TheBrixentes orBrixenetes were aCeltic orRhaetian tribe living in the Alps during theIron Age and theRoman era.
They are mentioned asBrixentes (var.-xenetis, -xenetes) byPliny (1st c. AD),[1] and asBrixántai (Βριξάνται) byPtolemy (2nd c. AD).[2][3] An identification withStrabo'sBrigántioi (Βριγάντιοι) has been proposed byErnst Meyer.[4]
The Celtic ethnic nameBrixentes might derive from an earlier form *brig-s-ant-, built on the rootbrig- ('hill, hillfort'). It has been translated as 'those living on hills/hillforts',[3] or as 'those living in the area of *Brigsa'.[5]
There is no scholarly consensus where in the Alps the Brixentes actually lived.
Some scholars have pointed out that they are listed on theTropaeum Alpium between theCalucones and theLepontii, which would make modern-day eastern Switzerland or westernAustria (in particular the area aroundBregenz) a possible location.[6][7][8] This would further corroborate the corresponding information given byStrabo about theBrigántioi and by Ptolemy about theBrixántai.[4]
Drawing on the similarity of the place name, some scholars have located the Brixentes at the confluence of theEisack andRienz rivers in modern-daySouth Tyrol, near the modern city ofBrixen,[9][3][10][11] which, according to this theory, could be reconstructed as *Brigsa,[5] or *Brigsina.[12][13] This would place their territory south of theIsarci, west of theSaevates, east of theVenostes.[9]
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]
According to the ancient geographerPtolemy, the Brixentes were a Rhaetian tribe.[14]
