Medulli Explained

The Medulli (Gaulish: Medulloi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper valley of Maurienne, around present-day Modane (Savoie), during the Iron Age and Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as Medullorum by Vitruvius (late 1st c. BC),^[1] Méd(o)ulloi (Μέδ<ο>υλλοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),^[2] Medulli by Pliny (1st c. AD),^[3] and as Medoúllous (Μεδούλλους) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).^{[4] [5]}

The ethnonym Medulli is a latinized form of Gaulish Medulloi. It is generally derived from the Celtic root medu-, meaning 'mead, alcoholic drink' (cf. Olr. mid, MW. medd, OBret. medot), and thus may be translated as 'those who drink mead'. This interpretation is encouraged by the mention, in Vitruvius' De architetura, of a "kind of water" (genus aquae) drunk by the Medulli. Alternatively, Javier de Hoz has proposed to glose the name as 'those who lived in the middle', or 'in the border woods', by connecting it to the root *medhi/u- ('middle').

Geography

The Medulli dwelled in the upper Maurienne valley, along the upper course of the Arc river, near the modern town of Modane (Amonada). Their territory was located east of the Graioceli (themselves east of the Vocontii), north of the Brigianii and Quariates, west of the Segusini, and south of the Ceutrones (themselves south of the Allobroges).^[6]

They belonged to the tribes governed by Cottius in Alpes Taurinae and were later integrated into the province of Alpes Cottiae.

History

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 the Tropaeum Alpium. They also appear on the Arch of Susa, erected by Cottius in 9–8 BC.

According to Vitruvius, they were particularly prone to suffer from goitre.

See also

• Ceutrones
• Graioceli
• Segusini

References

Primary sources

• Book: Pliny. Natural History. Harvard University Press. 1938. 978-0674993648. Loeb Classical Library. Rackham. H.. Pliny the Elder.
• Book: Strabo. Geography. Harvard University Press. 1923. 978-0674990562. Loeb Classical Library. Jones. Horace L.. Strabo.
• Book: Vitruvius. On Architecture. Harvard University Press. 1934. 978-0674993099 . Loeb Classical Library. Granger. Frank. Vitruvius.

Bibliography

• Book: Barruol, Guy. Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. 1969. E. de Boccard. 3279201. Guy Barruol.
• Book: Delamarre, Xavier. Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. 2003. Errance. 9782877723695. Xavier Delamarre.
• Book: de Hoz, Javier. 2005. Ptolemy and the linguistic history of the Narbonensis. New approaches to Celtic place-names in Ptolemy's Geography. de Hoz. Javier. Luján. Eugenio R.. Sims-Williams. Patrick. Ediciones Clásicas. 173–188. 978-8478825721. Javier de Hoz.
• Dietz. Karlheinz. 2006. Medulli. Brill's New Pauly. 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e728780.
• 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: Prieur, Jean. La province romaine des Alpes Cottiennes. 1968. Impr. R. Gauthier. 834310867.
• Book: Talbert, Richard J. A.. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. 2000. 978-0691031699. Richard Talbert.

Further reading

• L. Comby 1977, Histoire des Savoyards, Nathan

Notes and References

1. [Vitruvius]
2. [Strabo]
3. [Pliny the Elder|Pliny]
4. [Ptolemy]
5. , s.v. Medulli.
6. , Map 17: Lugdunum.