Helvetii

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Helvetians
)
"Helvetians" redirects here. For other uses, see Helvetia (disambiguation).
Maxima Sequanorum (c. 300 AD), which comprised the territories of a part of the Helvetii, Sequani and several smaller tribes. The relative locations of the Helvetian pagi Tigurini and Verbigeni, though indicated on the map, remain unknown.[1]
Map of Gaul with tribes, 1st century BC; the Helvetii are circled.
Map of Gaul with tribes, 1st century BC; the Helvetii are circled.

The Helvetii (

Caesar's conquest of Gaul
.

The Helvetians were subjugated after 52 BC, and under

Basilea, were re-purposed as garrisons. In AD 68, a Helvetian uprising was crushed by Aulus Caecina Alienus
. The Swiss plateau was at first incorporated into the Roman province of Gallia Belgica[citation needed] (22 BC), later into Germania Superior (AD 83). The Helvetians, like the rest of Gaul, were largely Romanized by the 2nd century. In the later 3rd century, Roman control over the region waned, and the Swiss plateau was exposed to the invading
Alemannia (Swabia) and Upper Burgundy. The Helvetii were largely assimilated by their new rulers, contributing to the ethnogenesis of modern Swiss people
.

Name

They are mentioned as Helvetii by Cicero (mid-1st c. BC), Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Tacitus (early 2nd c. AD),[6][7][8] as Helvetiorum by Livy (late 1st c. BC),[9] as Helveti by Pliny (1st c. AD),[10] and as Elouḗtioi (Ἐλουήτιοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).[11][12]

The Gaulish ethnic name Helvetii is generally interpreted as (h)elu-ētioi ('rich in land'), from elu- ('numerous', cf. OIr. il) attached to etu- ('grassland'; cf. OIr. iath).[13][3][12] The presence of the initial h-, remnant of a previous p- (PIE *pelh1u- > Celt. helu- > elu-), attests of an archaic formation.[14]

The earliest attestation of the name is found in a graffito on a vessel from Mantua, dated to c. 300 BC.[15] The inscription in Etruscan letters reads eluveitie, which has been interpreted as the Etruscan form of the Celtic elu̯eti̯os ("the Helvetian"), presumably referring to a man of Helvetian descent living in Mantua.

Tribal organisation

Of the four Helvetian pagi or sub-tribes, Caesar names only the Verbigeni (Bell. Gall. 1.27) and the Tigurini (1.12), Posidonius the Tigurini and the Tougeni (Τωυγενοί). There has been substantial debate in

Titus Livius.[16]

According to Caesar, the territory abandoned by the Helvetii had comprised 400 villages and 12 oppida (fortified settlements).[17] His tally of the total population taken from captured Helvetian records written in Greek is 263,000 people, including fighting men, old men, women and children.[18] However, the figures are generally dismissed as too high by modern scholars (see hereafter).

Like many other tribes, the Helvetii did not have kings at the time of their clash with Rome but instead seem to have been governed by a class of noblemen (Lat. equites).[19] When Orgetorix, one of their most prominent and ambitious noblemen, was making plans to establish himself as their king, he faced execution by burning if found guilty. Caesar does not explicitly name the tribal authorities prosecuting the case and gathering men to apprehend Orgetorix, but he refers to them by the Latin terms civitas ("state" or "tribe") and magistratus ("officials").[20]

History

Earliest historical sources and settlement

See also: Early history of Switzerland

In his

foundation myth for the Celtic settlement of Cisalpine Gaul in which a Helvetian named Helico plays the role of culture hero. Helico had worked in Rome as a craftsman and then returned to his home north of the Alps with a dried fig, a grape, and some oil and wine, the desirability of which caused his countrymen to invade northern Italy.[21]

The Greek historian Posidonius (c. 135–50 BC), whose work is preserved only in fragments by other writers, offers the earliest historical record of the Helvetii. Posidonius described the Helvetians of the late 2nd century BC as "rich in gold but peaceful," without giving clear indication to the location of their territory.

