TheAlbici (alsoAlbieis orAlbienses) were aGallic tribe living in modernVaucluse (southeastern France) during theIron Age and theRoman period. A long-standing ally of the Greek colony ofMassalia, they were likely incorporated into the province ofGallia Narbonensis by the Romans in the late 2nd century BC. The Albici played a notable role during thesiege of Massalia in 49 BC.
They are mentioned asAlbici byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC) andPliny (1st c. AD), and asAlbieīs ('Αλβιεĩς) andAlbióchi ('Αλβίοιχοι) byStrabo (early 1st c. AD).[1]
Strabo mentions two different names,Albieīs andAlbióchi. According toGuy Barruol, they do not appear to represent two distinct peoples, but rather different linguistic forms referring to the same group. Just as the Celtic ethnic nameSalyes was Latinised asSalluvii, the Greek formAlbieīs (sometimes renderedAlbienses in modern translations) reflects an earlier *Albii, later Latinised asAlbici.[2] The formAlbici is further supported by the personal namesAlbiccius andAlbiccia, which are qualifiers indicating origin.[2]
TheethnonymAlbieis (Gaulish*Albioi,sing. *Albios) derives from the Celtic stemalbio- ('upper world, sky' < 'white').[1] According to Jacques Lacroix, it could have meant 'People of the Bright Land'.[1] Their name survives in local toponyms such as the Pays d'Albion, Montagne d'Albion,Albion Plateau, and the villages ofSaint-Christol-d'Albion andRevest-du-Bion. These names evoke the idea of elevation, corresponding topre-Alpine terrain. They have also been linked to the notion of whiteness, whether from winter snow or summer light reflected on limestone.[1]
Their territory was located in the Pre-Alps mountains between theMont Ventoux andVercors massif, in present-dayVaucluse.[2] On the basis of ancient textual evidence and medieval and modern toponymy,Guy Barruol suggests locating the Albici in the natural region extending from theLuberon to theAlbion Plateau.[3] They lived north of theSalyes, west and south of theVocontii, and east of theCavari andMemini.[3]
Their pre-Roman chief-town may have been one of theoppida surrounding Apt, most likely the oppidum of Perréal. Destroyed at the time of the taking ofMassalia (an event more readily understood if Perréal was the capital of the Albici), it was immediately replaced by the newly founded Roman town ofApta Julia, a few kilometres away on the Alpine route. As a strategic point on the military road linking Italy to southern Gaul via the valleys of theDoire,Durance andCalavon rivers, Apta Julia was founded to colonise and romanise the indigenous groups who, having supported Massalia, were probably regarded as particularly hostile to Rome.[3]
Barruol proposed that the Albici were at the head of a confederation that included the smallerVulgientes andVordenses.[4]
As long-standing allies of the Massaliots, the Albici were likely incorporated intoGallia Narbonensis at its creation in 121 BC or attached to the Massaliot sphere.[5]
Caesar states that during his conflict withPompey, whenTrebonius besiegedMassalia in 49 BC, the Albici were the only group called upon by the Massaliots for support. He writes that they have been "allies of the Massaliots for a very long time", and portrays them as "rough mountaineers accustomed to carrying arms", whose courage he praises. Caesar also mentions that they were mercenaries repairing fortifications and ships, and supplying Massalia with grain from neighbouring regions and from Massaliot trading posts.[6]
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