The Adunicates were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

Name

They are mentioned as ''Adunicates'' by

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

(1st c. AD).

. ''Naturalis Historia'', 3:35. The etymology of the name is unclear. If Celtic, it may be interpreted as a

haplology Haplology (from Greek "simple" and , "speech") is, in spoken language, the elision (elimination or deletion) of an entire syllable through dissimilation (a differentiating shift that affects two neighboring similar sounds). The phenomenon was ...

(loss of syllable) of

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...

*''Andedunicates'', based on the intensifying prefix ''ande''-. In this view, it could be compared to the personal names ''Andedunis'' and ''Atedunus'' ('big fort').

Geography

The Adunicates lived in the upper

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Suetrii The Suetrii (Gaulish: *''Su(p)etrioi'', 'the good birds') or Suetri were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Castellane ( Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Suebri'' (var. ' ...

and the

Quariates The Quariates or Quadiates were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the valley of Queyras, in the Alps, during the Iron Age. Name They are mentioned as ''Quariates'' (var. ''quadr''-) by Pliny (1st c. AD),Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia'', 3:35. and as ''Qu ...

, north of the

Oxybii The Oxybii or Oxubii (Ancient Greek: ) were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Oxubíōn'' (Ὀξυβίων) by Polybius (2nd c. BC) and Strabo (ear ...

and

Ligauni The Ligauni were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling near the Mediterranean coast during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Ligaunorumque'' by Pliny (1st c. AD).Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia'', 3:35., s.v. ''Ligauni''. ...

References

Primary sources

Bibliography

* * * Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul {{Europe-ethno-group-stub