Teutones, Cimbri, and Ambrones was in fact southern Germany and not Switzerland
.

That the Helvetians originally lived in southern Germany is confirmed by the

Hercynian forest.[25]
The abandonment of this northern territory is now usually placed in the late 2nd century BC, around the time of the first Germanic incursions into the Roman world, when the Tigurini and Toygenoi/Toutonoi are mentioned as participants in the great raids.

At the later

Zürichsee
lake shore.

First contact with the Romans

See also: Switzerland in the Roman era
«Die Helvetier zwingen die Römer unter dem Joch hindurch» ("The Helvetians force the Romans to pass under the yoke"). Romantic painting by Charles Gleyre (19th century) celebrating the Helvetian victory over the Romans at Agen (107 BC) under Divico's command.

The Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and Ambrones probably reached southern Germany around the year 111 BC, where they were joined by the Tigurini, and, probably the Teutoni-Toutonoi-Toygenoi. (The precise identity of the latter group is unclear).[31]

The tribes began a joint invasion of Gaul, including the Roman

Provincia Narbonensis, which led to the Tigurini's victory over a Roman army under L. Cassius Longinus near Agendicum in 107 BC, in which the consul was killed. According to Caesar, the captured Roman soldiers were ordered to pass under a yoke set up by the triumphant Gauls, a dishonour that called for both public as well as private vengeance.[32] Caesar is the only narrative source for this episode, as the corresponding books of Livy's histories are preserved only in the Periochae, short summarising lists of contents, in which hostages given by the Romans, but no yoke, are mentioned.[33]

In 105 BC, the allies defeated another Roman army near

Padan plain. The following year, Marius virtually destroyed the Cimbri in the battle of Vercellae
. The Tigurini, who had planned on following the Cimbri, turned back over the Alps with their booty and joined those of the Helvetians who had not participated in the raids.

Caesar and the Helvetian campaign of 58 BC

Julius Caesar and Divico parley after the battle at the Saône. Historic painting of the 19th century by Karl Jauslin.

Prelude

The Helvetii were the first Gallic tribe of the campaign to be confronted by Caesar. He narrates the events of the conflict in the opening sections of Commentarii de Bello Gallico.[34] Due to the political nature of the Commentarii, Caesar's purpose in publicizing his own achievements may have distorted the significance of events and the motives of those who participated.[35]

The nobleman Orgetorix is presented as the instigator of a new Helvetian migration, in which the entire tribe was to leave their territory and, according to Caesar, to establish a supremacy over all of Gaul. This exodus was planned over three years, in the course of which Orgetorix conspired with two noblemen from neighbouring tribes, Casticus of the Sequani and Dumnorix of the Aedui, that each should accomplish a coup d'état in his own country, after which the three new kings would collaborate. When word of his aspirations to make himself king reached the Helvetii, Orgetorix was summoned to stand trial, facing execution on the pyre should he be found guilty. For the time being, he averted a verdict by arriving at the hearing set for him with ten thousand followers and bondsmen; yet before the large force mustered by the authorities could apprehend him, he died under unexplained circumstances, the Helvetii believed by his own hand.[36]

Nevertheless, the Helvetii did not give up their planned emigration, but burned their homes in 58 BC.

Provincia Narbonensis
.

Battle of the Saône

When they reached the boundaries of the Allobroges, the northernmost tribe of the Provincia, they found that Caesar had already dismantled the bridge of Geneva to stop their advance. The Helvetians sent "the most illustrious men of their state" to negotiate, promising a peaceful passage through the Provincia. Caesar stalled them by asking for some time for consideration, which he used to assemble reinforcements and to fortify the southern banks of the Rhône. When the embassy returned on the agreed-upon date, he was strong enough to bluntly reject their offer. The Helvetii now chose the more difficult northern route through the Sequani territory, which traversed the Jura Mountains via a very narrow pass at the site of the modern Fort l'Écluse, but bypassed the Provincia. After ravaging the lands of the Aedui tribe, who called upon Caesar to help them, they began the crossing of the Saône, which took them several days. As only a quarter of their forces were left on the eastern banks, Caesar attacked and routed them. According to Caesar, those killed had been the Tigurini, on whom he had now taken revenge in the name of the Republic and his family.[39]

After the battle, the Romans quickly bridged the river, thereby prompting the Helvetii to once again send an embassy, this time led by Divico, another figure whom Caesar links to the ignominious defeat of 107 BC by calling him bello Cassio dux Helvetiorum (i.e. "leader of the Helvetii in the Cassian campaign"). What Divico had to offer was almost a surrender, namely to have the Helvetii settle wherever Caesar wished them to, although it was combined with the threat of an open battle if Caesar should refuse. Caesar demanded hostages to be given to him and reparations to the Aedui and Allobroges. Divico responded by saying that "they were accustomed to receive, not to give hostages; a fact the Roman people could testify to",[40] this once again being an allusion to the giving of hostages by the defeated Romans at Agen.

Battle of Bibracte

In the cavalry battle that followed, the Helvetii prevailed over Caesar's Aedui allies under Dumnorix' command, and continued their journey, while Caesar's army was being detained by delays in his grain supplies, caused by the Aedui on the instigations of Dumnorix, who had married Orgetorix' daughter. A few days later, however, near the Aeduan oppidum Bibracte, Caesar caught up with the Helvetii and faced them in a major battle, which ended in the Helvetii's retreat and the capture of most of their baggage by the Romans.

Leaving the largest part of their supplies behind, the Helvetii covered around 60 km in four days, eventually reaching the lands of the Lingones (the modern Langres plateau). Caesar did not pursue them until three days after the battle, while still sending messengers to the Lingones warning them not to assist the Helvetii in any way. The Helvetii then offered their immediate surrender and agreed both to providing hostages and to giving up their weapons the next day. In the course of the night, 6000 of the Verbigeni fled from the camp out of fear of being massacred once they were defenceless. Caesar sent riders after them and ordered those who were brought back to be "counted as enemies", which probably meant being sold into slavery.

Return of the migrants

In order for them to defend the Rhine frontier against the Germans, he then allowed the Helvetii, Tulingi and Latobrigi to return to their territories and to rebuild their homes, instructing the

Raurici, who seem to have built a new oppidum at Basel-Münsterhügel upon their return. The Aedui were granted their wish that the Boii who had accompanied the Helvetii would settle on their own territory as allies in the oppidum Gorgobina. The nature of Caesar's arrangement with the Helvetii and the other tribes is not further specified by the consul himself, but in his speech Pro Balbo of 56 BC, Cicero mentions the Helvetii as one among several tribes of foederati, i.e. allied nations who were neither citizens of the Republic nor her subjects, but obliged by treaty to support the Romans with a certain number of fighting men.[41]

Caesar's report of the numbers

According to the victor, tablets with lists in Greek characters were found at the Helvetian camp, listing in detail all men able to bear arms with their names and giving a total number for the women, children and elderly who accompanied them.[42] The numbers added up to a total of 263,000 Helvetii, 36,000 Tulingi, 14,000 Latobrigi, 23,000 Rauraci, and 32,000 Boii, all in all 368,000 heads, 92,000 of whom were warriors. A census of those who had returned to their homes listed 110,000 survivors, which meant that only about 30 percent of the emigrants had survived the war.

Caesar's report has been partly confirmed by excavations near Geneva and

which?] out of the fifteen Celtic oppida in the Helvetii territory so far has yielded evidence for destruction by fire.[citation needed] Many other sites, for example the sanctuary at Mormont, do not exhibit any signs of damage for the period in question, and Celtic life continued seemingly undisturbed for the rest of the 1st century BC up to the beginning of the Roman era, with an accent rather on an increase in prosperity than on a "Helvetic twilight".[43]
With the honourable status as foederati taken into account, it is hard to believe that the Helvetii ever sustained casualties quite as heavy as those given by the Roman military leader.

