Tolistobogii (in other sourcesTolistobogioi,Tolistobōgioi,Tolistoboioi,Tolistobioi,Toligistobogioi orTolistoagioi) is the name used by the Roman historian,Livy, for one of the three ancientGallic tribes ofGalatia in centralAsia Minor, together with theTrocmi andTectosages. The tribe entered Anatolia in 279 BC as a contingent of Celtic raiders from the Danube region, and settled in those regions ofPhrygia which would later become part of theRoman province ofGalatia. The Galatians retained their Celtic language through the 4th century AD, whenSaint Jerome mentions that the Galatians still spoke a Celtic language in his times.[1]
The name is believed to be akarmadhāraya compound of twoProto-Celtic roots: the first,*tolisto-, is of uncertain meaning, but perhaps related toOld Irishtol "will, desire";[2]Ludwig Rübekeil conjectures it to be an adjectival derivation from a Celtic root*tel- in an archaic and not well-attested formation of the superlative, and tentatively translates the name as "the most enduring, hardest".[3] A non-Celtic origin for the root*tolisto- is also possible.[4] The second root,*bogio-, means "beat, pound" and is a common element in Celtic personal names (cf. GaulishAndecombogius,Combogiomārus,Namantobogius,Uercombogius; also Old Irishbong "batter" andWelsh-abwy [<Proto-Celtic*adbogio-] in names such asRhonabwy andIunabwy).[5]
The Tolistobogii for the greater part of their centuries-long stay inGalatia were located in what is nowEskişehir Province just to the west ofAnkara.[citation needed]
The Tolistobogii first appear as troops in the army ofBrennus on its way to plunderDelphi in Greece in 279 BC. InDardania, it is said, some 20,000 men underLeonorius and Lutarius in these three tribes seceded from Brennus and enteredThrace, where they collected tribute from the region, includingByzantium. Subsequently, they crossed theHellespont to fight as mercenaries forNicomedes I ofBithynia and then left Bithynia to plunder Anatolia. The Tolistobogii receivedAeolia andIonia as territory. According to Plutach, the historian Polybius met and talked with Chiomara, wife of Ortagion, chieftain of the Tolistobogii who united them into a powerful state against Rome in 189 BC. Chiomara was captured and raped by a centurion who, when he found out her seniority, demanded a ransom from Ortagion. Whilst the ransom was being delivered, Chiomara had the centurion decapitated and took his head to her husband.[6]
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