TheIlvates were aLigurian tribe, whose name is found only in the writings ofLivy. He mentions them first as taking up arms in 200 BCE, in concert with the Gaulish tribes of theInsubres andCenomani, to destroy the Roman colonies of Placentia (modernPiacenza) andCremona. They are again noticed three years later as being still in arms, after the submission of their Transpadane allies; but in the course of that year's campaign (197 BCE) they were reduced by the consulQuintus Minucius Rufus, and their name does not again appear in history. (Liv. xxx. 10, xxxi. 29, 30.) From the circumstances here related, it is clear that they dwelt on the north slopes of theApennines, towards the plains of the Padus (modernPo River), and apparently not very far from Clastidium (modernCasteggio); but we cannot determine with certainty either the position or extent of their territory. Their name, like those of most of the Ligurian tribes mentioned by Livy, had disappeared in theAugustan age, and is not found in any of theancient geographers.Charles Athanase Walckenaer,[1] however, supposed theEleates over whom the consulMarcus Fulvius Nobilior celebrated a triumph in 159 BCE[2] and who are in all probability the same people with theVeleiates ofPliny, to be identical also with the Ilvates of Livy; but this cannot be assumed without further proof.
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.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)