In general, numbers written down by ancient military authors have to be taken as gross exaggerations.[44] What Caesar claims to have been 368,000 people is estimated by other sources to be rather around 300,000 (Plutarch), or 200,000 (Appian);[45] in the light of a critical analysis, even these numbers seem far too high. Furger-Gunti considers an army of more than 60,000 fighting men extremely unlikely in the view of the tactics described, and assumes the actual numbers to have been around 40,000 warriors out of a total of 160,000 emigrants.[46] Delbrück suggests an even lower number of 100,000 people, out of which only 16,000 were fighters, which would make the Celtic force about half the size of the Roman body of c. 30,000 men.[47] The real numbers will never be determined exactly. Caesar's specifications can at least be doubted by looking at the size of the baggage train that an exodus of 368,000 people would have required: Even for the reduced numbers that Furger-Gunti uses for his calculations, the baggage train would have stretched for at least 40 km, perhaps even as far as 100 km.[48]

In spite of the now much more balanced numerical weight we have to assume for the two opposing armies, the battle seems far less glorious a victory than Caesar presented it to be. The main body of the Helvetii withdrew from the battle at nightfall, abandoning, as it seemed, most of their wagons, which they had drawn up into a wagon fort; they retreated northwards in a forced night march and reached the territory of the Lingones four days after the battle. What Caesar implies to have been a desperate flight without stopping could actually have been an ordered retreat of moderate speed, covering less than 40 km a day.[49] Caesar himself does not appear as a triumphant victor in turn, being unable to pursue the Helvetii for three days, "both on account of the wounds of the soldiers and the burial of the slain". However, it is clear that Caesar's warning to the Lingones not to supply his enemies was quite enough to make the Helvetii leaders once again offer peace. On what terms this peace was made is debatable, but as said before, the conclusion of a foedus casts some doubt on the totality of the defeat.

Questions of motive

As Caesar's account is heavily influenced by his political agenda, it is difficult to determine the actual motive of the Helvetii movement of 58 BC. One might see the movement in the light of a Celtic retreat from areas which were later to become Germanic; it can be debated whether they ever had plans to settle in the

"Geistige Landesverteidigung" of the 20th century.[citation needed][original research?
]

The Helvetii as Roman subjects

Roman provinces in AD 14

The Helvetii and Rauraci most likely lost their status as foederati only six years after the battle of Bibracte, when they supported Vercingetorix in 52 BC with 8,000 and 2,000 men, respectively. Sometime between 50 and 45 BC, the Romans founded the Colonia Iulia Equestris at the site of the Helvetian settlement Noviodunum (modern Nyon), and around 44 BC the Colonia Raurica on Rauracan territory. These colonies were probably established as a means of controlling the two most important military access routes between the Helvetian territory and the rest of Gaul, blocking the passage through the Rhône valley and Sundgau.

In the course of

Maxima Sequanorum
, the former territories of the Helvetii and their inhabitants were as thoroughly romanised as the rest of Gaul.

The rising of 68/69 AD

What seems to have been the last action of the Helvetii as a tribal entity happened shortly after the death of emperor

Mount Vocetius, killing and enslaving thousands. The capital Aventicum surrendered, and Julius Alpinus, head of what was now seen as a Helvetian uprising, was executed. In spite of the extensive damage and devastations the civitas had already sustained, according to Tacitus the Helvetii were saved from total annihilation owing to the pleas of one Claudius Cossus, a Helvetian envoy to Vitellius, and, as Tacitus puts it, "of well-known eloquence".[52]

Legacy

Further information: Gallo-Roman culture, Germania Superior, Switzerland in the Roman era, and Alemanni
Further information: Ariovistus § Aftermath, and Celtic_toponymy § Switzerland

