The Brigantii (

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient 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, most of Switze ...

: ''Brigantioi'', 'the eminent, high ones') were a Gallic tribe dwelling southeast of Lake Constance, near present-day

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

(

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

), during the

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 ''Brigántioi'' (Βριγάντιοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD)., s.v. ''Brigantii''. An identification with the '' Brixentes'', a tribe listed on the

Tropaeum Alpium The Tropaeum Alpium (Latin 'Trophy of the Alps', French: ''Trophée des Alpes''), is a Roman trophy (''tropaeum'') celebrating the emperor Augustus's decisive victory over the tribes who populated the Alps. The monument's ruins are in La Turbi ...

, has been proposed. The ethnic name ''Brigantii'' is a latinized form of

''Brigantioi''. It derives from the stem ''

briganti __NOTOC__ Briganti is the Proto-Celtic term for Brighid, or Brigid. The name ''*Brigantī'' means "The High One", cognate with the name of the ancient British goddess Brigantia (goddess), the Old High German personal name ''Burgunt,'' and the ...

''-, meaning 'high, elevated', and can be compared with the name of the goddess ''Brigantia'' and the various toponyms ''Brigantio(n)'' ('eminence'), at the origin of modern ''

Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an altitude of , based on the national definition as a community cont ...

'', ''Brégançon'', '' Briantes'', and ''

''.

Geography

The Brigantii lived southeast of Lake Constance (''Lacus Brigantinus''), in

Raetia Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west ...

. Their territory was located north of the

Vennones The Vennones or Vennonetes were a Rhaetian tribe dwelling in the northern Alps, between Chur and Lake Constance, during the Iron Age and the Roman era. Name They are mentioned as ''Ouénnōnes'' (Οὐέννωνες) by Strabo (early 1st c. ...

, west of the Estiones, east of the

Lentienses The Lentienses ( German ''Lentienser'') were a 4th-century Germanic tribe associated with the Alemanni, in the region between the river Danube in the North, the river Iller in the East, and Lake Constance in the South, in what is now southern Germ ...

., Map 19: Raetia. Their chief town was known as Brigantium ('high place'; modern

). The settlement was located on the northeastern bay of Lake Constance, at an intersection of important east-west and north-south traffic routes. Late La Tène finds from the Ölrain plateau suggest the existence of a pre-Roman

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

Name

Geography

References

Primary sources

Bibliography