Carnutes

The carnutes ( Carnutes even Carnuti or Carnutes ) were a Gallic people between Liger ( Loire ) and Sequana ( Seine ).

The main places of the Carnutes were Autricum ( Chartres ) and Cenabum (from the 3rd century AD Aurelianum , now Orléans ). They were western neighbors of the Senones . In the 1st century BC The Carnutes also minted bronze coins, and the eagle motif was common. In the army that was founded around 600 or 400 BC BC moved to Italy under Bellovesus , are also called Carnutes.

In the Gallic War against Rome (or the Roman general Gaius Iulius Caesar , who pursued the conquest of free Gaul) they played a not unimportant role. In 54 BC They murdered King Tasgetius , who had been appointed by Caesar three years earlier, but then quickly subordinated themselves to Rome. The Carnutes began in 52 BC. BC with the attack on Cenabum, in the course of which several Roman citizens were killed, the revolt of the Gauls under Vercingetorix against Caesar. In the course of the uprising, the Carnutes allegedly had to provide 12,000 men to relieve the besieged in Alesia . In the following year Caesar marched against the Carnutes, who soon submitted to him. He had the alleged warmonger ( concitator belli ), who bore the title or name Gutuater , whipped to death and beheaded. The carnutes were romanised in the following period and were granted several privileges by Emperor Augustus .

According to Caesar, the area of the Carnutes was the "center of Gaul". Every year druids gathered there in a holy place to settle disputes. This remark by Caesar later served the authors of the Asterix booklet as a suggestion for the "Karnutenwald" they invented.

literature

Marcel Le Glay : Carnutes. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Sp. 1060 (very brief overview).
Max Him : Carnutes . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 2, Stuttgart 1899, Col. 1605.

Remarks

^ Livy , from urbe condita 5.34. Whether the list of Gallic tribes appearing in Livy is historical or from the 1st century BC. B.C. (i.e. in Livy’s time) known names of Gallic tribes is composed, is controversial in research, see note 2 in the article Bellovesus .
^ Caesar, de bello Gallico 5.25. The background for this can also be found in the political structure: In Caesar's time, the kingship of the Gauls had given way to aristocratic rule almost everywhere. Wherever it held, the king was mostly powerless or dependent on Rome's grace.
↑ Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.3. Regarding the uprising, general reference is made to the relevant Caesar biographies, for example Christian Meier , Caesar , 5th edition, Munich 2002, p. 384ff.
↑ Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.75.
↑ Caesar, de bello Gallico 8,4f. and 8.31.
↑ Caesar, de bello Gallico 6,13,10, cf. also Bernhard Maier : Celtic religion. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 16, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2000, ISBN 3-11-016782-4 , p. 418.

[1] Livy , from urbe condita 5.34. Whether the list of Gallic tribes appearing in Livy is historical or from the 1st century BC. B.C. (i.e. in Livy’s time) known names of Gallic tribes is composed, is controversial in research, see note 2 in the article Bellovesus .

[2] Caesar, de bello Gallico 5.25. The background for this can also be found in the political structure: In Caesar's time, the kingship of the Gauls had given way to aristocratic rule almost everywhere. Wherever it held, the king was mostly powerless or dependent on Rome's grace.

[3] Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.3. Regarding the uprising, general reference is made to the relevant Caesar biographies, for example Christian Meier , Caesar , 5th edition, Munich 2002, p. 384ff.

[4] Caesar, de bello Gallico 7.75.

[5] Caesar, de bello Gallico 8,4f. and 8.31.

[6] Caesar, de bello Gallico 6,13,10, cf. also Bernhard Maier : Celtic religion. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 16, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2000, ISBN 3-11-016782-4 , p. 418.