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The Coriosolites or Curiosolitae were a Gallic people dwelling on the northern coast of present-day Brittany during the Iron Age and the
The Coriosolites or Curiosolitae were a Gallic people dwelling on the northern coast of present-day Brittany during the Iron Age and 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 ''Coriosolitas'' (var. ''coriosolitos'', ''curiosolitas'', ''curiosolitas'') and ''Coriosolites'' (var. ''coriosultes'', ''coricoriosuelites'', ''cariosu''-) byCaesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
(mid-1st c. BC), and as ''Coriosvelites'' by Pliny (1st c. AD). Pliny. ''Naturalis Historia,'' 4:18., s.v. ''Coriosolites''.
The etymology of the ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
''Coriosolites'' remains uncertain. The first element is certainly the Gaulish root ''corio-'' ('army, troop'), derived from Proto-Indo-European *'' kóryos'' ('army, people under arms'). However, the meaning of the second element is unclear. Pierre-Yves Lambert has proposed to interpret ''corio-solit-es'' as 'those who purchase (or sell) mercenaries', by positing a Gaulish root ''solitu-'' ('purchase/salary of mercenaries'; cf. Gaul. ''soldurio-'' < 'body-guard, loyal, devoted', OBret. ''solt'' ' solidus'). Alternatively, a connection with the Gaulish root ''sūli-'' (' oodsight'; cf. OIr. ''súil'', 'sight', Britt. '' Sulis'') has also been conjectured, with ''corio-soli-tes'' as the 'troop-watchers', 'those who watch over the troop'.
The city of Corseul, attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Coriosolitum'' ('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 ...
of the Curiosolites', ''Aecclesia Corsult'' ca. 869, ''Corsout'' in 1288) is named after the Gallic tribe.
Geography
Territory
The Coriosolites are mentioned by Caesar together with the Veneti, Unelli,Osismi
The Osismii, Ossismii, or Ostimii (also Ossismi, Osismi) were a Gauls, Gallic tribe dwelling in the western part of the Armorica, Armorican Peninsula (modern Brittany) during the La Tène culture, Iron Age and the Roman period.
Etymology
They ...
, and others that Caesar calls ''maritimae civitates'', "maritime cities" which border on the Atlantic Ocean. In another place he describes the position of the Coriosolites on the ocean in the same terms, and includes them among the Armoric states, a name equivalent to ''maritimae''.Caesar, ''B. G.'' vii. 75. Pliny mentions them with the Unelli, Diablindi, and Rhedones.
Settlements
The ancient settlement of Corseul was most likely established '' ex nihilo'' by the Roman authorities during the reign of Augustus, as the capital of the ''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 ...
'' Coriosolitum. The town is generally identified with the settlement of ''Fanum Martis'' ('temple of Mars') mentioned on the '' Tabula Peutingeriana'' (5th c. AD). Due to the lack of early epigraphic
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
record, however, the original Gaulish name of the town remains unknown. Corseul reached at size of 47ha in the first centuries of the Common Era.
Around 340 AD, the capital of the ''civitas'' was moved to Aleth ( Saint-Servan), situated on the coast.
Notes
Bibliography
* * * * * {{Authority control Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul Curiosolitae History of Brittany