Intimilii
The Intimilii or Intemelii were a
Name
They are mentioned as Intimilii by
The modern city of Ventimiglia, attested as oppidum Album Intimilium by Pliny (1st c. AD) and as Álbion Intemélion (Ἄλβιον Ἰντεμέλιον) by Strabo, is named after the Ligurian tribe.[4]
The ethnic name Intimilii appears to be of Indo-European origin. Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to interpret their chief town, Album Intimilium, as stemming from an earlier *Albion Vindi-mell-ion ('the white-hill town').[5]
Geography
The Intemelli dwelled on the Mediterranean coast, east of Mont Agel around the town of Album Intimilium (modern Ventimiglia).[6] Their territory was located east of the Vediantii, west of the Ingauni, and south of the Epanterii.[7]
Their chief town was known as Album (or Albium) Intimilium, and later as Albintimilium. Mentioned as an oppidum by Pliny and as a municipium by Tacitus, the settlement was devastated by the supporters of Otho in 69 AD.[8]
History
In 180 BC, the consul Aulus Postumius Albinus, after vanquishing the nearby mountain Ligurians, sent ships to reconnoiter the shores of the Intemelii and Ingauni, which suggests that they were regarded as a potentially hostile tribe by Rome at that time.[9]
In March 49 BC, during the
Be that as it may, what have I ever done to deserve the bad luck of this compulsory journey back to the Alps? The Intimilii are up in arms, for no very momentous reason: Demetrius, Bellienus' slave boy, being stationed there with a detachment of troops, was bribed by the opposite party to seize and strangle one Domitius, a notable of the district and a host of Caesar's. The people rushed to arms. Now I have to trudge there through the snow with [lac.] cohorts. You’ll remark that the Domitii are coming to grief all along the line. Well, I could wish our scion of Venus had shown as much spirit in dealing with your Domitius as Psecas' offspring showed with this one!
— Cicero 2001. Epistulae ad Familiares, 149 (VIII.15).
References
- ^ Cicero. Epistulae ad Familiares, 149 (VIII.15).
- ^ Livy. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, 40:41:6.
- ^ Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:6:2.
- ^ Giannattasio 2007, p. 136.
- ^ de Bernardo Stempel 2006, p. 46.
- ^ Barruol 1969, p. 366.
- ^ Talbert 2000, Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.
- ^ Salomone Gaggero 2006.
- ^ Dyson 1985, p. 103.
- JSTOR 650758.
Primary sources
- ISBN 978-0674995895.
- ISBN 978-0674992566.
- ISBN 978-0674990562.
Bibliography
- OCLC 3279201.
- ISSN 1578-5386.
- Dyson, Stephen L. (1985). The Creation of the Roman Frontier. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-5489-9.
- Giannattasio, Bianca Maria (2007). I liguri e la Liguria: storia e archeologia di un territorio prima della conquista romana. Longanesi. ISBN 978-88-304-2123-3.
- Salomone Gaggero, Eleonora (2006). "Album Intimilium". Brill's New Pauly. .
- ISBN 978-0691031699.