Brigianii

The Brigianii (Gaulish: *Brigianioi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Briançon during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as Brigianii by Pliny (1st c. AD),[1] and as Brigiani, Brigantionis and Bricianiorum on inscriptions.[2][3]

Their name may be based on the Gaulish root brig- ('high, elevated'),[3] or on brīgo- ('might, strength').[4]

Geography

The Gallitae lived in the region of Briançonnais [fr], in the center of the Cottian Kingdom.[5] Their territory was located north of the Caturiges, west of the Quariates, east of the Tricorii, south of the Segovii.[6]

Their chief town was known as Brigantio (modern Briançon), meaning 'eminence, high/elevated place' in Gaulish.[5][7]

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.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.
  2. ^ CIL 5:7817, 12:94, 80.
  3. ^ a b Falileyev 2010, s.v. Brigianii.
  4. ^ Delamarre 2019, p. 153.
  5. ^ a b Barruol 1969, pp. 338–340.
  6. ^ Talbert 2000, Map 17: Lugdunum.
  7. ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 87.

Primary sources

  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674993648.

Bibliography

  • Barruol, Guy (1969). Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. E. de Boccard. OCLC 3279201.
  • Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
  • Delamarre, Xavier (2019). Dictionnaire des thèmes nominaux du gaulois. Ab-/Iχs(o)-. Vol. 1. Les Cents Chemins. ISBN 978-1-7980-5040-8.
  • Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
  • Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.