Aedui
The Aedui or Haedui (
The Aedui had an ambiguous relationship with the
Name
They are mentioned as Ardues (Ἄρδυες) by Polybius (2nd c. BC),[2] Haedui by Cicero (mid-1st c. BC) and Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),[3] Haeduos by Livy (late 1st c. BC),[4] Aedui by Pliny (mid-1st c. AD),[5] Aidúōn (Αἰδύων) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[6] and as Aídouoi (Aἴδουοι) by Cassius Dio (3rd c. AD).[7][8]
The ethnonym Aedui is a latinized form of Gaulish *Aiduoi (sing. *Aiduos), which means 'the Ardent ones'. It derives from the Celtic stem *aidu- ('fire, ardour'; cf. Old Irish áed 'fire', Welsh aidd 'ardour'; also the Irish deity Aéd or Aodh), itself from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰos ('firewood'; cf. Sanskrit édhas 'bonfire', Latin aedes 'building, temple'; cf. also Ancient Greek Aether 'god of the upper sky' and Aethra 'bright sky', from aíthō 'to ignite, to kindle').[9][10]
Geography
Territory
The territory of the Aedui was situated between the Saône and Loire rivers, in a strategic position regarding trade routes. It included most of the modern départements of Saône-et-Loire and Nièvre, the southwestern-part of Côte-d'Or between Beaune and Saulieu, and the southern part of Yonne around Avallon,[11] corresponding to the Saône plains, the Morvan granitic massif, and the low Nivernais plateau, from east to west.[12] They dwelled between the Arverni in the west, the Segusiavi and Ambarri in the south, the Sequani in the east, and the Lingones and Senones in the north.[13]
Settlements
Three oppida are known from the end of the La Tène period: Vieux-Dun (Dun-les-Places), Le Fou de Verdun (Lavault-de-Frétoy), and Bibracte, which occupied a central position in the Aedian economic system.[14]
During the Roman period, Bibracte was abandoned for
Ancient sources
The country of the Aedui is defined by reports of them in ancient writings. The upper Liger formed their western border,[15] separating them from the Bituriges. The Arar formed their eastern border, separating them from the Sequani.[16] The Sequani did not reside in the region of the confluence of the Dubis and the Arar, and of the Arar into the Rhodanus, as Caesar says that the Helvetii, traveling southward along the pass between the Jura Mountains and the Rhodanus, which belonged to the Sequani, plundered the territory of the Aedui.[17] These circumstances explain an apparent contradiction in Strabo, who in one sentence says that the Aedui lived between the Arar and the Dubis, and in the next, that the Sequani lived across the Arar (eastward).[18]
History
Pre-Roman period
Burgundy is situated in the heartland of the early La Tène culture (see Vix Grave). By the early 3rd century BC, the emergence of settlements with diversified functions, along with the creation of sanctuaries, suggest the beginning of a civilization centered around the oppidum.[12]
Roman period
Outside of the Roman province and prior to Roman rule,
According to
After his arrival in Gaul in 58 BC, Caesar restored the independence of the Aedui. In spite of this, they subsequently joined the Gallic coalition against Caesar (B. G. vii. 42), but after the surrender of
In AD 21, during the reign of
Until Claudius (41–54 AD), the Aedui were the first northern Gallic people to send senators to Rome.[1]
The oration of Eumenius, in which he pleaded for the restoration of the schools of his native Augustodunum, suggests that the district was then neglected. The chief magistrate of the Aedui in Caesar's time was called the Vergobretus (according to Mommsen, "judgment-worker"). He was elected annually, and possessed powers of life and death, but was forbidden to go beyond the frontiers of his territory. Certain clientes, or small communities, were also dependent upon the Aedui.[21]
Religion
The
At the end of the La Tène period, religious convergences occurred between the Aedui and the neighbouring Lingones and Sequani in the Saône-Doubs area, as evidenced by the similarity in the practices at the sanctuaries of Nuits-Saint-Georges (Aedui), Mirebeau-sur-Bèze (Lingones) and Mandeure (Sequani).[25]
Political organization
According to Julius Caesar, the Aedui were one of the strongest Gallic tribes, in rivalry with the Helvetii, Sequani, Remi, and Arverni. Furthermore, the Aedui seemed to work in a semi-republican state, with the powerful Vergobret at least slightly being at the will of the people, similar to the senators of Rome.[26]
See also
- List of peoples of Gaul
- Jublains archeological site
References
- ^ a b c Drinkwater 2016.
