Veliocasses
The Veliocasses or Velocasses (Gaulish: *Weliocassēs) were a Belgic or Gallic tribe of the La Tène and Roman periods, dwelling in the south of modern Seine-Maritime and in the north of Eure.[1]
Name
They are mentioned as Veliocasses by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Pliny (1st c. AD),[2] as Ou̓éliokásioi (Οὐέλιοκάσιοι; var. οὐενελιοάσιοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[3] and as Velocasses by Orosius (early 5th c. AD).[4][5]
The meaning of the
The county of Vexin, attested in 617 as pagus Veliocassinus ('pagus of the Veliocasses'; Vilcassinum in 1092, Vulesin in 1118), is named after the ancient tribe.[11]
Geography
The territory of the Veliocasses was located in the north and, limited extent, also in the south of the lower reaches of the Sequana (Seine) river.[1] Their territory was situated between that of the Caletes and Bellovaci. Wooded heights constituted a natural frontier with the Bellovaci, where the latter dominated.[12]
During the pre-Roman period, their capital was probably the oppidum of Camp de Calidou (near Caudebec), then Rotomagus (present-day Rouen) after the reign of Augustus (27 BC–14 AD).[1] The settlement was an important harbour for exports to the British Island in the 2nd century AD.[13]
History
During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), the Veliocasses participated in the tribal coalition of the Belgae that resisted the Romans in 57 BC. In 52 they raised 3,000 men to support Vercingetorix, and fought alongside the Bellovaci in the final rebellion against Roman hegemony.
Culture
As for the neighbouring Calates, whether the Veliocasses should be regarded as Gallic or Belgic is debatable.[12]
References
- ^ a b c Polfer 2006.
- ^ Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 2:4, 8:7; Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:107.
- ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:8:7.
- ^ Orosius. Historiae Adversus Paganos, 6:7:14.
- ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Veliocasses.
- ^ a b Delamarre 2003, p. 311.
- ^ a b Busse 2006, p. 199.
- ^ Matasović 2009, p. 410.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, pp. 109–110: "H. Birkhan parvient cependant à la conclusion raisonnable que -casses et cassi- sont deux mots différents, que -casses signifie probablement 'au cheveux bouclés / crépus' ("mit wirrem Kraushaar") et s'explique par la coiffure spéciale des Celtes au combat (une forme celto-germanique *kazdh- permettrait d'unifier le celtique -cass- et les mots v.norr. haddr 'longs cheveux de femme', ags. heord 'chevelure' < *kazdh-to-/ti-)."
- ^ de Bernardo Stempel 2015, p. 85.
- ^ Roblin 1976, pp. 4, 28.
- ^ a b Wightman 1985, p. 27.
- .
Primary sources
- ISBN 978-0-674-99080-7.
- ISBN 9780674993648.
Bibliography
- Busse, Peter E. (2006). "Belgae". In Koch, John T. (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 195–200. ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0.
- ISBN 978-3-7329-0143-2.
- ISBN 9782877723695.
- 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 9789004173361.
- Polfer, Michel (2006). "Veliocasses". Brill's New Pauly. .
- Roblin, Michel (1976). "Petromanlalum, Saint-Clair et le Vexin". Journal des Savants. 1 (1): 3–31. .
- ISBN 978-0-520-05297-0.