Biturigen

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Bituriges Cubi silver coin

The Biturigen (Latin mostly Bituriges , also Biturigiae ) were a Celtic tribe in Gaul . The Gallic name means "world kings / world leaders" ("eternal rulers").

The Biturigians settled in Aquitaine and were neighbors of the Haedu and Carnutes , from whom they were separated by the Loire . Their main places were Avaricum (today's Bourges) and Noviodunum Biturigum (today's Neuvy-sur-Barangeon ), in addition there were more than 20 smaller towns. As Livy reports, the Biturigen were around 550 BC. The most powerful Gallic tribe, they placed the king above all the Celts, Ambicatus . In order to fight against overpopulation, he ordered his nephews Bellovesus and Segovesus to emigrate with part of the Gallic people. Segovesus brought his protégés to the Hercynian Forest , Bellovesus led his to northern Italy, which the Romans called Gallia cisalpina from then on .

In the Gallic War , the Biturigen area was under Vercingetorix in 52 BC during the Gallic uprising . BC scene of the fighting against Caesar . This had initially taken the biturigic Noviodunum. Vercingetorix then ordered a scorched earth strategy and burned 20 Biturigen places that were difficult to defend, so that the supplies there could not fall into the hands of the Roman troops. Only the main town Avaricum should be defended at the request of the Biturigen. However, after a siege, Caesar succeeded in conquering Avaricum in the Battle of Avaricum . The Biturigen initially fled, but were overtaken by Caesar and eventually surrendered. Then their area was annexed to the Roman Empire . Biturigen later served in the Roman Army .

The Biturigen divided into two different tribes. The Bituriges Cubi settled between Loire and Vienne around the place Avaricum, which was later also called Bituriges or similar, from which the modern name Bourges is derived. They ruled the geographical center of Gaul, the capital was the geomantic center of Gaul in its "natural limits" ("in cubus" = in the body of Gaul). It was they with whom Caesar mainly dealt, even if he did not specifically mention their name. They were known nationwide for their metalworking, for which they are praised by Strabo , Caesar, Pliny the Elder and the late antique poet Rutilius Claudius Namatianus . The other tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci ("Vivisker" of excellence, distinction), settled around Burdigala (now Bordeaux ) at the mouth of the Garonne . The Vivisci were known for their viticulture, which is mentioned in Columella and Pliny.

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.5; 7.11; 8.4.
  2. ↑ a b Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.15.
  3. ↑ Livy, from urbe condita 5: 33–35. For example Alexander Demandt , Die Kelten , CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 19.
  4. ↑ Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.12f.
  5. ↑ Caesar, de bello Gallico 8.3.
  6. ↑ Evidence for this with him, in: RE III, 1, Sp. 549
  7. ↑ In the Tabula Peutingeriana the place was called Beturiges , in Ammianus Marcellinus 15,11,11 Biturigae . On this also Him, in: RE III, 1, Sp. 549.
  8. ↑ Strabo 4,191; Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.22; Pliny, naturalis historia 34,162; Rutilius Namatianus, de reditu suo 1,351ff.
  9. ↑ Columella, De re rustica 3, 2, 19; Pliny, naturalis historia 19.27.