Lemoviken

The Lemoviks were an ancient tribe of the Celts in Aquitaine . They were settled between the Biturigen and the Arverni and are mentioned twice by Caesar in his work De bello Gallico ("About the Gallic War "): As an ally of the Vercingetorix alongside other Aquitanian tribes (7, 4) and in the last year of the war in 51 BC. BC, when Caesar let part of his legions winter in the border area of ​​the Lemoviken (8, 46).

The Imperial scholars Pliny the Elder and Claudius Ptolemy also mention the Lemovik tribe (4, 109 and 2, 7, respectively). Its capital was called Augustorite until the 7th century AD , but since the conquest of Gaul it has also been known under the name Civitas Lemovicum ("City of Lemovics"). From this the current name of the city, Limoges, developed .

The name of the Lemoviken is explained by the combination of the personal name Lemo- with the suffix -vīces ("fighter").

literature

• Franz Cramer: Lemovices . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1931.