European Kingdoms

Agnanutes (Gauls)

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In 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).

The Agnanutes are a mystery tribe of Gauls. For some reason they have no mention in De Bello Galico and are mentioned only by Pliny as one of the tribes of the province of Aquitania. The same is said about the Ambiliati and Pictones even though the northern border of that province was not the River Garonne, not the Loire.

According to the French historian, Jean Hiernard, their location could have been southwards of the Loire and to the east of the Sevres, in the region which was known as the Mauges which would place the Agnanutes in the territory of the Ambiliati.

Hiernard took the view that their territory lay to the west of the Sevres, although the possibility has to be taken into consideration that the Agnanutes were, like so many, a minor client tribe. He also took the view that they were part of an Armorican federation of tribes and that, during the reign of Augustus, there may well have occurred a great deal of suppression in the matter of Gaulish tribal history.

The Ambiliati were themselves attached to the Pictones despite the fact that they were pro-Roman and anti-Armorican. This point of view has received fairly wide support amongst other French historians.

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(Information by Trish Wilson, with additional information from the Encyclopaedia of European Peoples, Carl Waldman & Catherine Mason, from Caesar's Conquest of Gaul, TR Holmes, from Roman History, Cassius Dio, from Geography, Strabo, translated by H C Hamilton Esq & W Falconer, M A, Ed (George Bell & Sons, London, 1903), from Encyclopaedia of the Roman Empire, Matthew Bunson (1994), and from External Links: The Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars, and Jones' Celtic Encyclopaedia, and L'Arbre Celtique (The Celtic Tree, in French), and Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz or Dictionnaire Historique de la Suisse or Dizionario Storico dell Svizzera (in German, French, and Italian respectively).)

56 BC

Following his successful campaign against the Belgae in the previous year, Caesar sets out for Illyricum. Once he has left, war flares up again, triggered by Publius Licinius Crassus and the Seventh Legion in the territory of the Andes. With supplies of corn running low, he sends scavenging parties into the territories of the Cariosvelites, Esubii, and the highly influential Veneti.

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)

The latter revolt against this infringement of their lands and possessions, and the neighbouring tribes rapidly follow their lead, including the Ambiliati (and Agnanutes?), Diablintes, Lexovii, Menapii, Morini, Namniti, Nannetes, and Osismii. The Veneti also send for auxiliaries from their cousins in Britain.

Julius Caesar rushes back to northern Gaul, to a fleet that is being prepared for him by the (Roman-led) Pictones and Santones on the River Loire. The Veneti and their allies fortify their towns, stock them with corn harvests from the surrounding countryside, and gather together as many ships as possible.

Knowing that the overland passes are cut off by estuaries and that a seaward approach is highly difficult for their opponents, they plan to fight the Romans using their powerful navy in the shallows of the Loire.

The campaign by Caesar against the Veneti is protracted and takes place both on land and sea. Veneti strongholds, when threatened, are evacuated by sea and the Romans have to begin again.

Roman auxiliaries in the form of the Aeduii attack a Veneti vessel in Morbihan Bay on the French Atlantic coast during the campaign of 56 BC

Eventually the Veneti fleet is cornered and defeated in Quiberon Bay by Legate Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. The Veneti strongholds are stormed and much of the Veneti population is either captured and enslaved or butchered. The confederation is destroyed and Roman rule is firmly stamped upon the region.