Ambivareti
The Ambivareti were a small ancient Gallic tribe living in what is now the region of Burgundy during the Iron Age. They were clients of the most powerful Aedui.
Name
[edit]
They are attested as Ambivareti by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC).[1][2]
According to Xavier Delamarre, the ethnic name Ambivareti is derived from the Gaulish root uer- ('river'), which is also attested as uar- in place and river names.[3]
Helmut Birkhan suggested that the similarity in name with the Ambivariti, located west of the Meuse in modern Belgium, could point to a common origin prior to subsequent migrations.[4]
Geography
[edit]The location of their territory, somewhere in the vicinity of Aeduan territory, remains uncertain.[2]
History
[edit]During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), they are cited by Caesar as clients of the Aedui.[2]
From the Aedui and their dependents (Segusiavi, Ambivareti, Aulerci Brannovices, Blannovii) they ordered thirty-five thousand.
— Caesar, Gallic Wars, VII 75
He [Caesar] sent Gaius Antistius Reginus to the Ambivareti, Titus Sextius to the Bituriges, Gaius Caninius Rebilus to the Ruteni, each with a single legion.
— Caesar, Gallic Wars, VII 90
References
[edit]- ^ Caesar, VII 75, 90
- ^ a b c Kruta 2000, p. 409.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 301.
- ^ Birkhan 1997, p. 235 n. 1.
Primary sources
[edit]- Caesar (1917). The Gallic War. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Edwards, H. J. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-99080-7.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Secondary sources
[edit]- Birkhan, Helmut (1997). Kelten: Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 978-3-7001-2609-6.
- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
- Kruta, Venceslas (2000). Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme. Robert Laffont. ISBN 2-221-05690-6.