Roman occupation in the aftermath of the Gallic Wars had pacified the Celtic-Germanic contact zone along the Rhine. The Suebi and Marcomanni who under Ariovistus had planned to invade Gaul were pushed back beyond the Black Forest, where they amalgamated into the future Alemanni.[53] The Romans allowed Germanic tribes such as the Ubii, Triboci, Nemetes and Vangiones to settle in the deserted areas left of the Rhine. On the right bank of the Upper Rhine, which according to the testimony of Tacitus (Germania 28) had formerly also been occupied by the Helvetians, both the historical and archaeological records are sparse. Ptolemy (2.4.11) in the 2nd century uses the term Eremus Helvetiorum (also rendered Heremus Helvetiorum) "desolation of the Helvetians" to refer to this area (largely corresponding to modern Baden). The term was adopted by Aegidius Tschudi in the 16th century,[54] and remains in use in modern historiography (German: Helvetier-Einöde). It has been proposed that the area inhabited by the Helvetians had extended beyond the Swiss plateau, far into what is now Baden-Württemberg, but had been displaced in the course of the Cimbrian War, some two generations prior to Caesar's invasion of Gaul.[55]

The Swiss plateau was gradually romanized during the 1st to 3rd centuries. The principal Roman settlements were the cities of

vici) and hundreds of villas.[56]

In the course of Romanization, the

Poeninus
. A major cultic center of
Mithras.[57]

Although the

Gaulish language had mostly been ousted by Latin by the 3rd century, many Celtic toponyms have survived in Switzerland. Of the ten largest present-day Swiss cities, at least six have Celtic placename etymologies,[58]
and most major Swiss rivers have either Celtic or pre-Celtic names.[59]

The order and prosperity of the Pax Romana ended with the Crisis of the Third Century. In 260, when the Gallic Empire briefly seceded from Rome, emperor Gallienus withdrew the legions from the Rhine to fight the usurper Ingenuus, allowing the Alemanni to invade the Swiss plateau. There, cities, villages and most villae were raided or sacked by marauding bands. The numerous caches of coins recovered from the period between 250 and 280 attest to the severity of the crisis.[60]

The Helvetii were re-discovered as the forebears of the Swiss in the early historiography of Switzerland, in the late 15th to early 16th century.[61] Their name was adopted as the Latin equivalent of the designation Switzer, and the Swiss Confederacy was given the Latin name of Republica Helvetiorum. The name of the national personification of Switzerland, Helvetia, and the country's contemporary Neo-Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica (abbreviated CH), are derived from this tradition.

In 2015, the star

IAU's NameExoWorlds contest.[63]

Celtic oppida in Switzerland

Raetic
(green) settlements in Switzerland

The distribution of

Swiss plateau between Lausanne and Winterthur was relatively densely populated. Settlement centres existed in the Aare valley between Thun and Bern, and between Lake Zurich and the river Reuss. The Valais and the regions around Bellinzona and Lugano
also seem to have been well-populated; however, those lay outside the Helvetian borders.

Almost all the Helvetic oppida were built in the vicinity of the larger rivers of the Swiss midlands. Not all of them existed at the same time. For most of them, we do not have any idea as to what their Gaulish names might have been, with one or two possible exceptions. Where a pre-Roman name is preserved, it is added in brackets.

Raurici, Veragri
, etc.) rather than the Helvetii.

