The Marici were a
Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling around present-day
Pavia
Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...
(
Lombardy) 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 mostl ...
.
Name
The ethnic name ''Marici'' can be translated as 'the big ones', from the Celtic stem ''maro-'' ('tall'). According to
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 ...
, such linguistically Celtic tribal names suggest that a Celto-Ligurian dialect played an important role among the languages spoken in ancient Ligury.
Geography
The Marici lived around the modern town of
Pavia
Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...
. Their territory was located south of the
Laevi The Laevi, or Levi (who are not to be confused with descendants of Levi), were a LigurianLivius, '' Ab Urbe condita'' 5.34-35.3. people in Gallia Transpadana, on the river Ticinus, who, in conjunction with the Marici, built the town of Ticinum ...
, west of the
Ladatini, north of the
Anamares.
[, Map 39: Mediolanum.]
History
In the Third Book of his ''
Natural History,''
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
identifies them as the co-founders, along with the
Laevi The Laevi, or Levi (who are not to be confused with descendants of Levi), were a LigurianLivius, '' Ab Urbe condita'' 5.34-35.3. people in Gallia Transpadana, on the river Ticinus, who, in conjunction with the Marici, built the town of Ticinum ...
, of
Ticinum
Ticinum (the modern Pavia) was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name (now the Ticino river) a little way above its confluence with the Padus ( Po).
It was said by Pliny the Elder to have bee ...
, the modern
Pavia
Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...
.
[The text, in Philemon Holland’s 1601 English translation, is available online at http://penelope.uchicago.edu/holland/pliny3.html]
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{ethno-stub
Ligures
Pavia