 Modern-day rendering of a Celticoppidum. 1st century BC.[1] | |
| Location | France,Germany,Italy,Britain,Spain,Portugal,Austria,Belgium,Czech Republic,Switzerland,Slovakia,Serbia,Hungary |
|---|---|
| History | |
| Cultures | Celts,La Tène culture,Ancient Rome |
Anoppidum (pl.:oppida) is a large fortifiedIron Age settlement or town.Oppida are primarily associated with theCeltic lateLa Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretching fromBritain andIberia in the west to the edge of theHungarian Plain in the east.[2][3][4][5][6][7] These settlements continued to be used until the Romans conquered Southern and Western Europe. Many subsequently became Roman-era towns and cities, whilst others were abandoned.[8][9][10] In regions north of the riversDanube andRhine, such as most ofGermania, where the populations remained independent from Rome,oppida continued to be used into the 1st century AD.
Oppidum is aLatin word meaning 'defended (fortified) administrative centre or town', originally used in reference to non-Roman towns as well as provincial towns under Roman control.[11][12] The word is derived from the earlier Latinob-pedum, 'enclosed space', possibly from theProto-Indo-European*pedóm-, 'occupied space' or 'footprint'. In modern archaeological usageoppidum is a conventional term for large fortified settlements associated with the CelticLa Tène culture.[13]
In hisCommentarii de Bello Gallico,Julius Caesar described the largerCelticIron Age settlements he encountered inGaul during theGallic Wars in 58 to 52 BC asoppida. Although he did not explicitly define what features qualified a settlement to be called anoppidum, the main requirements emerge.[14] They were important economic sites, places where goods were produced, stored and traded, and sometimes Roman merchants had settled and theRoman legions could obtain supplies. They were also political centres, the seat of authorities who made decisions that affected large numbers of people, such as the appointment ofVercingetorix as head of the Gallic revolt in 52 BC.[15]: 12–13
Caesar named 28oppida. By 2011, only 21 of these had been positively identified by historians and archaeologists: either there was a traceable similarity between the Latin and the modern name of the locality (e.g.Civitas Aurelianorum-Orléans), or excavations had provided the necessary evidence (e.g.Alesia). Most of the places that Caesar called oppida were city-sized fortified settlements. However,Geneva, for example, was referred to as anoppidum, but no fortifications dating to this period have yet been discovered there. Caesar also refers to 20oppida of theBituriges and 12 of theHelvetii, twice the number of fortified settlements of these groups known today. That implies that Caesar likely counted some unfortified settlements asoppida. A similar ambiguity is in evidence in writing by the Roman historianLivy, who also used the word for both fortified and unfortified settlements.[15]: 13
In his workGeographia,Ptolemy listed the coordinates of many Celtic settlements. However, research has shown many of the localisations of Ptolemy to be erroneous, making the identification of any modern location with the names he listed highly uncertain and speculative. An exception to that is theoppidum ofBrenodurum atBern, which was confirmed by an archaeological discovery.[15]: 13
In archaeology and prehistory, the termoppida now refers to a category of settlement; it was first used in that sense byPaul Reinecke,Joseph Déchelette andWolfgang Dehn [de] in reference toBibracte,Manching, andZávist.[16][17] In particular, Dehn suggested defining an oppidum by four criteria:
In current usage, most definitions ofoppida emphasise the presence of fortifications, so they are different from undefended farms or settlements, and urban characteristics, marking them as separate fromhill forts. They are often described as 'the first cities north of the Alps', though earlier examples of urbanism in temperate Europe are also known.[7][18] The 2nd and 1st centuries BC places them in the period known asLa Tène. A notional minimum size of 15 to 25 hectares (37 to 62 acres) has often been suggested, but that is flexible and fortified sites as small as 2 hectares (4.9 acres) have been described asoppida. However, the term is not always rigorously used, and it has been used to refer to any hill fort orcircular rampart dating from the La Tène period. One of the effects of the inconsistency in definitions is that it is uncertain how manyoppida were built.[19]
In European archaeology, the termoppida is also used more widely to characterize any fortified prehistoric settlement. For example, significantly older hill-top structures like the one atGlauberg (6th or 5th century BC) have been calledoppida.
