TheVediantii were aCelto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on theMediterranean coast, near present-dayNice, during theIron Age and theRoman period.
They are mentioned asOu̓ediantíōn (Οὐεδιαντίων) byPtolemy (2nd c. AD),[1] and anoppidum Vediantiorum civitatis is documented byPliny (1st c. AD).[2][3]
TheethnonymVediantii is probably Celtic. It has been interpreted as 'pertaining to the praying ones' (from the rootwed- 'to pray' extended by a present participial formation -ie-nt-),[4][5] as the 'Leaders' (from *wedʰ-yā 'guidance, leadership'), or else as the 'Sages' (from *weid-yā 'knowledge, doctrine').[6][7]
The Vediantii dwelled on theMediterranean coast, between the riverVar and theMont Agel, around theMassaliote colony ofNikaea (modernNice).[8] Their territory was located east of theDeciates andNerusii, west of theIntimilii, and south of theVesubiani.[9]
Their chief town was theoppidumVediantiorum, known asCemenelum by the 2nd century AD. Corresponding to modernCimiez, now a neighbourhood of Nice, the settlement controlled the trading route from the Mediterranean coast towards the hinterland and the Alps. After the subjugation of the Ligurian tribes in 14 BC, Cemenelum became the centre of the local Roman military government, then served as the capital of the new Roman province from its creation byNero in 63 AD.[10][11]
Contrary to other tribes of the region, the Vediantii were probably allied or tributary toMassalia and theRoman Republic by the 2nd century BC. When theOxybii andDeciates attacked the Massaliote colonies of Nikaea and Antipolis (Antibes) and were subsequently defeated in 154 BC, the territory of the Vediantii was not reduced by the Romans, and their chief town Cemenelum became the capital of theAlpes Maritimae after its foundation in 63 AD.[12] Additionally, the Vediantii are not mentioned in theTrophy of the Alps, suggesting that they were either already subjugated by or allied to Rome at the time of the conquest of the region in 14 BC.[13]
Three inscriptions dated to the 1st–2nd centuries AD and dedicated to the Matres Vediantiae were found nearTourrette-Levens and Cimiez.[7]
Matronis Vediantiabus P(ublius) Enistalius P(ublii) f(ilius) Cl(audia tribu) Paternus Cemenelensis optio ad ordine(m) (centurionis) leg(ionis) XXII Primigeniae Piae Fidelis l(ibens) m(erito)
[To the Matronae Vediantiae, Publius Enistalius Paternus, son of Publius, of the Claudia tribe, from Cemenelum, optio promoted to centurion in the legion XXII Primigenia Pia Fidelis, willingly and deservedly (offered this monument)]
— Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) 5:07872.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Authority control databases: Geographic |
|---|
