TheBodiocasses orBaiocasses were an ancientGallic tribe of theRoman period. They were a tribal division of thecivitas of theLexovii, in theRoman province ofGallia Lugdunensis.
They are mentioned asBodiocasses byPliny (1st c. AD),[1] asBaiocassi byAusonius (4th c. AD),[2] and asBaiocas in theNotitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).[3][4]
In Pliny'sNatural History, various manuscripts refer to this tribe as theVadiocasses,Bodiocasses, orBodicasses, likely due to a copyist’s mistake.[5]
TheVadicassii (Οὐαδικάσσιοι) cited byPtolemy in the 2nd century AD are probably a separate tribe, since he places them near the Meldi (Meaux), in the direction ofBelgica.[5]
TheGaulishethnonymBodiocasses derives from theProto-Celtic stem *bodyo- ('yellow, blond'; cf.Old Irishbuide 'yellow').[6][7] The meaning of the second element-casses, attested in other Gaulish ethnonyms such asDurocasses,Sucasses,Tricasses,Veliocasses orViducasses, has been debated, but it probably signifies '(curly) hair, hairstyle' (cf. Old Irishchass 'curl'), perhaps referring to a particular warrior coiffure.Rudolf Thurneysen has compared the name with theOld Irishbuide-chass ('blond curls'), and suggested to translateBodiocasses as 'those who have blond curls/braids'.[8]Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to interpret the name as 'those with shining helmets'.[9]
The city ofBayeux, attested ca. 400 AD ascivitas Baiocassium ('civitas of the Baiocasses';Baiocas in 400–410,Baieus in 1155), and the region ofBessin, attested in 840 AD aspagus Baiocassinus ('pagus of the Baiocasses';Beissin in 1050–66), all stem from the Gallic tribe.[10]
The Baiocasses dwelled in a region located around modern-dayBayeux in westernNormandy.[6]
Julius Caesar does not mention the tribe in hiscommentaries on theGallic Wars (58–50 BCE), but they are later mentioned byAusonius (4th c. AD) and in theNotitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).[4] They are probably the same peoplePliny callsBodiocasses.[6]
The Baiocasses minted base gold, silver and billon (base silver) coins in the denomination of onestater and in the case of gold coins sometimes quarter staters. Most of the coins show a Celtic-style male head with elaborated hair on the obverse, and on the reverse a horse with a chariot rider above or behind, and below usually either alyre or small boar. A number of these are in existence.[11][unreliable source?]
The 4th-centuryBordelaise poetAusonius teases a friend as a Baiocassis who claimed to be ofdruidic heritage and descended from priests ofBelenus.[12]
