TheCamuni orCamunni were an ancient population located inVal Camonica during theIron Age (1st millennium BC); theLatin nameCamunni was attributed to them by the authors of the 1st century. They are also calledancient Camuni, to distinguish them from the current inhabitants of the valley (theCamuni orCamunians). The Camunni were among the greatest producers ofrock art inEurope; their name is linked to the famousrock engravings of Valcamonica.

A people of obscure origin, they lived in a region, theVal Camonica, that had already been the site of a cultural tradition dating back to the earlyNeolithic. The Camunni are mentioned by classical historiographical sources from the 1st century BC, corresponding to the Iron Age inVal Camonica (from the 12th century BC until about Romanization). Inancient Greek,Strabo referred to them asΚαμοῦνοι (Kamounoi), whileCassius Dio called themΚαμούννιοι (Kamounnioi).

Conquered byRome at the beginning of the 1st century AD, the Camunni were gradually incorporated into the political and social structures of theRoman Empire as a self-governing polity called theRes Publica Camunnorum. They were granted Roman citizenship from the second half of the 1st century, with a rapid process of Latinization.

The Greek historianStrabo (63/64 BC–ca. 24 AD) described the Camunni as part of theRhaetian peoples and related to theLepontii (who according to Strabo were of Rhaetic stock, though modern linguists generally regard theLepontic language as Celtic):^[1][2]

Ἑξῆς δὲ τὰ πρὸς ἕω μέρη τῶν ὀρῶν καὶ τὰ ἐπιστρέφοντα πρὸς νότον Ῥαιτοὶ καὶ Ὀυινδολικοὶ κατέχουσι, συνάπτοντες Ἐλουηττίοις καὶ Βοίοις· ἐπίκεινται γὰρ τοῖς ἐκείνων πεδίοις. Οἱ μὲν οὖν Ῥαιτοὶ μέχρι τῆς Ἰταλίας καθήκουσι τῆς ὑπὲρ Οὐήρωνος καὶ Κώμου. Καὶ ὅ γε Ῥαιτικὸς οἶνος, τῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἰταλικοῖς ἐπαινουμένων οὐκ ἀπολείπεσθαι δοκῶν, ἐν ταῖς τούτων ὑπωρείαις γίνεται· διατείνουσι δὲ καὶ μέχρι τῶν χωρίων, δι' ὧν ὁ Ῥῆνος φέρεται· τούτου δ' εἰσὶ τοῦ φύλου καὶ Ληπόντιοι καὶ Καμοῦνοι. Οἱ δὲ Ὀυινδολικοὶ καὶ Νωρικοὶ τὴν ἐκτὸς παρώρειαν κατέχουσι τὸ πλέον· μετὰ Βρεύνων καὶ Γεναύνων, ἤδη τούτων Ἰλλυριῶν. Ἅπαντες δ' οὗτοι καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας τὰ γειτονεύοντα μέρη κατέτρεχον ἀεὶ καὶ τῆς Ἐλουηττίων καὶ Σηκοανῶν καὶ Βοίων καὶ Γερμανῶν. Ἰταμώτατοι δὲ τῶν μὲν Ὀυινδολικῶν ἐξητάζοντο Λικάττιοι καὶ Κλαυτηνάτιοι καὶ Ὀυέννωνες, τῶν δὲ Ῥαιτῶν Ῥουκάντιοι καὶ Κωτουάντιοι.

— Strabo, Geography IV, 6.8

Next, in order, come those parts of the mountains that are towards the east, and those that bend round towards the south: the Rhaeti and theVindelici occupy them, and their territories join those of theElvetii and theBoii; for their territories overlook the plains of those peoples. Now the Rhaeti reach down as far as that part of Italy which is above Verona andComum (moreover, the "Rhaetic" wine, which has the repute of not being inferior to the approved wines of the Italic regions, is made in the foothills of theRhaetic Alps), and also extend as far as the districts through which theRhenus runs; the Lepontii, also, and Camuni, belong to this stock. But the Vindelici andNorici occupy the greater part of the outer side of the mountain, along with the Breuni and the Genauni, the two peoples last named beingIllyrians. All these peoples used to overrun, from time to time, the neighbouring parts, not only of Italy, but also of the country of the Elvetii, the Sequani, the Boii, and the Germani. The Licattii, the Clautenatii, and the Vennones proved to be the boldest warriors of all the Vindelici, as did the Rucantii and the Cotuantii of all the Rhaeti.

The Roman historianPliny the Elder (23–79 AD), citing theOrigines ofCato the Elder (234–149 BC), spoke instead of the Camunni as one of several tribes of theEuganei:

Verso deinde in Italiam pectore Alpium Latini iuris Euganeae gentes, quarum oppida XXXIIII enumerat Cato. ex iis Trumplini, venalis cum agris suis populus, dein Camunni conpluresque similes finitimis adtributi municipis

— Pliny the Elder,Naturalis Historia, III.133-134.

Turning then to the side of the Alps which fronts Italy, we have the Euganean nations enjoying Latin rights, and of whom Cato enumerates thirty-four towns. Among these are theTriumplini, a people who were sold with their territory; and then the Camuni, and several similar tribes, each of them in the jurisdiction of its neighbouring municipal town.

