Petrocorii
![]() | This article or section should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transl}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used. (June 2021) |
![Map of Gaul with tribes, 1st century BC; the Petrocorii are circled.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Map_Gallia_Tribes_Towns.png/400px-Map_Gallia_Tribes_Towns.png)
![Red circle.svg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Red_circle.svg/60px-Red_circle.svg.png)
The Petrocorii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Etymology[]
They are mentioned as Petrocoriis by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1] Petrokórioi (Πετροκόριοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD) and Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[2] Petrocori by Pliny (1st c. AD),[3] and as Petrogorii by Sidonius Apollinaris (5th c. AD).[4][5]
The Gaulish ethnonym Petrocorii means 'four armies', or 'four troops'. It stems from the Gaulish root petru- ('four') attached to corios ('army'), after a Gallic custom of including numbers in tribal names (e.g. Vo-contii, , , Suess-iones).[6][7] Their name may indicate a relatively recent formation emerging from the union of fragmented small ethnic groups.[8]
The word corios derives from Proto-Celtic *koryos ('troop, tribe'; cf. Middle Welsh cordd 'tribe, clan'; Mid. Ir. cuire), itself from Proto-Indo-European *kóryos, meaning 'army, people under arms'. The root is also found in other Gaulish tribal names such as the Tri-corii or the Corio-solites.[9] The root petru- stems from Proto-Celtic *kʷetwór- ('four'; cf. OIr. cetheoir, OW. and OBret. petguar).[10]
The city of Périgueux, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Petrocoriorum ('civitas of the Petrocorii'; Petrecors in the 8th c., Periguhès in 1466), and the Périgord region, attested in the 7th c. AD as pagum Petrocorecum ('pagus of the Petrocorii'; Petragoricus in 781, Peiregore in the 12th c.), are named after the Gallic tribe.[11]
Geography[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/CIL_XIII_1704.jpg/220px-CIL_XIII_1704.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Drachme_%E2%80%9Cau_style_flamboyant_frapp%C3%A9_par_les_P%C3%A9trocores.jpg/220px-Drachme_%E2%80%9Cau_style_flamboyant_frapp%C3%A9_par_les_P%C3%A9trocores.jpg)
The Petrocorii lived in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers.[12][13] Their territory was located south of the Lemovices and Santones, east of the Bituriges Vivisci, west of the Arverni, and north of the Nitiobroges and Cadurci.[14][13]
During the Roman period, their chief town was Vesunna, corresponding to the modern town of Périgueux.[5]
History[]
In 52 BC, they supplied around 5,000 warriors to Vercingetorix, to aid him to fight the Roman legions of Julius Caesar. Strabo mentions their excellence working with iron.[12]
References[]
- ^ Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 7:75:3.
- ^ Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:2:2; Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:7:9.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:109.
- ^ Sidonius Apollinaris. Epistles, 7:6:7.
- ^ a b Falileyev 2010, s.v. Petrocori and Vesunna.
- ^ Lambert 1994, p. 35.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, pp. 125, 250, 326.
- ^ Kruta 2000, p. 71: "Il semble s'agir dans tous les cas de petites cités, issues peut-être de l'éclatement d'ensembles ethniques plus importants."
- ^ Matasović 2009, p. 218.
- ^ Matasović 2009, p. 179.
- ^ Nègre 1990, p. 155.
- ^ a b Kruta 2000, p. 776.
- ^ a b Lafond & Olshausen 2006.
- ^ Talbert 2000, Map 14: Caesarodunum-Burdigala.
Bibliography[]
- 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.
- Kruta, Venceslas (2000). Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme. Robert Laffont. ISBN 2-221-05690-6.
- Lafond, Yves; Olshausen, Eckart (2006). "Petrocorii". Brill's New Pauly. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e916400.
- Lambert, Pierre-Yves (1994). La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies. Errance. ISBN 978-2-87772-089-2.
- Matasović, Ranko (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic. Brill. ISBN 9789004173361.
- Nègre, Ernest (1990). Toponymie générale de la France. Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2-600-02883-7.
- Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.
- Historical Celtic peoples
- Gauls