TheNamnetes were aGallic tribe dwelling near the modern city ofNantes during theIron Age and theRoman period.
They are mentioned asNamnitō͂n (Ναμνιτῶν) byPolybius (2nd c. BC) andStrabo (early 1st c. AD),[1]Namnetes byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC) andPliny (1st c. AD),[2] and asNamnē͂tai (Ναμνῆται) byPtolemy (2nd c. AD).[3][4]
The etymology of theethnonymNamnetes remains uncertain.Xavier Delamarre has tentatively proposed to interpret the name as 'those of the river', by deriving it from theProto-Indo-European root *nem- ('curved, bend'), which also gave the Gaulish stemnantu- ('valley, stream').[5] The elementnamn- inNamnetes has also been compared to river names such as theNamn-asa in northern Spain and theNemun-as in Lithuania.[5][6] According toBlanca María Prósper, however, "Namnetes is alocus desperatus of Celtic etymology, and to judge from its overall look it probably contains a negative particle. Ethnic names often have an exotic, for us hardly understandable, and usually more complex look than place or river names."[6]
The Namnetes dwelled between the lowerLoire, theVilaine and theSemnon rivers.[7] Their territory was situated west of theAndecavi, south of theVeneti andRedones, and north of thePictones.[8]
Their chief town was Condevincum, corresponding to the modern city ofNantes, and their chief port was known as Portus Nemetum.[7]
In the spring 56 BC, during theGallic Wars, the Namnetes allied to the Veneti to fight against the fleet made byCaesar.[7] Decimus Brutus, leader of the Roman fleet, won in the decisiveBattle of Morbihan.[9]
According toStrabo, quotingPoseidonios, there is an island in the Ocean near the outlet of the Loire river which was inhabited by the "women of the Samnitae," which is generally taken to be a mistake and actually refers to the "Namnitae" or Namnetes.[10] No man was ever allowed on the island and the women themselves sailed from it to have intercourse with men on the continent before returning there again. They also had the strange custom of unroofing their temple every year and roofing it again on the same day before sunset, each woman bringing her load to add to the roof. The woman whose load would fall out of her arms was rent to pieces by the rest, and they allegedly carried the pieces round the temple with the cry of "Ev-ah" in a frenetic manner.[11]
According to French archaeologistJean-Louis Brunaux, there are three reasons to consider the story as factual. First, the wet and windy climate of Western Gaul suggest that the Gallic dwellings (made of branches or reed) were re-roofed every year. Second, not to drop new material was, according toPliny the Elder, a common religious practice of the Celts. Third,circumambulation existed as a rite among the Celts according toPoseidonios.[12]
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