TheEtruscans, already widespread in the Po Valley, had contacts with Alpine populations by the 5th century BC. Surviving traces of Etruscan cultural influence are recorded in the aforementioned rock art in over two hundred texts written in theCamunic alphabet, which is a variant of the North Etruscan alphabet.^[4] At the beginning of the 4th century BC, the CelticGauls arrived in Italy. Coming fromTransalpine Gaul, they settled in thePo plain and came in touch with the Camunian population. Some of the petroglyphs in Valcamonica with figures of Celtic deities such asKernunnos attest this Gaulish presence.^[3]

Val Camonica was subjected to Rome during the campaigns ofAugustus to conquerRaetia and the Alpine arc, conducted by his generalsNero Claudius Drusus andTiberius (the future emperor) against the mountain peoples in 16–15 BC.Publius Silius Nerva, governor ofIllyricum, was to complete the conquest of the eastern Alpine front, which reached from the valley of Como to Lake Garda (therefore including the Valcamonica), in addition to theVennoneti ofVinschgau.

The Roman conquest is also mentioned by the Roman historianCassius Dio writing in Greek:

Καὶ γὰρ Καμμούνιοι καὶ Οὐέννιοι, Ἀλπικὰ γένη, ὅπλα τε ἀντήραντο καὶ νικηθέντες ὑπὸ Πουπλίου Σιλίου ἐχειρώθησαν.

— Cassius Dio,Historia Romana, book 54

The Camunni and Vennoni, Alpine tribes, took up arms against the Romans, but were conquered and subdued by Publius Silius.

This conquest was celebrated in theTrophy of the Alps (Tropaeum Alpium), a Roman monument erected in 7–6 BC and located in the French town ofLa Turbie, whose frontal inscription named the conquered Alpine peoples:

· GENTES ALPINAE DEVICTAE TRVMPILINI · CAMVNNI · VENOSTES ·

— Tropaeum Alpium,La Turbie

After the Roman conquest, the Camunni were annexed to the nearest cities in a condition of semi-subjection through the practice ofadtributio, which allowed them to maintain their own tribal constitution while the dominant city became the administrative, judicial, and fiscal center.^[6] The city that the Camunni were assigned to was probablyBrixia. At first they were assigned the status ofperegrinus, and then they obtainedRoman citizenship; in theFlavian Age they were assigned to theQuirinatribe,^[7] while they maintained a certain self-government; in fact, aRes Publica Camunnorum has been recorded.

Romanization proceeded fromCivitas Camunnorum (Cividate Camuno), a city founded by the Romans around 23 BC, during the principate ofTiberius. Beginning in the 1st century, the Camunni were included in stable Roman political and social structures, as evidenced by the numerouslegionaries, artisans, and evengladiators of Camunian origins in several areas of theRoman Empire. Camunian religion went through the process ofinterpretatio Romana, forming a syncretic combination withRoman religion.^[8]

Camunian stone carvings, 70–80% of which date to the Bronze Age, are thought to have held value for celebratory, commemorative, initiatory, and propitiatory rituals.^[9] TheSanctuary of Minerva, found at Spinera betweenCividate Camuno andBreno in 1986, dates to the Roman period and was finely decorated with mosaics.

The beginning of the Middle Ages coincided with the arrival of theChristian religion among the Camunni. The 4th and 5th centuries witnessed the destruction of the ancient places of worship, with the destruction ofstatue menhirs inOssimo andCemmo and the burning of theSanctuary of Minerva.^[8]

Surviving traces of the language spoken by the Camunni are scarce and undeciphered. Among theRock Drawings in Valcamonica there are some inscriptions written in theCamunic language, written in a northern variant of theEtruscan alphabet. There is insufficient knowledge about Camunic to be able to determine whether it belongs to a broaderlanguage family.

•   This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Camuni".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

• Cassius Dio,Roman History
• Pliny the Elder,Naturalis Historia
• Strabo,Geographica
• Trophy of the Alps

• Raffaele De Marinis,Le popolazioni alpine di stirpe retica in G. Pugliese Carratelli (a cura di) Italia omnium terrarum alumna, Milano, Garzanti-Scheiwiller, 1988. pp. 95–155
• Lino Ertani,La Valle Camonica attraverso la storia, Esine, Tipolitografia Valgrigna, 1996.
• Francesco Fedele,L'uomo, le Alpi, la Valcamonica - 20.000 anni di storia al Castello di Breno, Boario Terme, La Cittadina, 1988.
• Valeria Mariotti,Il teatro e l'anfiteatro di Cividate Camuno, Arti grafiche BMB, 2004.ISBN 88-7814-254-9
• Pietro Paolo Ormanico,Considerationi sopra alcvne memorie della Religione Antica dei Camvli, ò Camvni, Bornato, Sardini Editrice [1639], 1983.
• Umberto Sansoni, Silvana Gavaldo,L'arte rupestre del Pià d'Ort: la vicenda di un santuario preistorico alpino, Edizioni del Centro, 1995.
• Ronald Syme, "The Alps" inCambridge Ancient History, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, Vol. VIII.

• Ancient peoples of Italy
• Rock Drawings in Valcamonica
• Val Camonica