Sogionti Explained

The Sogionti or Sogiontii were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Sisteron during the Iron Age.

Name

They are mentioned as Sogionti (var. songi-, sonti-) by Pliny (1st c. AD),^[1] and as Sogionti and Sogion[ti]or(um) on inscriptions.^{[2] [3]}

The meaning of the name remains obscure. Guy Barruol compared the first element to the toponym Soio.

Geography

The Sogiontii lived in the middle valley of the Durance river, around present-day Sisteron (Segustero). Their territory was located north of the Reii, west of the Bodiontici, east of the Vocontii, and south of the Sebaginni.^[4]

They were probably part of the Vocontian confederation.

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.

References

Primary sources

• Book: Pliny. Natural History. Harvard University Press. 1938. 978-0674993648. Loeb Classical Library. Rackham. H.. Pliny the Elder.

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: 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. [Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]
3. , s.v. Sogiontii.
4. , Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.