The Bodiontici or Brodiontii were a
Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day
Digne (
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...
) during the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Bodionticos'' by
Pliny (1st c. AD).
[ Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia'', 3:37.] Possible variants are also attested as ''Brodionti(i)'', ''Bodionio'' and ''Bodi(ontio?)'' on inscriptions.
[, s.v. ''Bodiontici''.]
The ethnic name ''Bodiontici'' appears to derive from the
Gaulish stem ''bodio-'' ('blond') attached to -''ont-ici''.
Geography
The Bodiontici dwelled around present-day
Digne, in the valley of the
Bléone river. Their territory was located north of the
Sentii
The Sentii (Gaulish: ''Sentioi'') were a small Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Senez, in southeastern France, during the Roman era.
Name
They are mentioned as Σέντιοι (var. Σένποι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD)., s.v. ''Sentii'' ...
, south of the
Gallitae, east of the
Sogiontii, and west of the
Eguiturii and
Nemeturii.
[. Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.]
In Roman times, their
civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
was situated around the basin of the river
Bléone and its tributary the . In 69 AD, the territory of the Bodiontici was transferred, along with that of the
Avantici, to the province of
Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...
by
Galba
Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Ga ...
. According to
A. L. F. Rivet, this decision "may have been due to the influence of the former provincial governor,
T. Vinius Rufus, who effectively controlled Galba and joined him in the consulship in 69."
Their chief town was known as Dinia (present-day Digne;
Gaulish ''Dīniā'' 'the shelter'). Like the modern settlement, it likely served as a
spa town in ancient times. Dinia was transferred to the province of
Alpes Maritimae in the
Later Empire.
References
Primary sources
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Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul