The Veliocasses or Velocasses (

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient 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, most of Switze ...

: *''Weliocassēs'') were a Belgic or Gallic tribe of the La Tène and

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 lette ...

periods, dwelling in the south of modern

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

and in the north of Eure.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Veliocasses'' by

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, an ...

(mid-1st c. BC) and

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), as (; var. ) 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 importance ...

(2nd c. AD), and as ''Velocasses'' by Orosius (early 5th c. AD)., s.v. ''Veliocasses''. The meaning of the

ethnonym is uncertain. The first part is certainly the

root , which could either stem from

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 reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celti ...

('modesty'; cf. OIr. , OBret. 'honestas'), or else from Proto-Celtic ('better'; cf. Welsh 'better'). The second etymology is

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 compu ...

more probable for a tribal name, but the unknown length of the vowel ''e'' in ''uelio-'' makes it difficult to conclude with certainty. The meaning of the second element ''-casses'', attested in other Gaulish ethnonyms such as ''

Bodiocasses The Bodiocasses or Baiocasses were an ancient Gallic tribe of the Roman period. They were a tribal division of the ''civitas'' of the Lexovii, in the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. Name They are mentioned as ''Bodiocasses'' by Pliny (1 ...

'', ''

Durocasses The Durocasses were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Dreux during the Roman period. Name They are mentioned ''Durocasis'' (var. ''durocacasis'') on the ''Itinerarium Antonini'' (early 3rd c. AD), as ''Durocassio'' on the ''Tabula ...

'', '' Sucasses'', ''

Tricasses The Tricasses were a Gallic tribe dwelling on the upper Seine and the Aube rivers during the Roman period. Until the first century AD, they were probably reckoned among the Senones. Name They are mentioned as ''Tricasses'' by Pliny (1st c. AD ...

'', or ''

Viducasses The Viducassēs (Gaulish: *''Uiducassēs/Widucassēs'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Calvados department during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Viducasses'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Bidoukes� ...

'', has been debated, but it probably signifies '(curly) hair, hairstyle' (cf. Old Irish 'curl'), perhaps referring to a particular warrior coiffure.

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 ...

has proposed to interpret the name as 'those with better helmets'. The county of

Vexin Vexin () is an historical county of northwestern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south ...

, attested in 617 as ('

pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geogra ...

of the Veliocasses'; ''Vilcassinum'' in 1092, ''Vulesin'' in 1118), is named after the ancient tribe.

Geography

The territory of the Veliocasses was located in the north and, limited extent, also in the south of the lower reaches of the Sequana ( Seine) river. Their territory was situated between that of the

Caletes The Caletes or Caleti (Gaulish language, Gaulish: ''Caletoi'' "the hard tubborn, toughones"; la, italic=yes, Calētēs or ''Calētī'') were a Belgae, Belgic or Gauls, Gallic tribe dwelling in Pays de Caux, in present-day Normandy, during the ...

and

Bellovaci The Bellovaci (Gaulish: ''Bellouacoi'') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the modern Picardy region, near the present-day city of Beauvais, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. After they were defeated by Caesar in 57 BC, they gave lukewarm s ...

. Wooded heights constituted a natural frontier with the Bellovaci, where the latter dominated. During the pre-Roman period, their capital was probably the ''oppidum'' of ''Camp de Calidou'' (near Caudebec), then Rotomagus (present-day Rouen) after the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

(27 BC–14 AD)''.'' The settlement was an important harbour for exports to the British Island in the 2nd century AD.

History

During the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homel ...

(58–50 BC), the Veliocasses participated in the tribal coalition of the Belgae that resisted the Romans in 57 BC. In 52 they raised 3,000 men to support

Vercingetorix Vercingetorix (; Greek: Οὐερκιγγετόριξ; – 46 BC) was a Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Despite ha ...

, and fought alongside the

in the final rebellion against Roman hegemony.

Culture

As for the neighbouring Calates, whether the Veliocasses should be regarded as Gallic or Belgic is debatable.

References

Primary sources

* *

Bibliography

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