The Vadicassii (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: ''Ou̓adikássioi'', Οὐαδικάσσιοι) were an ancient Gallic tribe of 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 ...

, located near the Meldi (

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

), on the frontier between

Gallia Celtica Gallia Celtica, meaning "Celtic Gaul" in Latin, was a cultural region of Gaul inhabited by Celts, located in what is now France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the west bank of the Rhine River in Germany. According to Roman ethnography and Julius C ...

and

Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and German ...

Name

The tribe is only mentioned once as ''Ou̓adikássioi'' (Οὐαδικάσσιοι) 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 ...

in the 2nd century AD. They have sometimes been conflated with the

Bodiocasses The Bodiocasses or Baiocasses were an ancient Gallic tribe of the Roman period. They were a tribal division of the ''civitas'' of the Lexovii, in the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. Name Attestations They are mentioned as ''Bodiocasse ...

(located around modern

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

) and with the

Veliocasses The Veliocasses or Velocasses (Gaulish: *''Weliocassēs'') were a Belgic or Gallic tribe of the La Tène and Roman periods, dwelling in the south of modern Seine-Maritime and in the north of Eure. Name They are mentioned as ''Veliocasses'' by ...

(around modern

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

), although the geographical indications given by Ptolemy do not match. The modern region of Valois, attested as ''Pagus vadensis'' in 796 AD (later ''Pago vadense'' in 842, ''Pagus vadisus'' in 853), and the town of Vez, attested as ''Vadum'' ca. 866, are probably named after the tribe.

Geography

Ptolemy places the tribe near the Meldi (

), on the borders of

. North of the Meldi lay the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

-era ''Pagus vadisus'' (with its capital ''Vadum'', now Vez), whose name closely resembles that of the ''Vadicassii''. This area, situated between the Meldi and the

Suessiones The Suessiones were a Belgic tribe, dwelling in the modern Aisne and Oise regions during the La Tène and Roman periods. During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), their oppidum Noviodunum ( Pommiers) was besieged and conquered by Caesar. Following t ...

, corresponds to modern Valois, a territory that partially overlaps (or predates) the domain of the

Silvanectes The Silvanectes (or Sulbanectes) were a small Belgic tribe dwelling around present-day Senlis (Oise) during the Roman period. Name Attestations They are mentioned as ''Ulmanectes'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), as ''Soubánektoi'' (Greek: Σουβ� ...

. Ptolemy gives ''Noiomagos'' as the Vadicassii capital. No ancient toponym in the region clearly matches that name, apart from ''Nogeon'' (in Réez-Fosse-Martin within Valois), though references to Nogeon date only from the 18th century.

References

;Bibliography *

Name

Geography

References

See also