![Diablintes coin 5th 1st century BCE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Diablintes_coin_5th_1st_century_BCE.jpg)
The Diablintes or Aulerci Diablites (also ''Diablintres'' or ''Diablindes'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the north of the modern
Mayenne
Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...
department during the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
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 ...
. They were part of the Aulerci.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Diablintes'' (
var. ''Diablintres'', ''Diablindes'') by
Caesar
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), ''Diablinti'' by
Pliny
Pliny may refer to:
People
* Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'')
* Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
(1st c. AD), ''Aúlírkioi hoi'' ''Diablítai'' or ''Diaultai'' (Αύλίρκιοι οἱ Διαβλίται/Διαυλται) by
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
(2nd c. AD), and as ''Diablentas'' by
Orosius
Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...
(early 5th c. AD).
The meaning of the name is unclear.
Pierre-Yves Lambert Pierre-Yves Lambert (born 30 May 1949) is a French linguist and scholar of Celtic studies. He is a researcher at the CNRS and a lecturer at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Celtic linguistics and philology. Lambert is the director of the jo ...
has proposed a connection with the
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed through the compar ...
root ''*dwēblo-'' ('double'; cf.
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
''díabul''), attached to an ''-e-nt-'' participial suffix, or perhaps to ''*anto-''/''*ento-'' ('face'; cf. Old Irish ''étan''; also Bret. ''Daou-dal'' 'two-faced').
The city of
Jublains
Jublains () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.
History
Jublains, formerly spelled Jubleins, is the site of ancient Noeodunum (also spelled Noiodunum or Noviodunum), the capital of the ancient Gallic tribe of the D ...
, attested ca. 400 as ''civitas Diablintum'' ('
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 Diablintes', ''Jublent'' ca. 1100) is named after the Gallic tribe.
Geography
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a 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 a civil war, and ...
(''B. G.'' iii. 9) mentions the Diablintes among the allies of the
Veneti and other
Armoric states whom Caesar attacked. The Diablintes are mentioned between the
Morini
The Morini (Gaulish: "sea folk, sailors") were a Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in the modern Pas de Calais region, around present-day Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Morini'' by Caesar ( ...
and
Menapii
The Menapii were a Belgic tribe dwelling near the North Sea, around present-day Cassel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name Attestations
They are mentioned as ''Menapii'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Orosius (early 5th c. AD), ...
. The territory of the Diablintes seems to have been small, and it may have been included in that of the Cenomanni, or the former diocese of Mans. (
D'Anville
Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (; born in Paris 11 July 169728 January 1782) was a French geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. D'Anville became cartographer to the king, who purchased his cartographic ...
, ''Notice, &c.''; Walekenaer, ''Géog., &c.'' vol. i. p. 387.)
Their position can be calculated from Pliny's enumeration,
Cariosvelites, Diablindi,
Rhedones
The Redones or Riedones (Gaulish: ''Rēdones'', later ''Riedones'', 'chariot- or horse-drivers') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the eastern part of the Armorican peninsula (modern Brittany), around their chief town Condate (modern Rennes), duri ...
. The capital of the Diablintes, according to Ptolemy, was
Noeodunum
Jublains () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.
History
Jublains, formerly spelled Jubleins, is the site of ancient Noeodunum (also spelled Noiodunum or Noviodunum), the capital of the ancient Gallic tribe of the ...
, probably the Nudium of the
Table
Table may refer to:
* Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs
* Table (landform), a flat area of land
* Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns
* Table (database), how the table data ...
. The
Notitia of the Gallic provinces, which belongs to the commencement of the fifth century, mentions ''Civitas Diablintum'' among the cities of
Lugdunensis Tertia. A document of the seventh century speaks of ''condita Diablintica'' as situated in ''Pago Cenomannico'' (about modern
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
), and thus one location of the Diablintes is clear. This document also helps explain why Ptolemy used the name ''Aulerci'' for both the Diablintes and Cenomanni. Another document of the seventh century speaks of ''oppidum Diablintes juxta ripam Araenae fiuvioli''; where the Arena (''araenae'') is recognised as the
Aron
Aron may refer to:
Characters
*Aron (comics), from the Marvel Universe comic ''Aron! HyperSpace Boy!''
*Aron (Pokémon), in the ''Pokémon'' franchise
* Aron Trask, from John Steinbeck's novel ''East of Eden''
*Áron or Aaron, the brother of Mos ...
, a tributary of the
Mayenne
Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...
. The small town of
Jublains
Jublains () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.
History
Jublains, formerly spelled Jubleins, is the site of ancient Noeodunum (also spelled Noiodunum or Noviodunum), the capital of the ancient Gallic tribe of the D ...
(or Jubleins), where
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
remains have been found, not far from the town of
Mayenne
Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...
to the southeast, is probably the site of the ''Civitas Diablintum'' and ''Noeodunum'' (also rendered ''Noiódounon;'' Νοιόδουνον).
A wooden tablet found in London records the sale of one Fortunata, a Diablintian slave girl.
[''The Real Lives of Roman Britain''
Guy De la Bédoyère, Yale University Press, 2015, page 54.]
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul
History of Mayenne