European Kingdoms

Belaci / Velaci (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).

By the middle of the first century BC, there existed a cluster of smaller tribes in the Alpine region of western Switzerland and the French/Italian border (see map link for all tribal locations). This included the Belaci who occupied a small territory in the Alpes Cottiae, around today's Oulx in Italy, Valle di Susa, about sixty kilometres to the west of Turin.

The Belaci name is likely to be a Celtic one, stemming from the root 'belo-', meaning 'strong', plus the suffix '-aco'. Variants which begin with a 'v' instead of a 'b' also occur in inscriptions, as in Vellaconis, Velaci, Velaco, Velagenius, Vilagenio, Vilagenia, Velagenus, and Velacena.

The modern village of Beaulard can be located in Belaci territory. That name derives from 'Belas', most likely an early medieval form of the Belaci name. The town itself first appeared in records around AD 1000, soon becoming a domain of the counts of Albon. The tribe dwelt around the settlements of Ad Martis (today's Oulx) and Diovia (now Bardonecchia), surrounded by the Ceutrones and Segusini, with the Ucenni to their west and the Taurini to the east.

Their main settlement, Ad Martis, was located on the road which crossed through the Alpes Cottiae to the north of Segusio, at the confluence of the Dora di Bardonecchia and the Dora Riparia. It derives its name from a cult site which was dedicated to the Roman god, Mars, in the form 'ad (fanum) Martis'.

The settlement of Ad Fines (modern Fenils) may have served as the border between the territories of the Segovii and Belaci. They are mentioned as 'Belacorum' on the Augustan Arch which was erected by Cottius of the Cotti Regnum, in Susa in 9-8 BC, now part of Metropolitan Turin.

(Information by Trish Wilson, with additional information from The History of Rome, Volume 1, Titus Livius (translated by Rev Canon Roberts), from The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from Les peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: Étude de géographie historique, Guy Barruol (De Boccard, 1999), and from External Links: Indo-European Chronology - Countries and Peoples, and Indo-European Etymological Dictionary, J Pokorny, and Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith (1854, Perseus Digital Library), and The Natural History, Pliny the Elder (John Bostock, Ed), 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).)

c.600 BC

The first century BC writer, Livy (Titus Livius Patavinus), writes of an invasion into Italy of Celts during the reign of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome. This event will reshape the Alpine populations into a pattern which is familiar to Romans of the first century BC.

Early Rome would have looked more like a large, walled village than the collection of grand stone edifices which are more familiar from the imperial period

As archaeology seems to point to a start date of around 500 BC for the beginning of a serious wave of Celtic incursions into Italy, this event has either been misremembered by later Romans or is an early precursor to the main wave of incursions, probably as a result of the same apparent overpopulation which doubtless forces the start of migration into Iberia around a century earlier than this.

That overpopulation is very evident in Gaul, as this is the direction from which the Celts travel. Their advance into the Po Valley means confrontation with Etruscans who dwell between the Apennines and the Alps.

It also forces the Ligurians southwards, and the ancestors of the Lepontii northwards, while the Raeti also have to relocate, concentrating themselves in the Alps (according to Pliny the Elder).

The Gaulish presence in northern Italy brought it into direct conflict with Etruscan colonies which were spreading northwards into the same territory

474 BC

It seems that the Celtic arrival in northern Italy has not been entirely welcomed. Etruscans, who themselves have been migrating northwards to the River Po from central Italy, have been clashing increasingly with the Celts for domination of the region.

A pivotal showdown takes place at the Battle of Ticinum in this year (which must be located close to the main Celtic settlement of Mediolanum which had been founded by the Bituriges and Insubres of Bellovesus around a century before). The Etruscan force, which is little more than a well-armed militia, is butchered by the Celts in a ferociously-fought battle.

This victory confirms Celtic domination of the region for the next couple of centuries, so that it is called Gallia Cisalpina (Gaul on 'our' side of the Alps, 'ours' being the Latin and Italic side). It probably also makes it possible for Celtic elements such as the Belaci to settle the western Alps.

The origins of the Euganei, Ligurians, Raeti, Veneti, and Vindelici are confused and unclear, but in the last half of the first millennium BC they were gradually being Celticised or were combining multiple influences to create hybrid tribes (click or tap on map to view full sized)

13 - 12 BC

Cottius - for whom the Cottian Alps are named - has maintained the independence of his people. After witnessing Rome's many triumphs against fellow Ligurians and also Celts, around this time he agrees to an alliance with Rome which in effect makes him a client king of the Cotti Regnum. He and his family continue as prefects of Rome to govern twelve Celto-Ligurian tribes.

8 BC

As a prefect of Rome, Cottius invests in ensuring a better road infrastructure across his Alpine territory, which will ensure better profits for his state. He also shows his gratitude to Augustus in 8 BC by erecting at Segusio (today's Suza), a triumphal arch in honour of the emperor.

The impressive, immaculately-restored triumphal Arch of Augustus sits just outside the centre of the modern town of Susa, a town which has its origins in the Segusini tribal oppidum of Segusio

This bears an inscription in which the praefect is named as M Julius Cottius, and the names of his people are included. The 'Belacorum' is also mentioned, land of the Belaci. The authority of Cottius in his Cotti Regnum is inherited by Gaius Julius Donnus and Marcus Julius Cottius, the latter of whom is conferred the title of king by Emperor Claudius.