Ligauni Explained

The Ligauni were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling near the Mediterranean coast during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as Ligaunorumque by Pliny (1st c. AD).^{[1] [2]} A (colonia) in Liga in also attested in the Early Middle Ages (814 AD).

The ethnic name Ligauni is probably Celtic, stemming from an earlier *Ligamnī. It has been derived from the root līg- ('to strike'), with Ligauni as 'the beating ones', or from liga- ('mud, sediment, silt'). According to Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel, such linguistically Celtic tribal names suggest that a Celto-Ligurian dialect played an important role among the languages spoken in ancient Ligury.

Geography

Their territory was located east of the Deciates, west of the Verucini, south of the Suetrii, and north of the Oxybii.^[3] According to historian Guy Barruol, they were part of the Saluvian confederation.

References

Bibliography

• Book: Barruol, Guy. Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. 1969. E. de Boccard. 3279201. Guy Barruol.
• de Bernardo Stempel. Patrizia. Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel. 2006. From Ligury to Spain: Unaccented *yo > (y)e in Narbonensic votives (‘gaulish’ DEKANTEM), Hispanic coins (‘iberian’ -(sk)en) and some theonyms. Palaeohispanica. 6. 45–58. 1578-5386.
• Book: Falileyev, Alexander. Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. 2010. 978-0955718236.
• Book: Rivet, A. L. F.. Gallia Narbonensis: With a Chapter on Alpes Maritimae : Southern France in Roman Times. 1988. Batsford. 978-0-7134-5860-2. A.L.F. Rivet.
• Book: Talbert, Richard J. A.. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. 2000. 978-0691031699. Richard Talbert.

Notes and References

1. [Pliny the Elder|Pliny]
2. , s.v. Ligauni.
3. , Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.