Helvier

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Celtic tribes in Gaul

The Helvier or Helvii (more rarely also Elui or Elvi, ancient Greek Ἑλουοί ) were a numerically rather small Celtic tribe in the area of ​​the western Rhône valley or the historical province of Vivarais .

Settlement area

The settlement area of ​​the Helvier was roughly identical to today's Ardèche department . The city of Alba Helviorum ( called Alba Augusta by Claudius Ptolemy ) was its capital; it is identified with the present day Alba-la-Romaine . Gaius Iulius Caesar grouped the Helvier under the citizenship ( civitas ) and not under the settlements ( pagus ). The historian and geographer Strabo defined the Rhône as the eastern border of their settlement and dominion area.

history

With the conquest of southern Gaul and the creation of the province of Gallia Narbonensis in the years 125–118 BC. The Helvier came under the suzerainty and the cultural influence of the Roman Empire . In the 70s of the 1st century BC, the praetor Quintus Sertorius , who resided on the Iberian Peninsula , released his territory from the supremacy of Rome. After his murder by the competitor Marcus Perperna , the Helvier, who had sided with Quintus Sertorius, had to cede parts of their territory to the Rome-loyal city of Massilia . In 52 BC However, they supported Caesar in his fight against Vercingetorix ; then this gave them back the territory ceded to Massilia.

According to Strabo, the Helvians belonged to the newly established province of Gallia Aquitania under Augustus , and in the 1st century they were assigned to the Gallia Narbonensis . After that, the Helvier seem to have absorbed the Roman culture and way of life, because no more information has survived from later times.

literature

  • Guy Barruol: Les peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule. Étude de geographie historique. De Boccard, Paris 1969.
  • Yves Lafond: Helvii. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 5, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , Sp. 340.
  • ALF Rivet: Gallia Narbonensis, with a Chapter on Alpes Maritimae: Southern France in Roman Times. London 1988

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Strabo 4,190 (4,2,2).
  2. ↑ Pliny , Naturalis historia 3.36.