Ambicatus or Ambigatus ( Gaulish: 'He who fights in both directions') is a legendary Gallic king of the Bituriges, said to have lived ca. 600 BC. According to a legend recounted by Livy, he sent his sister's sons Bellovesus and Segovesus in search of new lands to settle because of overpopulation in their homeland. Segovesus headed towards the Hercynian Forest, while Bellovesus is said to have led the Gallic invasion of the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

during the legendary reign of the fifth king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus (616–579 BC), where he allegedly conquered the Etruscans and founded the city of Mediolanum ( Milan).

Name

The Gaulish personal name ''Ambigatus'' is a variant form of an earlier ''Ambicatus'', meaning 'the one who fights in both directions'. It is a compound formed with the root ''ambi''- ('around, on both sides') attached to -''catu''- ('combat, battle'). Peter E. Busse and

John T. Koch John T. Koch is an American academic, historian and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopedia'' (2006, ABC Clio). He ...

note that Gaulish names that entered Latin through the Etruscan language often show this confusion between /k/ and /g/, since Etruscan did not distinguish between the two sounds (e.g. Lat. ''gladius'' < Gaul. *''cladios'').

Origin

Although the background of the story is anachronistic, for the historical Celtic invasion of the Italian Peninsula occurred between the end of the 5th century and the middle of the 4th century BC, in the context of the Battle of the Allia (387 BC), the essence of the myth was most likely inspired by actual events. Many Greek ceramics and amphoras imported from

Massalia Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western An ...

, as well as local productions of fine art pottery dated to the second part of the 6th century BC were found on the site of

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

, which, according to historian Venceslas Kruta, gives archeological credit to the essence of the tradition reported by Livy evoking the power of the people of the region well before his own time. Kruta further contends that the story "is probably the legendary construction of a 'myth of origins', likely Insubrian, which integrates various elements borrowed from Celtic, Cisalpine and Transalpine traditions, as well as Massaliote and Etrusco-Italian."

Story

The legend is recounted by the Roman historian Livy in his '' Ab Urbe Condita Libri'', written in the late 1st century BC:

References

;Citations ;Primary sources * ;Bibliography * * * * {{refend 7th-century BC rulers Celtic warriors Gaulish rulers