The Venellī or Unellī (

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...

: *''Uenellī/Wenellī'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling on the Cotentin peninsula, in the northwest of modern

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, 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 ...

. In 57 BC, they capitulated to Caesar's legate Publius Licinius Crassus, but rebelled the following year and sent troops to help the Gallic coalition against Rome during the

Battle of Alesia The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia (September 52 BC) was a military engagement in the Gallic Wars around the Gallic ''oppidum'' (fortified settlement) of Alesia in modern France, a major centre of the Mandubii tribe. It was fought by ...

(52 BC).

Name

They are mentioned as ''V ellos'' 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), ''Venelli'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), ''Oủenéllōn'' (Οủενέλλων, var. Οủενeλῶν) and ''Oủénelloi'' (Οủένελλοι, var. Οủένελοι) 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 ''Oủenellous'' (Οủενελλους) by

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

(3rd c. AD)., s.v. ''Venelli'' and ''Unelli''. 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 ...

is obscure. It may stem from the Celtic root ('clan, family, lineage').

Geography

The pre-Roman chief town of the Venelli was probably the oppidum of , near

Montsenelle Montsenelle () is a commune in the department of Manche, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Coigny, Lithaire (the seat), Prétot-Sainte-Suzanne and Saint-Jores.

. During the Roman period, their chief town became

Crociatonum Crociatonum (, Ptol. ii. 8) or Cronciaconnum, is a location on the Tabula Peutingeriana in the present-day Normandy region of France. Ptolemy makes it a port of the Unelli or Veneli, a Gallic nation who occupied part of Armorica. The Table contain ...

(modern

Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was merg ...

). It was given the name of ''Constantia'' in 298 AD during the reign of Roman emperor

Constantius Chlorus Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 t ...

. The surrounding region, called in Latin the ''pagus Constantinus'' subsequently became known as the Cotentin Peninsula.

History

mentions them with the Veneti,

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 ...

Curiosolitae 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. Name They are mentioned as ''Coriosolitas'' (var. ''coriosolitos'', ''curiosolitas'', ''curi ...

, and other maritime states. The Unelli and the rest submitted to Publius Licinius Crassus in 57 BC; but in 56 BC it was necessary to send a force again into the country of the Unelli, Curiosolitae, and Lexovii. Quintus Titurius Sabinus had the command of the three legions who were to keep the Unelli and their neighbours quiet. The commander of the Unelli was

Viridovix Viridovix was the chief of Unelli, a Gallic tribe which faced the legions of Julius Caesar at the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul, between 58 and 51 BC. He assumed the command of a Gallic army of Lexovii and Aulerci Eburovices against the leg ...

, and he was also at the head of all the forces of the states which had joined the Unelli, among whom were the

Aulerci Eburovices The Aulerci were a group of Gallic peoples dwelling in the modern region of Normandy, between the Loire (Liger) and the Seine (Sequana) rivers, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were divided into the Cenomani, the most powerful of t ...

and the Lexovii. The force of Viridovix was very large, and he was joined by desperate men from all parts of Gallia, robbers and those who were 'too idle to till the ground'. The

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 ...

general entrenched himself in his camp, and made the Galli believe that he was afraid and was intending to slip away by night. The trick deceived the Galli, and they attacked the Roman camp, which was well placed on an eminence with a sloping ascent to it about a mile (1.6 km) in length. On the Galli reaching the Roman camp exhausted by a rapid march up the hill and encumbered with the fascines which they carried for filling up the ditch, the Romans sallied out by two gates and punished the enemy well for their temerity. They slaughtered an immense number of the Galli, and the cavalry pursuing the remainder let few escape. This feat of arms is told clearly in the Commentaries. The Unelli sent a contingent of 6000 men to attack Caesar at the siege of Alesia in 52 BC. (B. G. vii. 75.)

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Gallic peoples Historical Celtic peoples Gauls Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars History of Normandy