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),^[1] as Soubánektoi (Greek: Σουβάνεκτοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),^[2] and as Siluanectas in the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).^[3]^[4]

The Silvanectes are also attested under the name Sulbanectes in an inscription,^[5] and their capital was mentioned as civitas Sulbanectium in 48 AD.^[6]

Etymology

The etymology of the ethnonym remains unclear. It could be a Latinized form of Gaulish *Seluanecti (from seluā- 'possession, property' > 'herd'; cf. Old Irish selb 'property, possession', Welsh ar helw 'in possession of'), corrupted under the influence of Latin silva ('forest').^[7] A comparison with Old Irish sulbair ('eloquent') has also been proposed.^[6]

The city of Senlis, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Silvanectum ('civitas of the Silvanectes', Sinleti in the 6th c., Senliz in 1211) is named after the Gallic tribe.^[6]

Geography

The Silvanectes dwelled southwest of the Suessionnes, near the Meldi and the Bellovaci.^[5] Their small territory, a depression surrounded by wooded heights, could be easily dominated by the more powerful Bellovaci, to which they were probably tributary.^[5]

References

^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:106.
^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:9:6.
^ Notitia Dignitatum, oc 42:42.
^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Silvanectes.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wightman 1985, p. 27.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nègre 1990, p. 157.
^ Delamarre 2003, p. 270.

Bibliography

Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
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.
Nègre, Ernest (1990). Toponymie générale de la France. Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2-600-02883-7.
Popineau, Jean-Marc (2020). "Les Sulbanectes, une approche archéogéographique (Vᵉ s. avant notre ère - Ier s. après)". Compte-rendus et Mémoires de la Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Senlis 2016-2017. p. 11–41.
Wightman, Edith M. (1985). Gallia Belgica. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05297-0.

[1] Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:106.

[2] Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:9:6.

[3] Notitia Dignitatum, oc 42:42.

[4] Falileyev 2010, s.v. Silvanectes.

[FOOTNOTEWightman198527-5] Wightman 1985, p. 27.

[FOOTNOTENègre1990157-6] Nègre 1990, p. 157.

[FOOTNOTEDelamarre2003270-7] Delamarre 2003, p. 270.

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