- ^ Polybius. Historíai, 3:47:3.
- ^ Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum, 1:19:2.; Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 1:11:2
- ^ Livy. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, 5:34:3.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:107.
- ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:8:12.
- ^ Cassius Dio. Rhōmaïkḕ Historía, 38:32.
- ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Aedui and Haedui.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 35.
- ^ Matasović 2009, p. 51.
- ^ Barral, Guillaumet & Nouvel 2002, p. 276.
- ^ a b Barral, Guillaumet & Nouvel 2002, p. 271.
- ^ Barral, Guillaumet & Nouvel 2002, p. 273.
- ^ Barral, Guillaumet & Nouvel 2002, pp. 272, 274.
- ^ Caesar & BG, Book vii, Section 5.
- ^ Caesar & BG, Book I, Section 12.
- ^ Caesar & BG, Book I, Section 11.
- ^ Strabo & Geography, Book 4, Chapter 3, Section 2.
- JSTOR 3678158.
- ^ Caesar & BG, Book I, Section 33.
- ^ a b public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aedui". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 244–245. This cites:
- A. E. Desjardins, Géographie de la Gaule, ii. (1876–1893)
- T. R. Holmes, Caesar's Conquest of Gaul (1899).
- ^ "Alpheus--Bibracte: Last Center of Celtic Occultism". www.alpheus.org. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ^ Peoples, Nations and Cultures. General Editor Prof John Mackenzie. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 2005.
- ^ Goudineau & Rebourg 1987, p. 106.
- ^ Barral, Guillaumet & Nouvel 2002, p. 274.
- ^ Caesar-Translated by Hammond, Carolyn. The Gallic War. Oxford World's Classics. pp. 3–34.
Primary sources
- De Bello Gallico.
- Strabo. Geography.
Bibliography
- Barral, Philippe; Guillaumet, Jean-Paul; Nouvel, Pierre (2002). "Le territoire des Éduens d'après les dernières découvertes". In Garcia, D.; Verdin, F. (eds.). Territoires celtiques, espaces ethniques et territoire des agglomérations d'Europe occidentale, actes du XXIV° congrès de l'AFEAF, Martigues, 1er - 4 juin 2000. Errance. pp. 271–296. ISBN 978-2877722193.
- ISBN 9782877723695.
- ISBN 9780199381135.
- 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.
- Goudineau, Christian; Rebourg, Alain (1987). "Les origines d'Autun". Les villes augustéennes de Gaule: actes du Colloque international d'Autun, 6, 7 et 8 juin 1985. Société éduenne des lettres, sciences et arts. OCLC 28069333.
- ISBN 9789004173361.
- ISBN 978-2-600-02883-7.
Further reading
- Hornung, Sabine (2016). "Die Häduer – „Brüder" Roms". Siedlung und Bevölkerung in Ostgallien zwischen Gallischem Krieg und der Festigung der Römischen Herrschaft. Eine Studie auf Basis landschaftsarchäologischer Forschungen im Umfeld des Oppidums "Hunnenring" von Otzenhausen (Lkr. St. Wendel) (in German). Philipp von Zabern. pp. 319–346.
- Thévenot, Émile (1960). Les Éduens n'ont pas trahi : essai sur les relations entre Éduens et César au cours de la guerre des Gaules et particulièrement au cours de la crise de 52. Latomus. OCLC 264975672.