Notes

  1. ^ Butler, Samuel; Rhys, Ernest (1907). "Map 4, Gallia". The Atlas of Ancient and Classical Geography. Everyman. London; New York: J. M. Dent; E. P. Dutton.
  2. ISBN 978-0-7432-8953-5
    . Gaulish Helvetii.
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-85109-440-7
    .
  4. ^ Bell.Gall. 1.27 and 1.12, respectively
  5. ^ Strabo 4.1.8, 7.2.2.
  6. ^ Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum, 1:19:2
  7. ^ Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 1:1:4
  8. ^ Tacitus. Historiae, 1:67
  9. Ab Urbe Condita Libri
    , epit. 65
  10. ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:106
  11. ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:9:10
  12. ^ a b Falileyev 2010, s.v. Helvetii.
  13. ^ Delamarre 2003, pp. 162, 168.
  14. ^ de Bernardo Stempel 2015, p. 93.
  15. ^ Reproduction in R.C. De Marinis, Gli Etruschi a Nord del Po, Mantova, 1986.
  16. ^ Stähelin, Die Schweiz in römischer Zeit (1927) suggested a corruption of the tribal name in the manuscript tradition of Strabo. A stone marker bearing the inscription INTER TOVTONOS CAH(F?) found in Miltenberg on the Main (which had been the nordern border of the older Helvetian territory according to Tacitus, Germania, 28) is sometimes taken to support this theory. See Stähelin, 1948, p. 59; Strabo 4.1.8, 7.2.2. Ancient writers usually classify the Teutons as "Germanic" and the Helvetii as "Gallic", but the ethnic attributions are debatable; the fluidity of these terms is well illustrated by Ludwig Rübekeil, Diachrone Studien zur Kontaktzone zwischen Kelten und Germanen, Vienna 2002.
  17. ^ Caesar & 58 BC, Book I Section 5
  18. ^ Caesar & 58 BC, Book I Section 29
  19. ^ Other tribal aristocracies were the Aedui (Bell. Gall. 1.3), the Arverni (Bell. Gall. 7.4), or the Remi (Bell. Gall. 2.3).
  20. ^ Bell. Gall. 1.4.
  21. ^ Pliny the Elder, Historia naturalis 12.2.
  22. ^ Strabon 7.2.2.
  23. ^ SPM IV Eisenzeit, Basel 1999, p. 31f.
  24. ^ Ptolemy (1843). "Vol I.Book II.11.10". Geographia (in Greek). Leipzig: Karl Tauchnitz. p. 117.
  25. ^ Germ. 28.2.
  26. ^ Keltisches Geld in Zürich: Der spektakuläre «Potinklumpen». Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Stadtarchäologie, Zürich October 2007.
  27. ^ Michael Nick. "75 kilogrammes of Celtic small coin - Recent research on the "Potinklumpen" from Zürich" (PDF). Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, España. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
  28. ^ Beat Eberschweiler: Schädelreste, Kopeken und Radar: Vielfältige Aufgaben für die Zürcher Tauchequipe IV. In: NAU 8/2001. Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Unterwasserarchäologie / Labor für Dendrochronologie. Zürich 2001.
  29. ^ "Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Switzerland". Swiss Coordination Group UNESCO Palafittes (palafittes.org). Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
  30. ^ "World Heritage". palafittes.org. Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
  31. ^ Posidonius saw the Toutonoi/Teutoni as a subgroup of the Helvetii. Cf. Furger-Gunti, p. 76f.
  32. ^ Bell.Gall. 1.12.
  33. ^ L. Cassius cos. a Tigurinis Gallis, pago Heluetiorum, qui a ciuitate secesserant, in finibus Nitiobrogum cum exercitu caesus est. / Milites, qui ex ea caede superauerant, obsidibus datis et dimidia rerum omnium parte, ut incolumes dimitterentur, cum hostibus pacti sunt. (Periochae LXV)
  34. ^ Book 1, Chapters 2-29
  35. ^ Welch, Kathryn; Powell, Anton; Powell, Jonathan, eds. (1998). Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter: The War Commentaries as Political Instruments. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales. passim.
  36. ^ Caesar & 58 BC, Book I Section 4.
  37. ISBN 2-8315-7159-6
    .
  38. ^ Caesar & 58 BC, Book I Section 5.
