Andicavi

The Andecavi (also Andicavi, Andegavi, or Andigavi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in Aremorica during the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Andecavi'' (var. ''andic''-, ''andeg''-, ''andig''-) by Pliny (1st c. AD), ''Andecavi'' and ''Andecavos'' by Tacitus (early 2nd c. AD), ''A̓ndíkauoi'' (Ἀνδίκαυοι; var. Ὀνδικαοῦαι, Ὠνδικαοῦαι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), and as ''Andicavos'' (var. ''andegauus'', ''andecauos'', ''andigabos'', ''andigabus'', ''andicabos'') by Orosius (early 5th c. AD)., entry 3008.

The etymology of the ethnonym ''Andecavī'' remains uncertain. ''Ande-'' is a Gaulish intensifying suffix, but the interpretation of the second element is difficult. ''Andecaui'' could mean ''those of the big hollow', by deriving the name from the Celtic root ''*kuwo-'' ('hollow'; cf. OIr. ''cúa,'' 'hollow, cavity'; Welsh ''keu'', 'hollow, closed'; OBr. ''cau'', 'closed, covered'). Pierre-Yves Lambert has also suggested a connection with a shortened form of the Celtic root ''*kawaro-'' ('hero, champion'; cf. OIr. ''cuar'' 'hero', Middle Welsh ''cawr'' 'giant').

The city of Angers, attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Andecavorum'' ('civitas of the Andecavi', ''Andegavis'' in 861–882, ''Angieus'' in 1127), and the region of Anjou, attested in 767 as ''pago Andegavinse'' (''in Andecavo'' in 797, ''Anjau'' ca. 1071–1127), are named after the Gallic tribe.

Geography

The territory of the Andecavi roughly corresponded with the diocese of Angers, Anjou, in the department Maine-et-Loire in present-day France. Although Caesar locates the Andes "near the Ocean", they held no coast and were located inland along the Loire river.

History

In Book 3 of the ''Bellum Gallicum'', Caesar says that the Andes provided winter quarters for Publius Crassus after his mission into Armorica, which brought several Gallic polities into relations with Rome. Over the winter of 57–56 BC, the Romans built a fleet on the Loire under the command of Decimus Brutus, presumably in preparation for an invasion of Britannia, but which was instead called into action against the Veneti when Armorican objections were raised.

The Andes, led by Dumnacus, played a significant role in the continuing war against Rome after the defeat of Vercingetorix at Alesia. Dumnacus's efforts are recounted by Aulus Hirtius in his continuation of the ''Bellum Gallicum'' (Book 8), which covers the two years of the war after Caesar had declared his mission accomplished. Dumnacus lay siege to Limonum (present-day Poitiers), an oppidum of the Pictones, and engaged without success the Roman relief army under the command of Gaius Caninius Rebilus. When additional Roman forces arrived on the scene, Dumnacus was forced to lift the siege and retreat. The army of the Andes was pursued by the Romans and suffered heavy casualties. In a decisive battle the following day, the Romans killed some 12,000 men. Dumnacus escaped, and when Armorica surrendered, he went into self-imposed exile. Aulus Hirtius, ''Bellum Gallicum'' 8.26–31.

References

Bibliography

*
*
*
*

{{Gallic peoples

Gauls
Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul
Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars
Historical Celtic peoples
Andes (Andecavi)
Armorica