Ambicatus
Ambicatus or Ambigatus (
Name
The Gaulish personal name Ambigatus is a variant form of an earlier Ambicatus, meaning 'the one who fights in both directions'. It is a compound formed with the root ambi- ('around, on both sides') attached to -catu- ('combat, battle').[2] Peter E. Busse and John T. Koch note that Gaulish names that entered Latin through the Etruscan language often show this confusion between /k/ and /g/, since Etruscan did not distinguish between the two sounds (e.g. Lat. gladius < Gaul. *cladios).[3]
Origin
Although the background of the story is anachronistic, for the historical Celtic invasion of the Italian Peninsula occurred between the end of the 5th century and the middle of the 4th century BC, in the context of the
Story
The legend is recounted by the Roman historian
While Tarquinius Priscus reigned at Rome, the Celts, who make up one of the three divisions of Gaul, were under the domination of the Bituriges, and this tribe supplied the Celtic nation with a king. Ambigatus was then the man, and his talents, together with his own and the general good fortune, had brought him great distinction; for Gaul under his sway grew so rich in corn and so populous, that it seemed hardly possible to govern so great a multitude. The king, who was now an old man and wished to relieve his kingdom of a burdensome throng, announced that he meant to send Bellovesus and Segovesus, his sister's sons, two enterprising young men, to find such homes as the gods might assign to them by augury; and promised them that they should head as large a number of emigrants as they themselves desired, so that no tribe might be able to prevent their settlement. Whereupon to Segovesus were by lot assigned the Hercynian highlands; but to Bellovesus the gods proposed a far pleasanter road, into Italy.
References
- Citations
- ^ Spickermann 2006.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Busse & Koch 2006, pp. 214–215.
- ^ Kruta 2000, pp. 212: "L'événement aurait toutefois précédé de deux siècles l'invasion historique, puisqu'il remonterait à l'époque du règne de Tarquin l'Ancien et de la fondation de Marseille."
- ^ a b Kruta 2000, p. 145.
- doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e215190: "The essence of this migratory legend is regarded as authentic.")
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ Kruta 2000, p. 408.
- Primary sources
- ISBN 978-0674992566.
- Bibliography
- Busse, Peter E.; Koch, John T. (2006). "Biturīges". In ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0.
- ISBN 9782877723695.
- ISBN 2-221-05690-6.
- Spickermann, Wolfgang (2006). "Ambigatus". Brill's New Pauly. .