TheSeduni were aGallic tribe dwelling in the upperRhône valley, around present-daySion, during theIron Age and theRoman period.
Along with theNantuates,Veragri andUberi, they were part of the Vallenses, a group of tribes living betweenLake Geneva and thePennine Alps, in the modernCanton of Valais (Switzerland).[1]
They are mentioned asSedunos,Sedunorum andSedunis byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC),[2] and asSeduni byLivy (late 1st c. BC) andPliny (1st c. AD).[3][4]
The meaning of theethnonymSeduni remains unclear. According to Alexander Falileyev, it may be based on theCeltic root *sedo-, meaning both 'tumulus (inhabited by supernatural beings)' and 'peace'.[4]Pierre-Yves Lambert has also proposed to analyze the name as ahaplology (loss of syllable) for *Se(go)-dunum ('the strong fortress').[5]
The city ofSion, attested asSedunum in Roman times, is named after the Gallic tribe.[6]
The Seduni dwelled in the upperRhône valley, in the modernCanton of Valais.[6] Their territory was located east of theNantuates andVeragri, south of theUberi, and west of theLepontii.[7]
After the Roman conquered the region in 16–15 BC, their territory was initially administered in common with the province ofRaetia et Vindelicia under alegatus, when they had their owncivitas within the administrative region ofVallis Poenina. They later lost their autonomy following their integration into theAlpes Graiae et Poeninae byClaudius (41–54 AD), with the creation of a singlecivitas (civitas Vallensium) shared with the other Vallensian tribes.[1][8]
Their chief town was known asSedunum (modernSion, Switzerland).[6] In 8–7 BC, the Sedunian civitas honoured emperorAugustus with an inscription. Even though Sedunum lost its political importance in the mid-1st century AD, whenForum Claudii Vallensium (Martigny) became the capital of the civitas Vallensium, the location remained a popular place of residence for notables: funerary stelae attest to the presence ofduumviri (magistrates of the civitas),flamines (priests of the imperial cult), a Roman knight, a formerconsul, and, by the 4th century,praesidia (governors of the province).[9]
In 57–56 BC, the Seduni fought against the Roman forces ofCaesar at theBattle of Octodurus (modern-dayMartigny, Switzerland).[2]
They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on theTropaeum Alpium.[1][10]
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