Such wider use of the term is, for example, common in the Iberian archaeology; in the descriptions of theCastro culture it is commonly used to refer to the settlements going back to the 9th century BC. The Spanish wordcastro, also used in English, means 'a walled settlement' or 'hill fort', and this word is often used interchangeably withoppidum by archaeologists.[20]
What was swept away in Northern Europe by the Roman Conquest was itself a dynamic indigenous culture extending across the transalpine landmass, usually known today as that of the Celts. The proto-urban Oppida – a Latin word used by Julius Caesar himself – remain one of the most striking manifestations of this pre-Roman northern European civilization.[21]
According to pre-historianJohn Collis, oppida extend as far east as theHungarian plain where other settlement types take over.[22] Around 200oppida are known today.[23] Central Spain has sites similar to oppida, but while they share features such as size and defensive ramparts the interior was arranged differently.[24]Oppida feature a wide variety of internal structures, from continuous rows of dwellings (Bibracte) to more widely spaced individual estates (Manching). Someoppida had internal layouts resembling theinsulae of Roman cities (Variscourt). Little is known, however, about the purpose of any public buildings.[15]: 28
The main features of the oppida are the walls and gates, the spacious layout, and usually a commanding view of the surrounding area. The major difference with earlier structures was their much larger size. Earlier hill forts were mostly just a few hectares in area, whilstoppida could encompass several dozen or even hundreds of hectares. They also played a role in displaying the power and wealth of the local inhabitants and as a line of demarcation between the town and the countryside.[15]: 25 According to Jane McIntosh, the "impressive ramparts with elaborate gateways ... were probably as much for show and for controlling the movement of people and goods as for defense".[25] Some of theoppida fortifications were built on an immense scale. Construction of the 7 km-longmurus gallicus atManching required an estimated 6,900 m3 of stones for the façade alone, up to 7.5 tons of iron nails, 90,000 m3 of earth and stones for the fill between the posts and 100,000 m3 of earth for the ramp. In terms of labour, some 2,000 people would have been needed for 250 days.[23] The 5.5 km-longmurus gallicus ofBibracte may have required 40 to 60hectares of mature oak woodland to be clear-felled for its construction.[26]
However, size and construction ofoppida varied considerably. Typicallyoppida inBohemia andBavaria were much larger than those found in the north and west of France. A recent discovery reported in July 2025, reveales evidence of a large Celtic settlement nearHradec Králové in theCzech Republic, dating back to theLa Tène period. It covers a large area in compare to other typical settlements in the region and likely served as a major economic and administrative center for the CelticBoii tribe, whose name gave rise to “Bohemia.”[27]
Typicallyoppida in Britain are small, but there is a group of large oppida in the south east; though oppida are uncommon in northern Britain,Stanwick stands out as an unusual example as it covers 350 hectares (860 acres).Dry stone walls supported by a bank of earth, calledKelheim ramparts, were characteristic of oppida in central Europe. To the east, timbers were often used to support the earth and stone ramparts, calledPfostenschlitzmauer (post slot wall) or "Preist-type wall".[15]: 25 In western Europe, especially Gaul, themurus gallicus (a timber frame nailed together, with a stone facade and earth/stone fill), was the dominant form of rampart construction. Dump ramparts, that is earth unsupported by timber, were common in Britain and were later adopted in France.[28] They have been found in particular in the north-west and central regions of France and were combined with wide moats ("Type Fécamp").[15]: 25 Oppida can be divided into two broad groups, those around the Mediterranean coast and those further inland. The latter group were larger, more varied, and spaced further apart.[29]
In Britain theoppidum ofCamulodunon (modernColchester, built between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD), tribal capital of theTrinovantes and at times theCatuvellauni, made use of natural defences enhanced with earthworks to protect itself.[30] The site was protected by two rivers on three of its sides, with theRiver Colne bounding the site to the north and east, and the Roman River forming the southern boundary; the extensive bank and ditch earthworks topped with palisades were constructed to close off the open western gap between these two river valleys.[30][31] These earthworks are considered the most extensive of their kind in Britain,[30][32] and together with the two rivers enclosed the high status farmsteads, burial grounds, religious sites, industrial areas, river port and coin mint of the Trinovantes.[30][33][34]
Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. According to Jane McIntosh, in about 5,000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million people lived in Europe;[36] in the late (pre-Roman) Iron Age (2nd and 1st centuries BC) it had an estimated population of around 15 to 30 million.[36] Outside Greece and Italy, which were more densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small, with perhaps no more than 50 inhabitants. While hill forts could accommodate up to 1,000 people,oppida in the late Iron Age could reach as large as 10,000 inhabitants.[36]
Oppida originated in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Most were built on fresh sites, usually on an elevated position. Such a location would have allowed the settlement to dominate nearby trade routes and may also have been important as a symbol of control of the area.[25] For instance at theoppidum ofUlaca in Spain the height of the ramparts is not uniform: those overlooking the valley are considerably higher than those facing towards the mountains in the area. The traditional explanation is that the smaller ramparts were unfinished because the region was invaded by the Romans; however, archaeologistJohn Collis dismisses this explanation because the inhabitants managed to build a second rampart extending the site by 20 hectares (49 acres) to cover an area of 80 hectares (200 acres). Instead he believes the role of the ramparts as a status symbol may have been more important than their defensive qualities.[39]
While someoppida grew from hill forts, by no means all of them had significant defensive functions. The development ofoppida was a milestone in theurbanisation of the continent as they were among the first large settlements north of the Alps that could genuinely be described as towns or cities (earlier sites include the 'Princely Seats' of theHallstatt period).[15]: 29 Caesar pointed out that eachtribe of Gaul would have severaloppida but that they were not all of equal importance, implying a form ofsettlement hierarchy, with someoppida serving as regional capitals. This is also reflected in the archaeological evidence. According to Fichtl (2018), in the first century BC Gaul was divided into around sixtycivitates (the term used by Caesar) or 'autonomous city-states', which were mostly organized around one or moreoppida. In some cases, "one of these can be regarded effectively as a capital."[40][41]
Oppida continued in use until the Romans began conquering Iron Age Europe. Even in the lands north of theRiver Danube that remained unconquered by the Romans,oppida were abandoned by the late 1st century AD.[25] In conquered lands, the Romans used the infrastructure of theoppida to administer the empire, and many became full Roman towns. This often involved a change of location from the hilltop into the plain.
