Salyes
The Salyes or Salluvii (
During most of their early history, the Salyes were in conflict with the neighbouring Greek inhabitants of Massalia, and later on with their ally the Roman Republic, until the consul Gaius Sextius Calvinus sacked their hill-fort Entremont ca. 122 BC. Revolts against the Roman conquerors were crushed in 90 and 83 BC.
Name
They are mentioned as Sallyas by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1] Salluvii and Saluum (var. Saluium, Salluuiorum) by Livy (late 1st c. BC),[2] Sálluas (Σάλλυας), Sállues ( Σάλλυες) and Salúōn (Σαλύων) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),[3] Sallui and Salluuiorum by Pliny (1st c. AD),[4] Sálues (Σάλυες; var. Σάλικες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[5] and as Salyes by Avienius (4th c. AD).[6][7]
The origin of the name remains obscure. The original form was most likely Salyes ≈ Salues (pronounced /Salwes/), later latinized as Salluvii (/Salluwii/). It is the form used by Caesar under the variant Sallyas in the oldest surviving attestation of the name, while Pliny wrote Salluvii some decades later in the late 1st century BC.[8][9][10] According to linguist Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel, Salues may be a Celtic rendering of an original *Sḷwes, meaning 'the own ones'.[9] In the Celtic context, the name is cognate with the Celtiberian Salluienses and Turma salluitana.[10] It has also been compared with the Italic personal names Salluvius, Sallubius, Salluius, and Sallyius.[11]
Geography
Territory
The Salyes dwelled in the hinterland of Massalia, between the Massif de l'Étoile and the Durance river.[8] Their homeland was located north of the Avatici, Tricores and Segobrigii, south of the Dexivates, west of the Tritolli, and east of the Anatilii.[12]
As for the stretch of country which begins at Antipolis and extends as far as Massilia or a little farther, the tribe of the Sallyes inhabits the Alps that lie above the seaboard and also—promiscuously with the Greeks—certain parts of the same seaboard.
— Strabo 1923, Geōgraphiká, 4:6:3.
The Salluvian confederation, a political entity dominated by the Salyes that likely emerged in the 2nd century BC, covered a much larger area stretching from the Rhône to the Loup river (just west of the Var), and reaching the Mediterranean sea to the south, between the Arecomici, the Cavari and the later province of Alpes Maritimae.[8][13][14]
Settlements
Their pre-Roman chief town was the
Another settlement was known as Glanon (Latin Glanum, near modern St-Rémy-de-Provence). The name, meaning 'the clear/transparent one' in Gaulish, probably took its origin from a nearby river.[18][19] Located on the great trade route connecting the Iberian Peninsula to Italy and occupied from the 6th–5th centuries BC onward,[20] Glanon came under Greek influence from the mid-2nd century BC, which has been interpreted either as a takeover by the Massaliotes, or else as a Greek cultural imprint on the local Salluvian aristocracy.[21][22] Glanon may have become the chief town of the Salyes after the sack of Entremont by the Romans ca. 122 BC. Major construction programs were launched between ca. 120 and 90 BC, including sanctuaries, public squares and administrative buildings, presumably for Glanon to assert itself as the dominant settlement of the area and display its new status to its neighbours.[22] Glanon was abandoned ca. 270 AD after suffering from raids by Germanic tribes, and a new walled town was built in its vicinity at the site of St-Rémy.[21]
The oppidum of Baou-Roux was located between Entremont and Massalia.[16]
History
Early history
The Salyes settled in the hinterland of
These were the first of the Transalpine Celti that the Romans conquered, though they did so only after carrying on war with both them and the Ligures for a long time—because the latter had barred all the passes leading to Iberia that ran through the seaboard. And, in fact, they kept making raids both by land and sea, and were so powerful that the road was scarcely practicable even for great armies. And it was not until the eightieth year of the war that the Romans succeeded, though only with difficulty, in opening up the road for a breadth of only twelve stadia to those travelling on public business.
— Strabo 1923, Geōgraphiká, 4:6:3.
Conflicts between Rome and the Salyes lasted during nearly eighty years from the end of the Second Punic War (201 BC), during which the eastern part of Iberia came under Roman control and Massalia remained a faithful ally of Rome, up until the rendition of the Salluvian chief town Entremont ca. 122 BC.[24] Involved in piracy and raids, the Ligurians threatened throughout the 2nd century BC the Massaliotes colonies along the Mediterranean coast, and more generally the trade route between the Iberian Peninsula and Italy. This culminated in a Roman military intervention in 154 BC against the Deciates and Oxybii, two Ligurian tribes that were presumably part of the Salluvian confederation.[25]
Roman conquest
In 125 BC, the Salyes waged war on Massalia, leading the
During the conflict, the leaders of the Salyes, including their king
Between 120 and 117, the territory of the Salyes was incorporated into the
Early Roman period
During the Cimbrian War (113–101 BC), the Battle of Aquae Sextiae took place in their territory in 102 BC.[29] In 90 BC, the consul Gaius Coelius Caldus suppressed a revolt of the Salyes.[32][28] Another revolt was crushed in 83 BC.[15]
After the foundation of a
Culture
Ethnic identity
Writing in the early 1st century AD, Greek geographer Strabo implies that the 'Ligurian' (Λίγυας) Salyes mentioned by earlier writers occupied the hinterland of Massalia, whereas the later 'Celto-Ligurian' (Κελτολίγυας) Salyes also controlled the area between the Rhône and the Luberon.[34]
... though the early writers of the Greeks call the Sallyes 'Ligues', and the country which the Massiliotes hold, 'Ligustica', later writers name them 'Celtoligues', and attach to their territory all the level country as far as Luerio and the Rhodanus, the country from which the inhabitants, divided into ten parts, used to send forth an army, not only of infantry, but of cavalry as well.
—Aquae Sextiae in the 1st century BC.[35]The Celtic names of Salluvian rulers (Toutomotulos) and towns (Glanon) may suggest that Celtic speakers formed the ruling class of the confederation. As seen during the Roman conquest of the region, the local aristrocracy developed links with neighbouring Gallic tribes such as the Allobroges, although literary sources point towards a more complex reality, with significant Greek and Ligurian influences.[13][36]
Religion
The religion of the Salyes centred on the cult of the tête coupée ('severed head'), with important shrines located as Roquepertuse and Entremont.[15] The cult persisted at Entremont until the sack of the settlement by the Romans ca. 122 BC.[37]
A Celtic-Ligurian sanctuary dedicated to the god Glan and the Matres was found at Glanon near a mineral spring.[38]
Political organisation
As originally proposed by historian
The ties uniting those various tribes were probably loose, and local oppida must have retained considerable autonomy, as evidenced by the short lapse of time during which the confederacy collapsed when the Romans destroyed the Salluvian chief town and subjugated their leaders in 122–121 BC.[16]
References
- ^ Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 1:35.
- .
- ^ Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:1:3, 4:1:5, 4:1:6, 4:1:9, 4:1:11, 4:1:12, 4:6:3–4
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:36, 3:47, 3:124.
- ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:10:8.
- ^ Avienius. Ora maritima, 701.
- ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Salluvii and Salyes.
- ^ a b c Barruol 1969, p. 206.
- ^ a b de Bernardo Stempel 2006, p. 46.
- ^ a b Boissinot 2019, pp. 189–190.
- ^ de Hoz 2005, p. 181.
- ^ Talbert 2000, Map 15: Arelate-Massalia, Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.
- ^ a b c Dyson 1985, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Verdin 1998, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b c d Rivet & Drinkwater 2016.
- ^ a b c Dyson 1985, p. 138.
- ^ Rivet 1988, pp. 39–40, 212.
- ^ Lambert 1994, p. 37.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 180.
- ^ Roth-Congès 1997, p. 159.
- ^ a b Rivet 1988, pp. 42, 198.
- ^ a b Collin Bouffier 2009, p. 49.
Livius, Ab Urbe condita 5.34–35.- ^ a b Pralon 1998, p. 22.
- ^ Rivet 1988, p. 32.
- ^ a b Rivet 1988, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Rivet 1988, p. 42.
- ^ a b c Collin Bouffier 2009, pp. 51–52.
- ^ a b Rawlings 2017.
- ^ a b Rivet 1988, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Dyson 1985, p. 150.
- ^ Rivet 1988, p. 55.
- ^ Rivet 1988, p. 196.
- ^ Verdin 1998, p. 33.
- ^ Verdin 1998, p. 35.
- ^ a b de Hoz 2005, p. 182.
- ^ Dyson 1985, p. 137.
- ^ Lafond 2006.
- ^ Barruol 1969, pp. 187–188.
- ^ Rivet 1988, p. 16.
Primary sources
ISBN 978-0-674-99080-7. ISBN 978-0674992566. ISBN 9780674993648. ISBN 978-0674990562.Bibliography
OCLC 3279201.- Boissinot, Philippe (2019). "Les Ligyens et les Salyens d'Hécatée à Strabon". In Bats, Michel (ed.). D'un monde à l'autre : Contacts et acculturation en Gaule méditerranéenne. Centre Jean Bérard. pp. 189–210.
ISBN 978-2-38050-003-5.- Collin Bouffier, Sophie (2009). "Marseille et la Gaule Méditerranéenne avant la Conquête Romaine". In Cabouret, Bernadette (ed.). Rome et l'occident: du IIe s. av. J.-C au IIe s. apr. J.-C. Presses Universitaire du Mirail. pp. 35–60. )
ISSN 1578-5386. ISBN 978-8478825721. ISBN 9782877723695.- Dyson, Stephen L. (1985). The Creation of the Roman Frontier. Princeton University Press.
ISBN 978-1-4008-5489-9.- 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. ISBN 978-2-87772-089-2.- Olshausen, Eckart; Sauer, Vera (2006). "Salluvii". Brill's New Pauly. .
- Pralon, Didier (1998). "Les Salyens dans les textes historiques grecs". Documents d'Archéologie Méridionale. 21 (1): 21–26. .
- Rawlings, Louis (2017). "The Roman Conquest of Southern Gaul, 125-121 BC". In Whitby, Michael; Sidebottom, Harry (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Ancient Battles. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–7.
ISBN 978-1-4051-8645-2. ISBN 978-0-7134-5860-2.- Rivet, A. L. F.; Drinkwater, John F. (2016). "Salluvii". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics. Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 9780199381135.- Roth-Congès, Anne (1997). "La fortune éphémère de Glanum : du religieux à l'économique (à propos d'un article récent)" (PDF). Gallia. 54 (1): 157–202.
S2CID 186319120. ISBN 978-0691031699.- Verdin, Florence (1998). "Les Salyens : faciès culturels et populations". Documents d'Archéologie Méridionale. 21 (1): 27–36. .
Further reading
- Lafond, Yves (2006). "Glanum". Brill's New Pauly. .
- Roman, Yves (1991). "L'intervention romaine de 154 av. J.-C. en Gaule transalpine : essai d'analyse". Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise. 24 (1): 35–38. .
- Verdin, Florence (1990). Les Salyens et leur territoire présumé (PhD thesis). Université de Provence.