The Veliocasses or Velocasses (

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, ...

: *''Weliocassēs'') were a Belgic or Gallic tribe of the La Tène and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

periods, dwelling in the south of modern

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

and in the north of

Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.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 Pliny (1st c. AD), as (; var. ) 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 as ''Velocasses'' by

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

(early 5th c. AD)., s.v. ''Veliocasses''. The meaning of 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 ...

is uncertain. The first part is certainly the

stem , which could either derive from

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...

('modesty'; cf. OIr. , OBret. 'honestas'), or else from Proto-Celtic ('better'; cf. Welsh 'better'). The second etymology is semantically more probable for a tribal name, but the unknown length of the vowel ''e'' in ''uelio-'' makes it difficult to conclude with certainty. The meaning of the second element ''-casses'', attested in other Gaulish ethnonyms such as '' Bodiocasses'', '' Durocasses'', '' Sucasses'', '' Tricasses'', or '' Viducasses'', has been debated, but it probably signifies '(curly) hair, hairstyle' (cf. Old Irish 'curl'), perhaps referring to a particular warrior coiffure. Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to interpret the name as 'those with better helmets'. The county of

Vexin Vexin () is a historical county of northern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south betw ...

, attested in 617 as ('

pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geograp ...

of the Veliocasses'; ''Vilcassinum'' in 1092, ''Vulesin'' in 1118), is named after the ancient tribe.

Geography

The Veliocasses occupied territory primarily north of the lower Sequana (

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

) river, with a smaller portion extending south of it. Their territory was situated between that of the Caletes and Bellovaci. Wooded highlands formed a natural boundary with the Bellovaci, who held sway in that region. During the pre-Roman period, their capital was probably the ''oppidum'' of ''Camp de Calidou'' (near Caudebec), then Rotomagus (present-day

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 ...

) after the reign of

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 ...

(27 BC–14 AD)''.'' In the 2nd century AD, the settlement served as a significant harbor for exports bound for Britain.

History

During the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland). Gauls, Gallic, Germanic peoples, Germanic, and Celtic Britons, Brittonic trib ...

(58–50 BC), the Veliocasses participated in the tribal coalition of the

Belgae The Belgae ( , ) were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth b ...

that resisted the Romans in 57 BC. In 52 they raised 3,000 men to support

Vercingetorix Vercingetorix (; ; – 46 BC) was a Gauls, Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman Republic, Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. After surrendering to C ...

, and fought alongside the Bellovaci in the final rebellion against Roman hegemony.

Culture

As for the neighbouring Calates, whether the Veliocasses should be classified as Gallic or Belgic is debatable.

References

Primary sources

* *

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul Belgae Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars