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European Kingdoms

Celtic Tribes

 

Garumni (Gauls)

FeatureIn general terms, the Romans coined the name 'Gaul' to describe the Celtic tribes of what is now central, northern, and eastern France. The Gauls were divided from the Belgae to the north by the Marne and the Seine, and from the Aquitani to the south by the River Garonne, while also extending into Switzerland, northern Italy, and along the Danube (see feature link for a discussion of the origins of the Celtic name).

By the middle of the first century BC, the Garumni were a minor tribe which was located amongst the tribes of the Aquitani, on the northern side of the Pyrenees. They were neighboured by a swathe of Aquitani to the west, including the Ausci and Elusates, and by the Lactorates and Cadurci to the north, the Ruteni to the east, and the Garites to the south.

The tribe's name is a relatively simple one to interpret. The proto-Celtic word list shows the first part as 'gar-e/o-', meaning 'speak'. This is related to 'gar-jo-', meaning 'word' or 'speech'. The second part could be 'uman', meaning 'here', indicating a tribe which may have been named after the location at which their 'speakers' (or orators) would meet. The importance of orators in Celtic society was most likely very high. Words for speakers seem to come up fairly often, such as in the form of the Lingones and Tungri names.

The Garumni lived along the upper River Garonne, the general border between Gaul and the Aquitani tribes. A de Valois proposed that they occupied a tract of land along the Garonne (modern Rivière), to the north of the Convenae, or land in the diocese of St Bertrand de Comminge, as far as the borders of the diocese of Rieux. This conjecture is accepted by D'Anville and other writers, but although it sounds reasonable it cannot be proven.

A degree of migration may have occurred, from the upper Garonne to the lower Garonne around the commune of Gironde sur Dropt, about fifty-six kilometres to the south-east of Bordeaux, with the tribe possibly being or becoming a sub-division of the Vasates.

A section of scholarly opinion counts the Garumni as Aquitani rather than Celts, but the name breakdown clearly shows a Celtic origin and explanation for that. Supporters of the Aquitani link cite the tribe as being named after the the Garonne (Garumna), with river names generally being ancient while tribes came and went (although the Garonne name is a peculiar case with specific uncertainty).

A possibility is that the main body of the tribe had been Aquitani but had been taken over by a Celtic elite, so that it ended up speaking a Celtic language and with a Celticised version of an Aquitani name which originally came from the tribe's proximity to the river.

Ancient Britons

(Information by Peter Kessler and Edward Dawson, with additional information by Trish Wilson, from the Encyclopaedia of European Peoples, Carl Waldman & Catherine Mason, from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith, from Geography, Ptolemy, from Roman History, Cassius Dio, from Research into the Physical History of Mankind, James Cowles Pritchard, from Geography, Strabo, translated by H C Hamilton Esq & W Falconer, M A, Ed (George Bell & Sons, London, 1903), from A Genetic Signal of Central European Celtic Ancestry, David K Faux, from Celts and the Classical World, David Rankin, from Europe Before History, Kristian Kristiansen, from Diccionario vasco–español–francés, Resurreción María Azkue (two-volume, trilingual dictionary, 1905), from Hauta-lanerako euskal hiztegia, Ibon Sarasola (Gipuzkoako Kutxa, 1990), from Mini hiztegia euskara-euskara, Ibon Sarasola (Lur, Editorial S, 1996), and from External Links: The Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars, and the Etymological Dictionary of Basque, R L Trask (available in PDF format via the Etymological Dictionary, Max Wheeler (Ed, PDF), and Aquitania (University of California), and Celtiberia.net (in Spanish), and Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa (in Spanish), and Euskomedia (in Spanish).)

56 BC

When war flares up again in Gaul, triggered by Publius Licinius Crassus and the Seventh Legion in the territory of the Andes, Caesar has to turn back from his journey to Illyrium to handle the problem. Crassus is sent to Aquitania to subdue the tribes there and prevent an all-out war against stretched Roman troops. The Cantabri send assistance to the Aquitani.

Midi du Bigorre in the French region of Aquitania
The territory into which the initially-Celtic Garumni and other such tribes had settled was typical of the Aquitani region, which was made up mostly of rugged foothills of the kind which border peoples normally use to survive invasions by later arrivals - the Welsh and early Scots held onto similar territory in Britain to enable them to survive the Anglo-Saxon invasion

Subduing the Petrocorii along the way, he recruits auxiliaries from the Gaulish regions of Tolosa, Carcaso, and Narbo (which includes the tribes of the Bebryces, Sordones, and Volcae) before entering the territory of the Sotiates.

That tribe has gathered together a large force which attacks the Romans in a drawn-out and vigorously-contested engagement. The Romans are only just victorious, having outlasted their hot-headed Celtic opponents in terms of stamina.

The tribe's oppidum is besieged and they eventually surrender, despite an attempt by Adcantuannus of the Sotiates to lead his personal retinue into a death or glory attack and other Celts undermining the siege towers (thanks to the presence of copper in the region these Celts and their Aquitani neighbours are expert miners).

Crassus marches into the territories of the Vocates and Tarusates. They prove to be a rather more difficult opponent. The campaign against the Sotiates has given them time to raise troops from northern Iberia, many of which had fought with Quintus Sertorius, a rebellious governor of Iberia who defied Rome for a decade, and they have learnt a great deal from that experience.

Map of European Tribes
This vast map covers just about all possible tribes which were documented in the first centuries BC and AD, mostly by the Romans and Greeks, and with an especial focus on 52 BC (click or tap on map to view at an intermediate size)

They outnumber Crassus perhaps by ten-to-one and hold a very strong position which prevents him from gathering supplies for his men. The only option (aside from an unthinkable retreat) is to engage them in battle, despite the odds.

Pinning them down at the front, he sends cavalry around to their rear to scout out any weakness. Their entirely unguarded rear is attacked and, with Romans pressing from two sides, the Aquitani are forced to surrender with heavy casualties.

When news of this defeat spreads, the majority of the tribes of Aquitania surrender to Crassus, including the Ausci, Bigerriones, Cocosates, Elusates, Garites, Garumni, Preciani, Suburates, Tarbelli, Tarusates, and 'Vocasates' (and presumably the unmentioned Oscidates).

Other tribes also remain unmentioned, including smaller Aquitani tribes such as the Benearni - and even larger ones like the Consoranni - but, as the smaller ones generally sit within the shadow of the much more powerful larger tribes, their surrender is entirely to be expected. Today those on the western bank of the Garonne form part of the largely unofficial Basque Country.

With this action, Aquitania has been brought under Roman domination, and the history of its population of Celts and Aquitani is tied to that of the empire.

Caesar Augustus
During his long 'reign' as Rome's first citizen, Augustus brought peace to that city and oversaw its transition from failing republic to vigorous and expanding empire

28 BC

Despite submitting fully in 56 BC, it seems that the conquest of the Aquitani and the neighbouring Celtic tribes is effected only now, by Proconsul Marcus Valerius Messalla. The proconsul is awarded a triumph for his success, suggesting that some fighting had been involved.

That award further suggests that the submission of 56 BC had gained the tribes some sort of allied status, but for the most part up until this point they had been able to remain essentially autonomous.

27 BC - AD 14

During the period of office of Augustus in Rome, the Aquitani tribes are incorporated into the newly-formed province of Aquitania. The province extends from the Liger (the modern Loire) to the Pyrenees, and is bound on the northern side by Mons Cevennus. This is one of the three divisions of the Gauls, the others being Gallia Lugdunensis and Belgica.

Triumph of Titus and Vespasian
The triumph of Marcus Valerius Messalla would have been similar to the one shown in Triumph of Titus and Vespasian, an Italian oil by Giulio Pippi (Romano) - very much a form of street party with a 'royal' procession, and usually held to celebrate a military victory

555

In the early medieval period the Aquitani lands are first confirmed as a possession of the Franks, after a long struggle to wrest them from the hands of the Visigoths. A Merovingian duke by the name of Chramn is appointed to govern Aquitaine, which contains within it the region of Gascony.

 
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