Celtic names are in italics.
Notes
Oppidum (plural oppida) was the name used by Caesar to describe the Celtic towns that he discovered during his conquest of Gaul. In archaeology, the term is now used to describe all fortified Celtic sites covering a minimum area of 15ha and dating back to the second half of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC (the late La Tène period). These towns were both economic and political centres.
Oppidum: The term used by Julius Caesar to describe fortified tribal centres encountered by him in Gaul in 58–51 bc which did not merit categorization as cities (urbes). In archaeological usage it is applied more generally to fortified sites and large permanent settlements of the late pre‐Roman Iron Age in Europe. These served as centres for administration, trade, craft production, and religion.
Oppidum (pl. oppida;Latin: 'defended administrative centre or town'): During the later La Tene period in Gaul, from the 2nd century BC, there developed a series of large regional centres, some of which Julius Caesar in his reports of campaigns in the region, referred to as 'oppida' – a label that has stuck. Many of theseoppida were defended, but unlike earlier hillforts of the 2nd and early 1st millennium BC, most seem to have been permanently and densely occupied. The more complex examples seem to have acted as tribal capitals, trade and distribution centres, and are often located near significant trade routes.
Oppidum: A term used by Caesar to denote the fortified native towns he encountered in his campaigns in Gaul in 58-51 BC, now by extension used for all fortified Celtic towns; they are distinguished from hillforts by their combination of residential, industrial, market and administrative functions.
By the time Caesar reached Gaul, the predecessors of Roman and modern towns were already in existence as administrative and trading centres ... Over a broad zone, Portugal, central Spain, southern Britain, France, southern and central Germany, the Alpine zone, Hungary and Czechoslovakia major settlements, often labelled by ancient authors and modern archaeologists alike as 'oppida', had come into existence.
The first examples of urbanization in Celtic Europe were the princely residences of the early Iron Age (Hallstatt culture), but it was not until the late third century BC that urban centres began to flourish across Europe. The first were open settlements, followed by fortified oppida. Characterized by very large surface areas (up to hundreds of hectares) and defended by ramparts with strong symbolic and ostentatious connotations, oppida are widely considered the first cities north of the Alps. ... These fortified sites appeared more or less simultaneously in Europe, from the Atlantic to central Europe. By the last third of the second century BC, this wide area was covered with large-scale fortified sites.
By the time Caesar reached Gaul, the predecessors of Roman and modern towns were already in existence as administrative and trading centres – Vesontio (Besancon), Durocororum (Reims), Lutetia (Paris), Avaricum (Bourges) and others. ... many major settlements were already well established by the time of the Roman conquest.
Oppida, particularly in Gaul, continued to exist during the Roman period and sometimes even in medieval and later times (e.g. Vesontio→Besançon, Avaricum→Bourges, Durocortorum →Reims).
The oppida of Britain date to the late first century B.C. and early first century A.D. ... Several developed into major Roman towns.
Oppidum (pl. oppida;Latin: 'defended administrative centre or town'.
Oppidum, 'town', principally a descriptive word for an urban nucleus
{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)In modern archaeological usage, oppidum has become a conventional label for the pre-Roman defensive enceintes of the iron age peoples of north-west Europe, especially the La Tène cultures (see celts).
{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)New research demonstrates that the earliest cities developed north of the Alps between the sixth and fifth centuries BC as a consequence of processes of demographic growth, hierarchization, and centralization that have their roots in the immediately preceding period.
The structuring of Gaulishcivitas territories implies that some oppida were true capitals. ... In the first century BC, Gaul was divided into around sixtycivitates. These autonomous city-states were mostly organized around one or moreoppida (Fichtl 2004). In some cases, it seems that one of these can be regarded effectively as a capital. This is apparent not only from archaeological data, but also from textual records.
By the time Caesar reached Gaul, the predecessors of Roman and modern towns were already in existence as administrative and trading centres – Vesontio (Besancon), Durocororum (Reims), Lutetia (Paris), Avaricum (Bourges) and others. In the Celtic-speaking parts of Spain sites such as Numantia formed the major centres of resistance, while Camulodunum (Colchester) was considered the capital of Britain, sufficiently important for the Emperor Claudius himself to take part in its capture.
[PAG 193] CAPUT XXII. Apud Taiatienſes in Guaraniâ Incarnationis oppidũ fundatur. ..... [PAG 194] Christophoro Mendoçâ in Incarnationis oppido relicto ...
Bibliography
