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. By the middle of the first century BC, the Venelli were located in
Gaul in what is now the Cherbourg peninsula of north-western
Normandy. They were
neighboured to the east by the
Lexovii, to the
south by the Boiocasses,
to the south-west across the Gulf of St-Malo (which contains the islands of
Guernsey and Jersey) by the
Redones, and across the English Channel by the
Durotriges.
Julius Caesar referred to the tribe as the Unelli. The more commonly-used
Venelli tribal name appears to be constructed of 'ven' (which was pronounced
'wen') plus a diminutive suffix, '-ellus', which was altered to '-elli' to
make a plural. It seems highly likely that the 'ven' is derived from the
proto-Celtic 'vindo', meaning 'white', and not from 'ven', meaning 'love'.
So the tribal name would be 'the smaller group of the "Whites"', and
certainly not the 'little lovers'!
Although there seems to be little concrete similarity in the construction of
their names, the Venelli could have been related to the
Veneti,
the major seafaring nation on the Atlantic coast. Veneti ships were accustomed
to cross the Channel to
Britain
in large numbers and they dominated the other peoples who were engaged in
sea trade in the region.
The tribe occupied territory around Cotentin, with an oppidum at
Cosedia (modern Coutances). Having seen the Belgae crushed by the might of
Julius Caesar's legions in 57 BC, over the following winter the Armorican
peoples presented a united front in the face of Roman foraging expeditions
and the resultant revolt. Quintus Sabinus was sent with three legions to
isolate the Venelli,
Cariosvelites, and
Lexovii, all of whom were led by a single chieftain named Viridovix. The
three tribes were defeated by a mixture of Roman trickery and brutal
exploitation of an advantage, and the revolt was crushed. The wider rebellion
was also defeated, but only after some hard fighting and much Gaulish
resistance. The Vanelli are also name-checked both by Pliny the Elder in
his Natural History and by Ptolemy in his Geography.
A client tribe of the Venelli was the Abrincatui. They were a Late
Hallstatt tribe that left their homeland to the south-east of Cologne on the
River Abrinca (Vinxtbach) in the sixth or fifth century BC. They settled in
Armorica, on the River See around modern Avranches, but were dominated by
the Venelli until proper Roman occupation of the area began in 49 BC. The
tribe's name breaks down into two parts - 'abro' and 'catu'. The last part,
'catu', is the familiar word used to mean 'fight/battle/war' that was also
used in the
Catuvellauni name (and others). The first part, 'abro', means 'very'.
This is likely to have been the 'very warlike' tribe, or the 'very battlers'
(ie. 'super warriors'), or something similar.
(Information by Peter Kessler and Edward Dawson, with additional information
from The La Tene Celtic Belgae Tribes in England: Y-Chromosome Haplogroup
R-U152 - Hypothesis C, David K Faux, from The Celtic Encyclopaedia,
Harry Mountain, from Geography, Ptolemy, from Natural History,
Pliny the Elder, 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), and from External Link:
The
Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars.)
The
Belgae enter into
a confederacy against the
Romans
in fear of Rome's eventual domination over them. They are also spurred on by
Gauls who are unwilling to see
Germanic tribes
remaining on Gaulish territory and are unhappy about Roman troops wintering
in Gaul. The Senones are
asked by Julius Caesar to gain intelligence on the intentions of the Belgae,
and they report that an army is being collected. Caesar marches ahead of
expectations and, in a single campaigning season, the Belgic tribes are
defeated or surrender to Rome. According to Caesar, the
Aulerci,
Cariosvelites,
Osismii,
Redones,
Sesuvii,
Venelli, and
Veneti,
all of whom are located along the Atlantic coast, are subdued by the legion
of Publius Licinius Crassus. With this action, northern Gaul has been brought
under Roman domination.
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.
The latter revolt against this infringement of their lands and possessions,
and the neighbouring tribes rapidly follow their lead, including the
Ambiliati,
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.
Before engaging the Veneti, Caesar sends troops to the
Remi,
Treveri, and
other Belgae to encourage them to keep to their allegiance with Rome and to
hold the Rhine against possible incursions by
Germans who may be planning
to join the Veneti. This works, with even the previously militant
Bellovaci
remaining subdued during this revolt. Crassus is sent to Aquitania and Quintus
Titurius Sabinus to the Cariosvelites, Lexovii and Venelli, to prevent them
sending reinforcements to the Veneti. Sabinus finds that their single chieftain,
Viridovix, has joined the revolt, along with the
Aulerci and
Sexovii, who have killed their
magistrates for wanting to remain neutral. Sabinus remains in his well-fortified
camp, resisting the taunts of the Venelli and their allies until they venture
too far forwards, allowing a Roman sally across the defensive ditch and into
the fleeing Celtic ranks. This area of the revolt is instantly extinguished.
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
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. 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.
52 BC
While Caesar is tied down in
Rome,
the Gauls begin their revolt, resolving to die in freedom rather than be
suppressed by the invaders. The
Carnutes take
the lead under Cotuatus and Conetodunus when they kill the Roman traders
who have settled in Genabum. News of the event reaches the
Arverni
that morning, and Vercingetorix summons his people to arms. His cavalry
subsequently routed in battle, he withdraws in good order to Alesia, a
major fort belonging to the
Mandubii. The
remaining cavalry are dispatched back to their tribes to bring reinforcements.
Caesar begins a siege of Alesia, aiming on starving out the inhabitants.
Four relief forces amounting to a considerable number of men and horses are
assembled in the territory of the Aeduii by the council of the Gaulish
nobility. Demanded from the tribes of Gaul are six thousand men combined
from the tribes of Armorica (including the
Ambibari,
Caleti,
Cariosvelites,
Lemovices,
Osismii,
Redones, Venelli, and
Veneti).
Together they attempt to relieve Vercingetorix at the siege of Alesia, but
the combined relief force is soundly repulsed by Julius Caesar. Seeing that
all is lost, Vercingetorix surrenders to Caesar. The garrison is taken
prisoner, as are the survivors from the relief army. They are either sold
into slavery or given as booty to Caesar's legionaries, apart from the
Aeduii and
Arverni warriors who are released and pardoned in order to secure the
allegiance of these important and powerful tribes.
The site of Alesia, a major fort belonging to the Mandubii tribe
of Celts, was the scene of the final desperate stand-off between
Rome and the Gauls in 52 BC
With this action, all of Gaul has been brought under
Roman
domination, and the history of its population of
Celts
is tied to that of the empire.
AD 140 - 143
The
Romans
move north to the Forth-Clyde line, roughly the southern
Pictish
boundary, reoccupying
British
Lowland Scotland and beginning construction of the more basic Antonine Wall.
It is around this time that the geographer, Ptolemy, notes the tribes to
the north of the wall. Some of them receive their one and only mention in
history and it is thought that at least one or two tribes may have been
created by refugees fleeing the Roman invasion of the south.
The tribes mentioned include the
Caereni,
Caledonii (along either side of Loch Ness southwards from the Moray Firth to Ben Nevis),
Carnonacae,
Cornavii (possibly formed by members of the
Cornovii
tribe fleeing from the south),
Creones,
Decantae (on the western side of the mouth of the Moray Firth, possibly
formed by fleeing
Cantii),
Epidii, Lugi, Smertae, Taexalli, Vacomagi (on the eastern side of the mouth
of the Moray Firth), and
Venicones
(on the peninsula between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, possibly
refugee Veneti
from the Continent).
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