A portion of the map,Gallia, from Butler's 1907 atlas showing the divisions of the diocese of Gaul in the lateRoman Empire.[1] According to the key, the map depicts 17Provinciae Galliae, "Provinces of Gaul," of which the 17th,[Provincia] Maxima Sequanorum, "Greater Sequania," identified with an XVII shown in theJura Mountains, contains theSequani andHelvetii.
Gold coins of the SequaniGauls, 5-1st century BC. Early Gallic coins were often inspired byGreek coinage.[2]
Silver coins of the SequaniGauls, 5–1st century BC.
A map ofGaul in the 1st century BC, showing the locations of the Celtic tribes.
The GaulishethnonymSequani (sing.Sequanos) stems from the Celtic name of theSeine river,Sequana.[9] This may indicate that their original homeland was located by the Seine.[10]
The country of the Sequani corresponded toFranche-Comté and part ofBurgundy.[11] TheJura Mountains separated the Sequani from theHelvetii on the east, but the mountains belonged to the Sequani, as the narrow pass between theRhone andLake Geneva was Sequanian.[12] They did not occupy the confluence of theSaône into theRhone, as the Helvetii plundered the lands of theAedui there.[13] Extending a line westward from the Jura estimates the southern border at aboutMâcon, but Mâcon belonged to the Aedui.[14]Strabo says that the Arar separates the Sequani from the Aedui and theLingones, which means that the Sequani were on the left, or eastern, bank of the Saône only.[15] On the northeast corner the country of the Sequani touched on theRhine.[16]
Before the arrival ofJulius Caesar inGaul, the Sequani had taken the side of theArverni against their rivals theAedui and hired theSuebi underAriovistus to cross theRhine and help them (71 BC). Although his assistance enabled them todefeat the Aedui, the Sequani were worse off than before, for Ariovistus deprived them of a third of their territory and threatened to take another third,[11] while subjugating them into semi-slavery.
The Sequani then appealed to Caesar, who drove back the Germanic tribesmen (58 BC), but at the same time obliged the Sequani to surrender all that they had gained from the Aedui. This so exasperated the Sequani that they joined in the revolt ofVercingetorix (52 BC) and shared in the defeat atAlesia. UnderAugustus, the district known asSequania formed part ofBelgica. After the death ofVitellius (69 AD), the inhabitants refused to join theGallic revolt against Rome instigated byGaius Julius Civilis andJulius Sabinus, and drove back Sabinus, who had invaded their territory. A triumphal arch at Vesontio (Besançon), which in return for this service was made a colony, possibly commemorates this victory.[11]
Diocletian addedHelvetia, and part of Germania Superior to Sequania, which was now calledProvincia Maxima Sequanorum, Vesontio receiving the title of Metropolis civitas Vesontiensium. The southern reach of this territory was known asSapaudia, which became the namesake of the later region ofSavoy. Fifty years later, Gaul was overrun by the barbarians, and Vesontio sacked (355 AD). UnderJulian, it recovered some of its importance as a fortified town, and was able to withstand the attacks of theVandals. Later, when Rome was no longer able to afford protection to the inhabitants of Gaul, the Sequani became merged in the newly formedKingdom of Burgundy.[11]
^Butler, Samuel; Rhys, Ernest (1907). "Map 4, Gallia".The Atlas of Ancient and Classical Geography. Everyman. London; New York: J.M. Dent; E.P. Dutton.
^Boardman, John (1993).The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 308.ISBN0691036802.
^Schön, Franz (Regensburg) (2006-10-01),"Sequani",Brill’s New Pauly, Brill, retrieved2023-12-16
Falileyev, Alexander (2010).Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS.ISBN978-0955718236.
Kruta, Venceslas (2000).Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme. Robert Laffont.ISBN2-221-05690-6.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sequani".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
