Santones

The Santones or Santoni (Ancient Greek: Σαντόνων, Σάντονες, French: Santons) were a Gallic tribe, dwelling around the modern city of Saintes in Saintonge. The Romans occupied the territory of the Santones from the 1st century BC.

Gold coins of the Santones, 5-1st century BCE. Early Gallic coins were often inspired by Greek coinage.[1]
A map of Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the approximate locations of the "celtic" tribes.
Country of the Santones during Roman times.

Name

They are mentioned as Santonos and Santonis by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),[2] as Santónōn (Σαντόνων) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),[3] as Santoni by Pliny (1st c. AD),[4] as Santonis by Pomponius Mela (mid-1st c. AD) and Tacitus (early 2nd c. AD),[5][6] as Sántones (Σάντονες, var. Σάντωνες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).[7][8]

The name Santones may be related to Gaulish sento ('pathway, country lane').[9]

The city of Saintes, attested as urbs Santonorum in the 4th c. CE ('civitas of the Santones', Xainctes 11th c.) and the Saintonge region, attested as Santonica tellus in the 4th c. CE ('land of the Santones', Xanctunge in 1242), are named after the Gallic tribe.[9]

References
  1. Boardman, John (1993). The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 308. ISBN 0691036802.
  2. Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 1:11:6; 7:75:3
  3. Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:2:1
  4. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:108
  5. Tacitus. Annales, 6:7
  6. Pomponius Mela. De situ orbis, 3:2:23
  7. Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:7:6
  8. Falileyev 2010, p. entry 3360.
  9. Nègre 1990, p. 157.

Bibliography
  • 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.
  • Nègre, Ernest (1990). Toponymie générale de la France (in French). Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2-600-02883-7.
Coin of the Santones, 1st century BC (Cabinet des Médailles)



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.