Ambisontes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ambisontes (Gaulish: 'those around the Isontia') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper Salzach valley during the Roman period.

Name[]

They are mentioned as Ambisontes by Pliny (1st c. AD),[1] and as Ambēsóntioi (Ἀμβησόντιοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).[2]

The Gaulish ethnonym Ambisontes means 'the people from around the Isontia', stemming from the root *amb(i)- ('around, on both sides') attached to the name of the river Isontia (modern Salzach).[3][4] The hydronym itself, while not necessarily Celtic, is most likely of Indo-European origin, from *[h₁]ish₁-ont- ('she who moves quickly').[5]

Geography[]

The Ambisontes lived in the upper valley of the Salzach river. Their territory was situated north of the and , south of the Alauni, and east of the Breuni and .[6]

History[]

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.
  2. ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:13:2.
  3. ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 41.
  4. ^ de Bernardo Stempel 2015, p. 89.
  5. ^ Falileyev 2010, s.v. Ambisontes.
  6. ^ Talbert 2000, Map 19: Raetia.

Primary sources[]

  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674993648.

Bibliography[]

  • de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2015). "Zu den keltisch benannten Stämmen im Umfeld des oberen Donauraums". In Lohner-Urban, Ute; Scherrer, Peter (eds.). Der obere Donauraum 50 v. bis 50 n. Chr. Frank & Timme. ISBN 978-3-7329-0143-2.
  • Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
  • Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
  • Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.
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