TheMandubii (Gaulish: *Mandubioi) were a smallGallic tribe dwelling in and around their chief townAlesia, in modernCôte-d'Or, during theIron Age and theRoman period.
Anoppidum Mandubiorum is mentioned byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1] and the tribe is designated asMandoubíōn (Μανδουβίων) byStrabo (early 1st c. AD).[2][3]
TheethnonymMandubii is a latinized form ofGaulish *Mandubioi (sing. *Mandubios). It is generally seen as deriving from the stemmandu- ('pony').[4][5] Alternatively,Pierre-Yves Lambert has proposed to compare the name with the Welshmathru ('trample upon').[6]
The territory of the Mandubii was located in the Haux-Aixois region, between the settlements ofAlesia in the north,Blessey in the east,Braux in the west, andSombernon in the southeast.[7] This small area
During the reign of the Roman emperorAugustus, their small territory was incorporated into theLingonian territory.[8] In the unstable period following the death ofNero in 68 AD, the Mandubii were excluded from the Lingonian territory and attached to theAedui.[7]
Mandubian ceramics are attested inVillaines-les-Prévôtes by the 2nd century BC. While under the influence of the neighbouring and more powerfulAedui andLingones, the Mandubii benefited from a relative autonomy (at least economic and cultural) before the Roman conquest.[9]
At Alesia, Apollo appears prominently as a local deity, presiding over the monumental sanctuary of Croix-Saint-Charles, a site occupied since the pre-Roman period. There, he is assimilated withMoritasgus, a god attested only at Alesia. Dedications have also been found toRosmerta, and to the couplesAlbius andDamona,Ucuetis andBergusia, and MarsCicolluis withLitavis.[10]
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