The Vediantii were a

Celto-Ligurian The Ligures or Ligurians were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Because of the strong Celtic influences on their language and culture, they were also known in antiquity as Celto-Liguria ...

tribe dwelling on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast, near present-day

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 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

They are mentioned as ''Ou̓ediantíōn'' (Οὐεδιαντίων) 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), and an ''oppidum Vediantiorum civitatis'' is documented by Pliny (1st c. AD)., s.v. ''Vediantii''. 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 ...

''Vediantii'' is probably Celtic. It has been interpreted as 'pertaining to the praying ones' (from the root ''wed''- 'to pray' extended by a present participial formation -''ie-nt''-), as the 'Leaders' (from *''wedʰ-yā'' 'guidance, leadership'), or else as the 'Sages' (from *''weid-yā'' 'knowledge, doctrine').

Geography

The Vediantii dwelled on the

coast, between the river Var and the

Mont Agel Mont Agel is a mountain in the Maritime Alps on the border between France and Monaco. The summit of this mount, at above sea level, is on the French side, but the highpoint of Monaco, lying on a pathway named Chemin des Révoires, is on its slo ...

, around the Massaliote colony of Nikaea (modern

Intimilii The Intimilii or Intemelii were a Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast, around present-day Ventimiglia, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Intimilii'' by Caelius Rufus (49 BC), ''Intemelii'' ...

, and south of the Vesubiani., Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum. Their chief town was the ''

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

'' ''Vediantiorum'', known as ''Cemenelum'' by the 2nd century AD. Corresponding to modern

Cimiez Cimiez (; Italian: ''Cimella'') is an upper-class neighborhood in Nice, Southern France. The area contains the Musée Matisse and the ruins of ''Cemenelum'', capital of the Ancient Roman province Alpes Maritimae on the Ligurian coast. ''Ceme ...

, now a neighbourhood of Nice, the settlement controlled the trading route from the Mediterranean coast towards the hinterland and the Alps. After the subjugation of the Ligurian tribes in 14 BC, Cemenelum became the centre of the local Roman military government, then served as the capital of the new Roman province from its creation by

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 63 AD.

History

Contrary to other tribes of the region, the Vediantii were probably allied or tributary to

Massalia Massalia (; ) was an ancient Greek colonisation, Greek colony (''apoikia'') on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, east of the Rhône. Settled by the Ionians from Phocaea in 600 BC, this ''apoikia'' grew up rapidly, and its population se ...

and the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

by the 2nd century BC. When the Oxybii and Deciates attacked the Massaliote colonies of Nikaea and Antipolis (

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

) and were subsequently defeated in 154 BC, the territory of the Vediantii was not reduced by the Romans, and their chief town Cemenelum became the capital of the

Alpes Maritimae The Alpes Maritimae (; English: 'Maritime Alps') was a small province of the Roman Empire founded in 63 AD by Nero. It was one of the three provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy, along with the Alpes Graiae et Poeninae an ...

after its foundation in 63 AD. Additionally, the Vediantii are not mentioned in the Trophy of the Alps, suggesting that they were either already subjugated by or allied to Rome at the time of the conquest of the region in 14 BC.

Religion

Three inscriptions dated to the 1st–2nd centuries AD and dedicated to the Matres Vediantiae were found near

Tourrette-Levens Tourrette-Levens (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Climate Population Tourism Tourrette-Levens is one of sixteen villages grouped together by the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur tourist departmen ...

and Cimiez.

References

Primary sources

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul Ligures