TheMedulli were an ancientGallic tribe living inAquitania during theRoman period. Their territory, corresponding to theMedilicus pagus (modernMédoc), appear to have constituted apagus of theBituriges Vivisci from an early date. Their region was already renowned in Antiquity for the quality of its oyster production, praised byPliny in the 1st century AD and later mentioned byAusonius (4th century) andSidonius Apollinaris (5th century).
They are mentioned asMedulli byAusonius (4th c. AD) andSidonius Apollinaris (5th c. AD).[1][2]
TheethnonymMedulli is a latinized form ofGaulishMedulloi. It is generally derived from theCeltic rootmedu-, meaning 'mead, alcoholic drink' (cf.Olr.mid,MW.medd,OBret.medot), and thus may be translated as 'those who drink mead' or 'those inebriated by mead'.[3][4] Alternatively,Javier de Hoz has proposed to interpret the name as 'those who lived in the middle', or 'in the border woods', by connecting it to the stem *medhi- ('middle').[4]
The toponymMédoc (attested aspagus Medulicus) is named after the tribe.[5]
They had an homonym tribe, theMedulli inGallia Alpina.[6]
Apagus Medulicus is attested as a district (pagus) of thecivitas of theBituriges Vivisci in an inscription from Bordeaux.[5] In the 1st century AD,Pliny praises the quality of Medullian oysters ("sweeter in the Medullian [region]";suaviora Medullis), yet does not mention the Medulli as a people among the Aquitanian tribes. This silence that ledCamille Jullian to conclude that they already formed apagus dependent on the Bituriges prior to the Roman conquest.[2]
In the 4th century AD,Ausonius repeatedly refers in his letters to Medullian oysters ("Oysters ... which the ebbing tide of the returning sea improves in the sweet lagoons of the Medulli") and also mentions apagus calledpaganum Medulis.[2]
In the 5th century AD,Sidonius Apollinaris likewise alludes to the "Medullian products" (Medullicae supellectili) in a letter to his friend Trigetius.[2]
