The Suetrii (Gaulish: *Su(p)etrioi, 'the good birds') or Suetri were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Castellane (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as Suebri (var. suberi, uebri) and Svetri by Pliny (1st c. AD),[1] as Souētrōn (Σουητρ...ων; var. Σουιντρ...ων, Σουκτρ...ων) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[2] and as Suetrio on an inscription.[3][4]

The ethnonym Suetrii can be explained as the Gaulish *su-(p)etri-, meaning 'good birds' (cf. Lat. accipiter).[5]

Geography

Territory

The Suetrii dwelled in the middle valley of the Verdon river, with an extension in the valley of the Jabron [fr].[6] Their territory was located south of the Vergunni and Sentii, west of the Nerusii, and north of the Ligauni. On the west, they were separated from the Sentii and the Reii by the Verdon Gorge.[7][8]

Settlements

Their chief town, Salinae (present-day Castellane), was founded during the Roman period and acquired its name after the local supply of salt. Salinae was located west of the medieval town, in an area called Le Plan. It was situated on a trade road leading from Vintium (Vence), near the coast, to Dinia (Dignes), in the Alps, via Salinae and Sanitium (Senez).[9][10]

The exact location of the pre-Roman oppidum remains unknown, although it was most likely seated on one of the hills surrounding Salinae. Its name may have been Ducelia, as suggested by later medieval documents.[9]

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. ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 3:1:38.
  3. ^ CIL 5:7900
  4. ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Suetrii.
  5. ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 168.
  6. ^ Barruol 1969, pp. 378–379.
  7. ^ Barruol 1969, p. 379.
  8. ^ Talbert 2000, Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.
  9. ^ a b Barruol 2004, p. 394.
  10. ^ Rivet 1988, pp. 342–343.

Primary sources

  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674993648.

Bibliography

  • Barruol, Guy (1969). Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. E. de Boccard. OCLC 3279201.
  • Barruol, Guy (2004). "Castellane / Salinae (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence)". Supplément à la Revue archéologique du centre de la France. 25 (1): 393–395. ISSN 1951-6207.
  • 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.
  • Rivet, A. L. F. (1988). Gallia Narbonensis: With a Chapter on Alpes Maritimae : Southern France in Roman Times. Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-5860-2.
  • Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.


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