Segovellauni

The Segovellauni (Gaulish: ''*Segouellaunoi'', 'chiefs-of-victory') were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Drôme department, near the present-day city of Valence, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Little is known about the early history of the Segovellauni. After 121 BC, their territory was annexed to the province of Gallia Transalpina by the Roman Republic. In 62 BC, their oppidum Ventia was destroyed by the Roman legate Manlius Lentinus during the revolt of the Allobroges. By the 1st century AD, the Segovellauni were part of the Cavarian confederation.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Sengalaunoì'' (Σεγγαλαυνοὶ; var. σεταλλανοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD). A ''regio segovellaunorum'' is also attested by Pliny (1st c. AD).

The ethnonym ''Segovellauni'' is a latinized form of Gaulish *''Segouellaunoi'' (sing. ''*Segouellaunos''), which literally means 'chiefs-of-victory'. It stems from the root ''sego-'' ('victory, strength') attached to the word ''uellaunos'' ('chief, commandant').

Geography

Territory

The Segovellauni dwelled in the valley of the Rhône river, south of the Isère, around the present-day city of Valence. This land, corresponding to the modern Valentinois region, was called the 'Island' by Polybius and Livy in their description of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 BC, for it was situated between the Rhône and the Isère, near the confluence of the two rivers. In the south, their territory stretched down to the Drôme river, or perhaps further south into the plain of Montélimar. It likely covered the Vivarais region west of the Rhône, between the rivers Eyrieux and Doux.

They lived south of the Allobroges, north of the Helvii, Tricastini and Vocontii, east of the Vellavi, and west of the Vertamocorii and Tricorii. The Segovellauni were in control of a section of the Isère river mouth, from which they were able to hold the Allobroges at bay. Like the Tricastini and Memini, they nonetheless lived as clients of the neighbouring Cavari as part of their confederation.

Settlements

The location of the pre-Roman chief town of the Segovellauni has been debated in scholarship, but it is traditionally ascribed to the oppidum of Malpas (Soyons), on the west bank of the Rhône. During the Allobrogian revolt of 62 BC, the Roman legate Manlius Lentinus stationed troops in the territory of the Segovellauni, near an oppidum named Ventia. Although its location remains obscure, some scholars have proposed to identify Ventia with Malpas, which would explain why the Roman legates Lucius Marius and Servius Galba "crossed the Rhone" towards the territory of the Allobroges, itself located between the Rhône and the Alps, in Cassius Dio's account of the events.

In the second part of the 1st century BC, the Segovellauni were absorbed into the ''civitas Valentinorum'' (or ''colonia Valentia''), founded under Caesar or Augustus. According to Stephen L. Dyson, a border land around their capital, Valentia (modern Valence), seems to have been detached from the territory of the Cavari and given to the smaller Segovellauni by the Romans, since Pliny (1st c. AD) described the settlement as ''in agro Cavarum'', whereas Ptolemy (2nd c. AD) had it belonging to the Segovellauni.

History

Origin

Little is known about the early history of the Segovellauni. Since the 'Island' mentioned by ancient authors corresponds to their territory, some scholars have proposed that Brancus (or Braneus), the Gallic chieftain who allied with Hannibal and provided him with supplies and diplomatic protection in 218 BC, was actually Segovellaunian. In this view, Braneus may have found an agreement with the Allobroges of the plain to let the Carthaginians move across their territory. Possibly acting as a rearguard, Segovellaunian troops then escorted them until the Alps, where the Carthaginians were eventually left alone with the hostile Allobroges of the mountains, who were not part of the agreement. In his account, however, Livy specifically states that the two chieftains were Allobrogian.

Early Roman period

When the Allobroges were defeated by Rome in 121 BC, their territory was annexed to the Roman Republic, and the Segovellauni certainly knew the same fate. In 62 BC, they were associated with an unsuccessful revolt against Rome led by the Allobroges, for the troops of Manlius Lentinus were stationed in their territory, near a small oppidum named Ventia. According to Cassius Dio, the Roman army "so terrified the inhabitants that the majority ran away and the rest sent ambassadors regarding peace. Just then the country population coming to their aid suddenly fell upon him; and he was repulsed from the wall, but ravaged the land with impunity" until Catugnatus, the leader of the Allobroges, came to their aid with some troops stationed along the Isère.. ''Rhōmaïkḕ Historía''
37:47–48
Lentinus was nearly captured by Catugnatus, but a violent storm prevented the Gauls from pursuing the attack. The Roman legate then overran the Segovellaunian territory again and eventually destroyed Ventia.

References

Primary sources

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Bibliography

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{{Gallic peoples

Gauls
Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul
Historical Celtic peoples
Gallia Narbonensis