European Kingdoms

Tricastii / Tricastini (Gauls / Celto-Ligurians?)
Incorporating the Tilcastini

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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 Tricastii or Tricastini (and perhaps the otherwise unknown Tilcastini) who occupied a small territory in the modern département of the Drôme, between the Rubion and Aygues, on the banks of the Rhône.

Mentioned as Tricastinos by Livy (late in the first century BC), and as Trikastínoi by Ptolemy (second century AD), they were neighboured to the north by the Allobroges and Segusini, to the east by the Edenates and Brigiani tribes of Celto-Ligurians and by the Quariates Celts, to the south by the Segovellauni and Caturiges, and more distantly to the west by the Helvii.

Their name is a tricky one to break down. With the '-in/on' and '-i' suffixes removed, the first part, 'tri', means 'three'. The second part could be *kasti, meaning 'hate', or *Kasti-, part of a personal name, or even *kasto, meaning 'fast'. The 'triple haters', perhaps. Or the 'triple fast'? Given the tribe's small size and location amidst a swathe of Celto-Ligurian tribes, perhaps there was some influence to that name which would make it hard to analyse on the basis of it being purely Celtic.

The Tricastii were mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography as members of Gallia Narbonensis, with their oppidum at Neomagus, the modern town of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux which, during the reign of Augustus, was renamed Augusta Tricastinorum. Even today the region they occupied is known as Tricastin.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, Edward Dawson, & Trish Wilson, with additional information from The La Tene Celtic Belgae Tribes in England: Y-Chromosome Haplogroup R-U152 - Hypothesis C, David K Faux, from Geography, Ptolemy, from Roman History, Cassius Dio, from Research into the Physical History of Mankind, James Cowles Pritchard, 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: Geography, Strabo (H C Hamilton & W Falconer, London, 1903, Perseus Online Edition), 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).)

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. 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.

An idealised illustration of Gauls on an expedition, from A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times Volume I by Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

Livy writes that two centuries before major Celtic attacks take place against Etruscans and Romans in Italy, a first wave of invaders from Gaul fights many battles against the Etruscans who dwell between the Apennines and the Alps.

At this time, the Bituriges are the supreme power amongst the Celts (who already occupy a third of the whole of Gaul). Livy understands that this tribe had formerly supplied the king for the whole Celtic race, either suggesting a previously more central governance of the Celts that is now beginning to fragment or the typical assumption that one powerful king rules an entire people.

The prosperous and courageous, but now-elderly Ambigatus is the ruler of the Bituriges, and over-population means a division of its number is required. Ambigatus sends his sister's sons, Bellovesus and Segovesus, to settle new lands with enough men behind them to put down any opposition.

This map shows not only the greatest extent of Etruscan influence in Italy, during the seventh to fifth centuries BC, but also Gaulish intrusion to the north, which compressed Etruscan borders there (click or tap on map to view on a separate page)

Bellovesus heads towards Italy, inviting fellow settlers to join him from six tribes, the Aeduii, Ambarri, Arverni, Aulerci, Bituriges, Carnutes, and Senones. The body of people which is led by Bellovesus himself apparently consists mainly of Insubres, a canton (or sub-division) of the Aeduii, but the Tricastii are also mentioned by Livy in connection with this migration.

218 BC

Writing in the mid-second century BC, Polybius provides the Allobroges, Segovellauni, and Tricastii with their first mention in history. The Allobroges are already established on the western side of the Alps where they control many of the important passes through the Alpine mountains.

They (and 'other tribes' which may include the Medulli) unsuccessfully attempt to resist the passage of Hannibal and his Carthaginian army which is on its way to attack Rome during the Second Punic War.

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)

Perhaps not unexpectedly, it seems to be fellow Celts, the Boii, who first show the mountain passes to Hannibal, after the Segovellauni have escorted them through Allobroges lands. Tribal politics often means using your enemy's enemy to strike a blow against them.

123 - 121 BC

The Allobroges come into direct conflict with Rome following the latter's defeat of the Salluvii. That tribe's king, Tuto-Motulus, flees northwards and seeks shelter with the Allobroges. They welcome him in, and when Rome demands that he is handed over, they refuse.

Having declared war, Rome sends Quintus Fabius Maximus to attack them in 121 BC. He is the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus, consul of 145 BC, and is consul himself during this year. He campaigns in Gallia Transalpina (the modern Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes regions) with Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, fighting the Allobroges, Arverni, and Helvii.

The Celtic tribes of the western Alps were relatively small and fairly fragmented, but they made up for that with a level of belligerence and fighting ability which often stunned their major opponents, including the Romans

They are defeated and the consul is awarded the honour of a triumph which is famous for its spectacle, with the Arverni ruler, Bituitus, being displayed in his silver battle armour. The Elisyces, Ruteni, Segovellauni, Vocontii, and Volcae Arecomisci are subjugated at the same time, along with the Tricastii.

58 - 56 BC

The Segovellauni remain allied to Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars which see the rest of the Gaulish tribes subjugated under Roman authority. With a number of belligerent tribes occupying the Alpine region around them, this small tribe probably welcomes Roman protection and support for its very existence.

The region's Gaulish tribes are now largely under Roman domination, and it could be around this point that the Tricastii join up with the Segovellauni and surrender their individual identity, possibly within a Cavari confederation. Unfortunately the event is not recorded by Roman writers.

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)