TheVenelli orUnelli (Gaulish: *Uenellī) were aGallic tribe dwelling on theCotentin peninsula, in the northwest of modernNormandy, during theIron Age and theRoman period.
In 57 BC, they capitulated to Caesar's legatePublius Licinius Crassus, but rebelled the following year and sent troops to help the Gallic coalition against Rome during theBattle of Alesia (52 BC).
They are named in Latin asV[e]nelli byCaesar (mid-1st c. BC)[1] andVenelli byPliny (1st c. AD),[2] and in Greek asOủenéllōn (Οủενέλλων,var. Οủενeλῶν) andOủénelloi (Οủένελλοι,var. Οủένελοι) byPtolemy (2nd c. AD)[3] andOủenellous (Οủενελλους) byCassius Dio (3rd c. AD).[4][5]
The etymology of theethnonym is obscure. It may derive from the Gaulish stem*ueni- ('clan, family, lineage').[6]
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The pre-Roman chief town of the Venelli was probably the oppidum ofMont Castre (Plessis-Lastelle, nearMontsenelle). It has been identified with the stronghold of the Venelli mentioned during Sabinus's campaign against the tribe in 56 BC.[7] The site comprises two defensive enclosures, the main one surrounding 20–30 hectares with ramparts and ditches extending over more than 2 km. Limited finds, including a Gallic coin, indicate occupation in the late Iron Age and Gallo-Roman period.[7]
During the early Roman Empire, several settlements may have served as their capital.[8]
The first capital was likelyCrociatonum (Kroukiatonnon), mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD and attested by a 1st–early 2nd-century milestone found atSainte-Mère-Église. The place also appears in theAntonine Itinerary and thePeutinger Table, though these sources do not confirm that it kept it status as acivitas capital. Its precise location remains uncertain, withCarentan orSaint-Côme-du-Mont most often proposed.[8][9]
At an uncertain date, evidence suggests that the area came to be divided into twocivitates: a northern district centred on Alauna (Valognes), mentioned as the starting point of an Antonine itinerary, and a southern district administered fromCosedia (Coutances), which later becameConstantia in theNotitia Dignitatum.[10]
AfterDiocletian's administrative reforms in the early 4th century AD, bothcivitates were merged, and a singlecivitas Constantia was administered fromConstantia (Coutances), which served as both a military prefecture and an episcopal see.[8][10] The capital had been renamed fromCosedia toConstantia; a medieval tradition reported byOrderic Vitalis (12th c. AD) links this change toConstantius Chlorus's campaigns along the Channel coast. Unusually, the surrounding territory took its name from the capital, becoming thepagus Constantinus (modernCotentin), first attested in the 9th-centuryVita ofSaint Marculf.[9]
Caesar mentions them with theVeneti,Osismi,Curiosolitae, and other maritime states. The Unelli and the rest submitted toPublius Licinius Crassus in 57 BC; but in 56 BC it was necessary to send a force again into the country of the Unelli, Curiosolitae, andLexovii.Quintus Titurius Sabinus had the command of the three legions who were to keep the Unelli and their neighbours quiet. The commander of the Unelli wasViridovix, and he was also at the head of all the forces of the states which had joined the Unelli, among whom were theAulerci Eburovices and the Lexovii. The force of Viridovix was very large, and he was joined by desperate men from all parts of Gallia, robbers and those who were 'too idle to till the ground'. TheRoman general entrenched himself in his camp, and made the Galli believe that he was afraid and was intending to slip away by night. The trick deceived the Galli, and they attacked the Roman camp, which was well placed on an eminence with a sloping ascent to it about a mile (1.6 km) in length. On the Galli reaching the Roman camp exhausted by a rapid march up the hill and encumbered with the fascines which they carried for filling up the ditch, the Romans sallied out by two gates and punished the enemy well for their temerity. They slaughtered an immense number of the Galli, and the cavalry pursuing the remainder let few escape. This feat of arms is told clearly in the Commentaries.
The Unelli sent a contingent of 6000 men to attack Caesar at thesiege of Alesia in 52 BC. (B. G. vii. 75.)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
