TheVindelici (Gaulish:*Uindelicoi) were aGallic people dwelling around present-dayAugsburg (Bavaria) during theIron Age and theRoman period.
They are mentioned asVindĕlĭcī byHorace (1st c. BC),[1] asOuindolikoì (Οὐινδολικοὶ;var.Οὐι(ν)δολίγοι) byStrabo (early 1st c. AD),[2] asVindelici andVindelicorum (var.uendili-,uidelicino-,uideliquo-) byPliny (1st c. AD),[3] asVindelicorumque byTacitus (early 2nd c. AD),[4] and asVindelicorum andVindolici on inscriptions.[5][6]
TheethnonymVindelicī a latinized form ofGaulish*Uindelicoi (sing.*Uindelicos). It derives from the stem*uindo- ('clear, white, bright'), probably after the name of an unattested river*Uindelis or*Uindelos.[7][8] AhydronymVindelicus is mentioned byFlorus as an alternative name of the Soulgas (Sorgue), in southeastern France.[6] Alternatively,Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to translate the name as 'those from the white rocks', by deriving the second element from Gaulishlica ('flat stone').[9]
The Vindelici lived on theUpper Bavarian-Upper Swabian plateau, probably also inVorarlberg andTyrol, in a land stretching from the southern slopes of the Alps up to the Danube river.[10][11] They later occupied the eastern part of the province of Raetia, in a region known by Ptolemy asVindelicia.[12][11] Their territory was located west of theCatenates, south of theRaetovarii, north of theLicates.[13]
Their chief town during the Roman period was known as Augusta Vindelicum or Aelia Augusta (modernAugsburg).[14] A first Roman military camp was occupied from 10 BC up until ca. 15 AD, when it was probably destroyed by flooding and relocated to the south. The second fort, abandoned in the 70–80s, was rapidly covered by the expanding civilian settlement. Augusta Vindelicum served at a time as the capital ofRaetia and the residence of the provincial governor. It obtained the status ofmunicipium under the emperorHadrian (117–138 AD). From the reign ofDiocletian (284–305), the city became the capital ofRaetia secunda.[14]
In the narrow sense, the Vindelician people comprised four sub-tribes, listed on theTropaeum Alpium: theCosuanetes,Rucinates,Licates andCatenates.[8]
In a broader sense, they included, as counted by Strabo, theLicates,Clautenatii,Vennones,Estiones, andBrigantii,[10] although this classification has been criticized as doubtful by some scholars.[8] Rather than sub-tribes, they may have rather beenpagi or clients of the Vindelici.[12]
Despite the proximity of Augusta Vindelicum, the Vindelici were only partially Romanized.[11]
They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on theTropaeum Alpium.[3]
Later on, the Vindelici served as auxiliary soldiers in the Roman army, in thecohortes Raetorum et Vindelicorum.[8]
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