The Andecavi or Andegavi, also Andes in Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

's Bellum Gallicum

Commentarii de Bello Gallico

Commentarii de Bello Gallico is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine years he spent fighting local armies in Gaul that opposed Roman domination.The "Gaul" that Caesar...

, were a people of ancient and medieval Aremorica. They gave their name to the comté

County

A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

Anjou

Anjou

Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...

, called Andegavia in medieval Latin

Medieval Latin

Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...

 and the origin of the name Angevin.

Geography

The territory of the Andecavi roughly corresponded with the diocese of Angers

Roman Catholic Diocese of Angers

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Angers, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church, in France. The episcopal see is located in Angers Cathedral, in the city of Angers. The diocese extends over the entire department of Maine-et-Loire....

, Anjou, in the department Maine-et-Loire

Maine-et-Loire

Maine-et-Loire is a department in west-central France, in the Pays de la Loire region.- History :Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791....

 in present-day France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Although Caesar locates the Andes “near the Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

,” they held no coast and were located inland along the Loire

Loire

Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...

 river.

Role in Gallic Wars

In Book 3 of the Bellum Gallicum, Caesar says that the Andes provided winterquarters for Publius Crassus

Publius Licinius Crassus (son of triumvir)

Publius Licinius Crassus was one of two sons of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus and Tertulla. He belonged to the last generation of Roman nobiles who came of age and began a political career before the collapse of the Republic...

 after his mission into Armorica, which brought several Gallic polities

Polity

Polity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...

 into relations with Rome. Over the winter of 57–56 BC, the Romans built a fleet on the Loire under the command of Decimus Brutus

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus was a Roman politician and general of the 1st century BC and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination...

, presumably in preparation for an invasion of Britannia

Britannia

Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...

, but which was instead called into action against the Veneti

Veneti (Gaul)

The Veneti were a seafaring Celtic people who lived in the Brittany peninsula , which in Roman times formed part of an area called Armorica...

 when Armorican objections were raised.

The Andes, led by Dumnacus, played a significant role in the continuing war against Rome after the defeat of Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....

 at Alesia

Battle of Alesia

The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September, 52 BC around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and hill fort of the Mandubii tribe...

. Dumnacus's efforts are recounted by Aulus Hirtius

Aulus Hirtius

Aulus Hirtius was one of the consuls of the Roman Republic and a writer on military subjects.He was known to have been a legate of Julius Caesar's starting around 54 BC and served as an envoy to Pompey in 50. During the Roman Civil Wars he served in Spain, he might have been a tribune in 48, and...

 in his continuation of the Bellum Gallicum (Book 8), which covers the two years of the war after Caesar had declared his mission accomplished. Dumnacus lay siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

 to Limonum (present-day Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

), an oppidum

Oppidum

Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...

 of the Pictones

Pictones

The Pictones were a tribe inhabiting a region along the Bay of Biscay in what is now western France, along the south bank of the Loire. During the reign of Augustus , the Pictones were included in the larger province of Gallia Aquitania, along with most of western Gaul...

, and engaged without success the Roman relief army under the command of Gaius Caninius Rebilus

Gaius Caninius Rebilus

Gaius Caninius Rebilus, a member of the plebeian gens Caninia, was a Roman general and politician. As a reward for devoted service, Julius Caesar appointed him consul suffectus in 45 BC....

. When additional Roman forces arrived on the scene, Dumnacus was forced to lift the siege and retreat. The army of the Andes was pursued by the Romans and suffered heavy casualties. In a decisive battle the following day, the Romans killed some 12,000 men. Dumnacus escaped, and when Armorica surrendered, he went into self-imposed exile.