  39. ^ Is pagus appellabatur Tigurinus; nam omnis civitas Helvetia in quattuor pagos divisa est. Hic pagus unus, cum domo exisset, patrum nostrorum memoria L. Cassium consulem interfecerat et eius exercitum sub iugum miserat. Ita sive casu sive consilio deorum immortalium quae pars civitatis Helvetiae insignem calamitatem populo Romano intulerat, ea princeps poenam persolvit. Qua in re Caesar non solum publicas, sed etiam privatas iniurias ultus est, quod eius soceri L. Pisonis avum, L. Pisonem legatum, Tigurini eodem proelio quo Cassium interfecerant. Bell. Gall. 1.12.
  40. ^ Bell. Gall. 1.14.
  41. ^ Cic. Balb. 32.
  42. ^ Bell. Gall. 1.29.
  43. ^ Furger-Gunti, 118ff.
  44. ^ Cf. G Walser, Caesar und die Germanen. Studien zur polit. Tendenz römischer Feldzubgerichte. Historia, Einzelschrifen, Vol. 1, 1956.
  45. Octodurus and modern Sierre. Geiser (Un monnayage celtique en Valais. Schweizerische numismatische Rundschau 63, p. 55-125, 1984) has been able to determine the extent of the former tribe's territory, and it will be safe to assume that the Veragri and Seduni together occupied about half the cultivated land of the Valais, with the Nantuates and Ubii inhabiting the other half. As commonly done for Celtic nations, in order to arrive at the total number of people, we multiply the number of fighting men by four, thus arriving at a total population of 120,000 for the two tribes combined. By adding an equal number of people for the two other tribes, one arrives at a total of 240,000 inhabitants for the Valais valley in the 1st century BC. In contrast, the modern-day Swiss canton
    has only 278,000 inhabitants, including the urban settlements.
  46. ^ Furger-Gunti, 102.
  47. ^ H. Delbrück Geschichte der Kriegskunst im Rahmen der politischen Geschichte, Vol. 1, 1900, pp. 428 and 459f.
  48. ^ Furger-Gunti, 104.
  49. ^ Furger-Gunti (p. 116) allows only 60 km for the distance between Bibracte and the fines Lingonum, while Langres and Autun are in fact separated by more than twice this distance. For the average speed of pre-motorised travel, cf. Norbert Ohler Reisen im Mittelalter, p. 141.
  50. ^ Cf. Birkhan, 243f.
  51. ^ CIL 13,5076 names the Tigurini as one of these pagi.
  52. ^ Tacitus Hist. 1.67-69.
  53. ^ Theodor Mommsen, W.P. Dickson (trans.), The History of Rome vol. 4 (1880), p. 232.
  54. ^ J.J. Gallati (ed.), Hauptschlüssel zu zerschiedenen Alterthumen: oder Beschreibung [...] Galliae Comatae (1767), p. 238.
  55. ^ Franz Fischer, "Die Kelten und ihre Geschichte" in: Bittel, Kimmig, Schiek (eds.), Die Kelten in Baden-Württemberg (1981), p. 72.
  56. ^ Ducrey, p. 83.
  57. ^ Prümm "zur kaiserzeitlichen Religionslage in der Schweiz", Religionsgeschichliches Handbuch (1954), p. 766.
  58. Belenos
    ). Derivation of the names of Lucerne and Lugano are uncertain, the latter may contain the theonym Lugus. Basel is the site of a Celtic oppidum, but its name dates to the Roman era, derived from the personal name Basilius, while St. Gallen is an early medieval foundation.
  59. Thur
    . The name of the Reuss (formerly Silana) is of Germanic origin.
  60. ^ Ducrey, Pierre (2006). "Die ersten Kulturen zwischen Alpen und Jura". Geschichte der Schweiz und der Schweizer (4th ed.), Schwabe, p. 101.
  61. ^ The identification of Suecia, alias Helvicia, inde Helvici, id est Suetones is found in a gloss from Reichenau, dated to the late 15th century. Guy P. Marchal, "Die frommen Schweden in Schwyz: Das 'Herkommen der Schwyzer und Oberhasler' als Quelle zum schwyzerischen Selbstverständnis im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert", Basler Beiträge zur zur Geschichtswissenschaft Vol. 138), Basel/Stuttgart 1976, p. 65.
  62. S2CID 4339201
    .
  63. ^ "NameExoWorlds The Approved Names". Archived from the original on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  64. ^ Cf. Furger-Gunti 1984, S. 50–58.
  65. ^ Bern, Engehalbinsel, Römerbad Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine

Primary sources

Bibliography

External links

Look up Helvetii in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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