TheEcdinii orEcdini were aGallic tribe dwelling in the valley of theTinée (Alpes-Maritimes) during theIron Age.
They are mentioned asEcdini byPliny (1st c. AD),[1] and asEcdiniorum on theArc of Susa.[2][3]
The meaning of theethnonym remains obscure. If Celtic,Ecdinii is possibly formed with the prefixec(s)- ('out of, without') attached to -dīn(i)- ('shelter, protection').[3]Xavier Delamarre has thus proposed to translate *Ec(s)-dīni-oi as the 'Homeless'. If this interpretation is correct, the name was probably anexonym given by a neighbouring tribe.[4]Guy Barruol suggested that the nameTinius might be related.[5]
The Ecdinii lived in the valley of theTinée, a tributary of theVar river.[5] Their territory was located west of theVesubiani andTyrii, east of theNemeturii, north of theNerusii andVediantii, and south of theSavincates andCaturiges.[6] According toA. L. F. Rivet, "there appear to have been no significant settlements in the lands of the Ecdinii and the Vesubiani, so that they must have been controlled byCemenelum when they had been detached from theCottian kingdom."[7]
Along with the Vesubiani andVeaminii, they were part of the Capillati.[8]
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] They also appear on theArch of Susa, erected byCottius in 9–8 BC.[9]
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