The Vesubiani or Vesubianii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the valley of the

Vésubie The Vésubie is a river in the southeast of France. It is a left tributary of the Var in the Maritime Alps. It is long. Its drainage basin is .

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 ...

Name

They are mentioned as ''Vesubiani'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia''
3:20
and as ''Vesubianorum'' and ''(V)esubiani'' on inscriptions., s.v. ''Vesubiani''.

Guy Barruol Guy Barruol (born 10 June 1934) is a French historian and archaeologist. He is director of research emeritus at the CNRS. Biography Guy Barruol was born on 10 June 1934 in Mazan, Vaucluse, the son of Jean Barruol (1898–1982), a local histori ...

noted that the loss of initial ''V''- is common in Gaulish proper names, especially in Provence, and proposed to see the name as a variant of the personal name ''Esubiani''. He suggested that the name may have the same root as ''Esubii'', the name of a tribe in Brittany itself traditionally derived from the Celtic god ''

Esus Esus is a Celtic god known from iconographic, epigraphic, and literary sources. The 1st-century CE Roman poet Lucan's epic ''Pharsalia'' mentions Esus, Taranis, and Teutates as gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Cel ...

''. Alternatively, if the ''V''- was present in the original form, the name can be derived form the Gaulish root ''uesu''- ('valid, good, worthy').

Geography

The Vesubiani dwelled in the valley of the

Vésubie The Vésubie is a river in the southeast of France. It is a left tributary of the Var in the Maritime Alps. It is long. Its drainage basin is .

. Their territory was located southeast of the

Ecdinii The Ecdinii or Ecdini were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the valley of the Tinée (Alpes-Maritimes) during the Iron Age. Name They are mentioned as ''Ecdini'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Ecdiniorum'' on the Arc of Susa., s.v. ''Ecdinii''. T ...

, north of the Nerusii and

Vediantii The Vediantii were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast, near present-day Nice, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Ou̓ediantíōn'' (Οὐεδιαντίων) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), and ...

, and northwest of the

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'' ...

., Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum. According to A. L. F. Rivet, "there appear to have been no significant settlements in the lands of the Ecdinii and the Vesubiani, so that they must have been controlled by Cemenelum when they had been detached from the Cottian kingdom." Along with the

and Veaminii, they were part of the Capillati.

History

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 (; ) 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 Turbie (France), a few kilometers from the Principality of Mo ...

. They also appear on the Arch of Susa, erected by

Cottius Marcus Julius Cottius was King of the Celtic and Ligurian inhabitants of the mountainous Roman province then known as '' Alpes Taurinae'' and now as the Cottian Alps early in the 1st century BC. Son and successor to King Donnus, he negotiated a ...

in 9–8 BC.

References

Primary sources

Bibliography

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