The Ingauni were a
Celto-Ligurian
The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian language, Italian: liguri; English language, English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day Northern Italy, north-western Italy, is named.
Ancient Liguria cor ...
tribe dwelling on the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coast, around the modern city of
Albenga
Albenga ( lij, Arbenga; la, Albingaunum) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is ...
(
Liguria
Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
), 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 ...
.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Ingauni'' by
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
(late 1st c. BC), ''Ingaunoi'' (”Iγγαυνοι) by
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
(early 1st c. AD), and as ''Ingaunis'' 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).
[, s.v. ''Ingauni'' and ''Album Ingaunum''.]
A Celtic etymology has been suggested by
Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel
Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel (born 5 April 1953) is an Italian philologist, linguist and scholar of Celtic studies.
Biography
Patrizia de Bernardo was born on 5 April 1953 in Milan, Italy, the daughter of Mario de Bernardo and Adriana Marra. She ...
, who derives the name ''Ingauni'' from *''Pingāmnī'' (‘the painted ones'), with loss of initial ''p''-, which would be
semantically
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
comparable to 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 ...
''Picti'' (
Picts
The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
). According to her, such linguistically Celtic tribal names suggest that a Celto-Ligurian dialect played an important role among the languages spoken in ancient Ligury.
The modern city of
Albenga
Albenga ( lij, Arbenga; la, Albingaunum) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is ...
, attested as ''oppidum Album Ingaunum'' by Pliny and as ''Albingaunum'' by Strabo, is named after the Ligurian tribe.
Geography
The Ingauni lived on the Mediterranean coast, around Album Ingaunum (modern
Albenga
Albenga ( lij, Arbenga; la, Albingaunum) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is ...
) and Lucus Bormani (
Diano Marina
Diano Marina ( lij, A Maina de Dian, or simply ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region of Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northeast of Imperia.
Geography
The municipality of Diano ...
). Their territory was located east of the
Intimilii
The Intimilii or Intemelii were a Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast, around present-day Ventimiglia, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Intimilii'' by Caelius Rufus (49 BC), ''Intemelii'' by ...
, and south of the
Epanterii
The Epanterii or Epanterii Montani were a small Ligurian tribe dwelling in the lower Alps, near the Mediterranean coast, during the Iron Age.
Name
They are only mentioned once as ''Epanterii Montani'' by Livy (late 1st c. BC).
The name ''Epa ...
.
[, Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.]
Their chief town was known as Album Igaunum or Albingaunum.
History
Punic War
By the 3rd century BC, the prosperity of thriving Ligurian coastal centres led to recurrent conflicts with mountainous tribes conducting raids on their richer neighbours. During the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
(218–201 BC),
Mago Barca
Mago Barca ( xpu, 𐤌𐤂𐤍 𐤁𐤓𐤒, ; 243–203BC) was a Barcid Carthaginian who played an important role in the Second Punic War, leading forces of Carthage against the Roman Republic in Iberia and northern and central Italy. Mag ...
made an alliance in 205 BC with the Ingauni to secure a foothold on the Italian coast. He helped them in their fight against the
Epanterii
The Epanterii or Epanterii Montani were a small Ligurian tribe dwelling in the lower Alps, near the Mediterranean coast, during the Iron Age.
Name
They are only mentioned once as ''Epanterii Montani'' by Livy (late 1st c. BC).
The name ''Epa ...
, who lived above them on the hills and raided their territory. He had previously destroyed the Ingaunian rival
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, thus allowing them to potentially become the dominant force on the northwestern coast of Italy. Fearing that Mago may unite Gauls and Ligurians against them, the Romans reacted by sending troops to the region and defeated Mago and its allies. In 201 BC, the Roman consul
Publius Aelius Paetus
Publius Aelius Paetus (fl. c. 240 BC – 174 BC) was a Roman consul of the late 3rd century BC. He was a prominent supporter and ally of Scipio Africanus, and was elected censor with Africanus in 199.
Family
Publius Aelius Paetus was apparen ...
signed a peace treaty with the Ingauni to secure the part of the trading route they controlled between Iberia, Massalia and Rome.
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
. ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri''
31:2
Roman conquest
In 185 BC, a consular army led by
Appius Claudius Pulcher was sent against the Ingauni, capturing six of their
oppida
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 ...
and, as an example to the vanquished or a deterrent to other Ligurians, he had forty-three Ingauni accused of being responsible for the war beheaded. Only three years later, however, the Massaliotes complained again to Rome about Ligurian piracy, and the consul
Lucius Aemilius Paullus was asked by the Senate to bring definite peace on both sea and land. Seeking to avoid a complete destruction of the Ingauni, which could have led to a coastal frontier vacuum potentially filled by less acculturated Alpine tribes, Paullus initially entered the Ingaunian territory to demand their surrender. The Igaunian leaders then feinted to request a delay to consult their fellow tribesmen, using the respite to mass their troops and besiege Paullus' camp, but the consul eventually succeeded in subjugating the Ingauni and received triumph in 181 BC. Although Paullus prohibited the Ingauni from erecting ramparts around their towns to hinder their defensive capabilities, he also left them in control of their piece of coastal land for them to act as sentinels on the Ligurian route.
In 180 BC, the consul
Aulus Postumius Albinus, after vanquishing the nearby mountain Ligurians, felt the need to send ships to reconnoiter the shores of the Ingauni and Intemelii, which suggests that they were still considered by Rome a potentially hostile tribe at that time.
References
Primary sources
*
*
*
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Gallic peoples
Ligures
Tribes conquered by Rome