'' ('the strong fortress'). The city of Sion, attested as ''Sedunum'' in Roman times, is named after the Gallic tribe.

Geography

The Seduni dwelled in the upper

valley, in the modern Canton of Valais. Their territory was located east of the Nantuates and

, south of the Uberi, and west of the Lepontii., Map 18: Augustonemetum-Vindonissa. After the Roman conquered the region in 16–15 BC, their territory was initially administered in common with the province of Raetia et Vindelicia under a

legatus A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 50 ...

, when they had their own

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 law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () o ...

within the administrative region of Vallis Poenina. They later lost their autonomy following their integration into the

Alpes Graiae et Poeninae The Alpes Graiae et Poeninae, later known as Alpes Atrectianae et Poeninae (officially Alpes Atrectianae et Vallis Poenina), were a small Alpine province of the Roman Empire created after the merging of the ''Alpes Poeninae'' (or ''Vallis Poenina' ...

by Claudius (41–54 AD), with the creation of a single

(''civitas Vallensium'') shared with the other Vallensian tribes. Their chief town was known as Sedunum (modern Sion, Switzerland). In 8–7 BC, the Sedunian civitas honoured emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

with an inscription. Even though Sedunum lost its political importance in the mid-1st century AD, when

Forum Claudii Vallensium Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

(

Martigny Martigny (; german: Martinach, ; la, Octodurum) is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants (''Martignerains'' or "Octodurie ...

) became the capital of the civitas Vallensium, the location remained a popular place of residence for notables: funerary stelae attest to the presence of duumviri (magistrates of the civitas),

flamines A (plural ''flamens'' or ''flamines'') was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of eighteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three (or "major priests"), who ser ...

(priests of the imperial cult), a Roman knight, a former

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states th ...

, and, by the 4th century, praesidia (governors of the province).

History

In 57–56 BC, the Seduni fought against the Roman forces of

at the

Battle of Octodurus The battle of Octodurus took place in the winter of 57–56 BC in the Gallic town of Octodurus in what is now Martigny, Valais, Switzerland. The battle was the result of a Roman attempt to open the Great St. Bernard Pass over the Alps. It w ...

(modern-day Martigny, Switzerland). 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 ...

. Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia''
3:20

References

Primary sources

* * *

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul Ancient Switzerland Tribes conquered by Rome Sion, Switzerland