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TheDiablintes orAulerci Diablites (alsoDiablintres orDiablindes) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the north of the modernMayenne department during theIron Age and theRoman period. They were part of theAulerci.
They are named asDiablintes (var.Diablintres,Diablindes) byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1]Diablinti byPliny (1st c. AD),[2]Aúlírkioi hoiDiablítai orDiaultai (Αύλίρκιοι οἱ Διαβλίται/Διαυλται) byPtolemy (2nd c. AD),[3] and asDiablentas byOrosius (early 5th c. AD).[4][5]
The meaning of the name is unclear.Pierre-Yves Lambert has proposed a connection with theProto-Celtic root*dwēblo- ('double'; cf.Old Irishdíabul), attached to an-e-nt- participial suffix, or perhaps to*anto-/*ento- ('face'; cf. Old Irishétan; also Bret.Daou-dal 'two-faced').[6]
Other peoples namedAulerci are also mentioned by ancient sources: theAulerci Cenomani,Aulerci Eburovices, andAulerci Brannovices. The relationship that linked them together remains uncertain. According to historianVenceslas Kruta, they could have beenpagi that got separated from a larger ethnic group during the pre-Roman period.[7]
The city ofJublains, attested ca. 400 ascivitas Diablintum ('civitas of the Diablintes',Jublent ca. 1100) is named after the Gallic tribe.[8]
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Julius Caesar (B. G. iii. 9) mentions the Diablintes among the allies of theVeneti and otherArmoric states whom Caesar attacked. The Diablintes are mentioned between theMorini andMenapii. The territory of the Diablintes seems to have been small, and it may have been included in that of the Cenomanni, or the former diocese of Mans. (D'Anville,Notice, &c.; Walekenaer,Géog., &c. vol. i. p. 387.)
Their position can be calculated from Pliny's enumeration,Cariosvelites, Diablindi,Rhedones. The capital of the Diablintes, according to Ptolemy, wasNoeodunum, probably the Nudium of theTable. TheNotitia of the Gallic provinces, which belongs to the beginning of the fifth century, mentionsCivitas Diablintum among the cities ofLugdunensis Tertia. A document of the seventh century speaks ofcondita Diablintica as situated inPago Cenomannico (about modernLe Mans), and thus one location of the Diablintes is clear. This document also helps explain why Ptolemy used the nameAulerci for both the Diablintes and Cenomanni. Another document of the seventh century speaks ofoppidum Diablintes juxta ripam Araenae fiuvioli; where the Arena (araenae) is recognised as theAron, a tributary of theMayenne. The small town ofJublains (or Jubleins), whereRoman remains have been found, not far from the town ofMayenne to the southeast, is probably the site of theCivitas Diablintum andNoeodunum (also renderedNoiódounon; Νοιόδουνον).[citation needed]
A wooden tablet found in London records the sale of one Fortunata, a Diablintian slave girl.[9]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
