European Kingdoms

Sebagini / Sebaginni (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 Sebagini or Sebaginni (either spelling is valid) who seemingly occupied a small territory in or near Sisteron (itself a holding of the Sogiontii) on the French side of the western Alps.

The tribe is known only thanks to a short passage by Cicero, in his plea which was delivered in 81 BC in favour of Publius Quinctius, the pro quinctio, in a case of inheritance misappropriation. Cicero's plea concerns an estate which was owned by Quinctius and which was located amongst the Sebagini.

The tribe - if that is what it was - is claimed to have lain 1,126 kilometres from Rome. Since such distances were always given with Roman roads in mind rather than as the crow flies, Cicero's description of the Sebagini is appropriate for the region around the middle Durance, with Sisteron (Segustero) being only fifteen kilometres farther on from the distance given above.

The Via Domitia had been laid down at the end of the second century BC, in a region which had been subdued by Fulvius Flaccus in 125 BC (see the Salluvii for details). Travelling 1,126 kilometres along this road will mean arriving at Upaix, a village in the Hautes-Alpes department of Provence, between Gap and Sisteron.

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(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), from Die Kelten in Österreich nach den ältesten Berichten der Antike, Gerhard Dobesch (in German), from Urbanizzazione delle campagne nell'Italia antica, Lorenzo Quilici & Stefania Quilici Gigli (in Italian), from La frontiera padana, Mauro Poletti (in Italian), 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), and Le Alpi (Università di Trento), and Pleiades (Ancient World Mapping Center and Institute for the Study of the Ancient World).)

58 BC

The Gallic Wars of Julius Caesar begin when he becomes governor of Gaul. Over the course of the next decade or so he conquers all of the Celts in western Gaul. His efforts begin with a showdown against Ariovistus of the Suevi at the Battle of Vosges. Superior Roman tactics breaks that line and the Suevi host makes a run for the Rhine.

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)

A chieftain called Donnus commands one or more Celto-Ligurian tribes which sit across one of the better routes between Rome and Gaul, probably including the Brigianii and quite possibly the Quariates and Savincates, while the Sebagini remain a mystery.

The region will later be named the Cottian Alps, in honour of his son who will also command the Cotti Regnum. He initially opposes Caesar, but the two come to an agreement which means peace in this particular Alpine region.

13 - 12 BC

Cottius - for whom the Cottian Alps are named - has maintained the independence of his people following the Alpine Wars. From the use of the Segusini chief oppidum of Segusio, it could be the case that Cottius is of that tribe.

The jagged peaks and wooded gorges of the little-known Valle Maira are part of the Cottian Alps, the basis of the small, briefly-independent Celto-Ligurian 'Cotti Regnum' state during the first centuries BC and AD

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. Not all of those tribes include fully blended Celto-Ligurians however, as the Quariates and Savincates are apparently counted as subjects of Cottius.

AD 63

The Cottian prefecture is annexed peacefully by Emperor Nero upon the death of Cottius II. In its place Nero creates the province of Alpes Cottiae, one of three Alpine provinces which also includes the Alpes Graiae et Poeninae and Alpes Maritimae. During the medieval period this territory is divided between the duchy of Savoy and the county of Albon.

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

The fact that the Roman empire now unquestionably controls the entire Alpine region - giving it free access to Gaul and Germania - probably hastens the final decline and disappearance of any non-Indo-European or Celto-Ligurian traits, customs, and languages here.