The Nemeturii (Gaulish *Nemeturioi, 'the inhabitants of nemetons') or Nemeturi were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the Alpes Maritimae during the Iron Age.

Name

They are mentioned as Nemeturicae by Columella (1st c. AD), and as Nemoturica and Nematuri (var. nemet-) by Pliny (1st c. AD).

The ethnic name Nemeturii is a latinized form of Gaulish *Nemeturioi. It derives from the stem nemeto-, meaning 'sacred place, sanctuary'. Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to interpret the name as Nemet-urii ('the inhabitants of sacred places'). Alternatively, it may be built on a suffix -turii found in the ethnonyms Viturii (a people of the Genoa region) and Eguiturii (upper Verdon valley).

Geography

The Nemeturii dwelled in the upper Verdon or Var valley. Their territory was located east of the Eguiturii, west of the Ecdinii, north of the Vergunni and Nerusii, and south of the Savincates and Caturiges.

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.

Primary sources

  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674993648. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

Bibliography

  • Barruol, Guy (1969). Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. E. de Boccard. OCLC .
  • de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2006). "From Ligury to Spain: Unaccented *yo > (y)e in Narbonensic votives ('gaulish' DEKANTEM), Hispanic coins ('iberian' -(sk)en) and some theonyms". Palaeohispanica. 6: 45–58. ISSN .
  • Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
  • Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.