Boii
Encyclopedia
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
(northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
(Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and its western neighbours), in and around Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, and Transalpine Gaul. In addition the archaeological evidence indicates that in the 2nd century BC Celts expanded from Bohemia through the Kłodzko valley into Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, now part of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
They first appear in history in connection with the Gallic invasion of north Italy, 390 BC, when they made the Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
city of Felsina their new capital, Bononia (Bologna)
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. After a series of wars they were decisively beaten by the Romans in a battle near Mutina (Modena)
Battle of Mutina 193 BCE
The Battle of Mutina was fought in 193 BC, near Mutina, between the Roman Republic and the Boii. The Roman army won the battle. The battle marked the total defeat of the Boian Gauls, but since the Consul's victory cost the Romans dear, and the officers of Merula accused him of negligence on his...
and their territory became part of the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
. According to Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, writing two centuries after the events, rather than being destroyed by the Romans like their Celtic neighbours,
"the Boii were merely driven out of the regions they occupied; and after migrating to the regions round about the IsterDanubeThe Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, lived with the TaurisciTaurisciThe Taurisci were a federation of Celtic tribes who dwelt in today's northern Slovenia before the coming of the Romans According to Pliny the Elder, they are the same people known as the Norici...
, and carried on war against the Daci until they perished, tribe and all — and thus they left their country, which was a part of IllyriaIllyriaIn classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
, to their neighbours as a pasture-ground for sheep."
Around 60 BC, a group of Boians joined the Helvetians'
Helvetii
The Helvetii were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC...
ill-fated attempt to conquer land in western Gaul and were defeated by 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....
, along with their allies, in the battle of Bibracte
Battle of Bibracte
The Battle of Bibracte was fought between the Helvetii and six Roman legions, under the command of Gaius Julius Caesar. It was the second major battle of the Gallic Wars....
. Caesar settled the remnants of that group in Gorgobina
Gorgobina
Gorgobina was a Celtic oppidum on the territory of the Aedui tribe. After the defeat of the Helvetii in 58 BC at nearby Bibracte, the Helvetians' Boii allies settled there . If this really was an act of clemency on Julius Caesar's part may be disputed...
, from where they sent two thousand to 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....
's aid at the battle of 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...
six years later. The eastern Boians on the Danube were incorporated into the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in 8 AD.
Etymology and name
From all the different names of the same Celtic people in literature and inscriptions it is possible to abstract a continental Celtic segment, boio-. There are two major derivations of this segment, both presupposing that it belongs to the family of Indo-European languagesIndo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
: from 'cow' and from 'warrior.' The Boii would thus be either "the herding people" or "the warrior people."
The "cow" derivation depends most immediately on the Old Irish legal term for "outsider:" amboue, from proto-Celtic *ambouios, "not a cattle owner." In a reference to the first known historical Boii, Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
relates that their wealth consisted of cattle and gold, that they depended on agriculture and war, and that a man's status depended on the number of associates and assistants he had. The latter were presumably the *ambouii, as opposed to the man of status, who was *bouvios, a cattle owner, and the *bouii were originally a class, "the cattle owners."
The "warrior" derivation was adopted by the linguist, Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
, who presented it as being from Indo-European *bhei(ə)-, *bhī-, "hit;" however, not finding any Celtic names close to it (except for the Boii), he adduces examples somewhat more widely from originals further back in time: phohiio-s-, a Venetic personal name; Boioi, an Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
n tribe; Boiōtoi, a Greek tribal name ("the Boeotia
Boeotia
Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...
ns") and a few others. Boii would be from the o-grade
Apophony
In linguistics, apophony is the alternation of sounds within a word that indicates grammatical information .-Description:Apophony is...
of *bhei-, which is *bhoi-. Such a connection is possible if the original form of Boii belonged to a tribe of Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
speakers long before the time of the historic Boii. The Celtic tribe of central Europe must in that case be a final daughter population of a linguistically diversifying ancestor tribe.
The same wider connections can be hypothesized for the "cow" derivation: the Boeotians have been known for well over a century as a people of kine, which might have been parallel to the meaning of Italy as a "land of calves." Indo-European reconstructions can be made using "cow" as a basis, such as .
Contemporary derived words include Boiorix
Boiorix
Boiorix was a king of the Cimbri tribe. His most notable achievement was a spectacular victory against the Romans at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was later defeated and slain at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC.-References:...
("king of the Boii", one of the chieftains of the Cimbri
Cimbri
The Cimbri were a tribe from Northern Europe, who, together with the Teutones and the Ambrones threatened the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC. The Cimbri were probably Germanic, though some believe them to be of Celtic origin...
) and Boiodurum ("gate/fort of the Boii", modern Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
) in Germany. Their memory also survives in the modern regional names of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
(Boiohaemum), a mixed-language form from boio- and Proto-Germanic *haimaz, "home": "home of the Boii," and 'Bayern', Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, which is derived from the Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
Baiovarii tribe (Germ. *baio-warioz: the first component is most plausibly explained as a Germanic version of Boii; the second part is a common formational morpheme of Germanic tribal names, meaning 'dwellers', as in Anglo-Saxon -ware);Indoeuropean short o, as in the Celtic Boii, developed to a in Germanic. As far as its formation is concerned, the name seems to be a hybrid between Celtic or Latin and Germanic, as the thematic vowel bai-o- would have to be an a in a Germanic compound (cf. Celtic ambio-rix vs. Germanic þiuda-reiks, "Theoderic"). This, however, should not be used as an argument against the 'traditional' etymology, as such forms are quite common (cf. Raetovarii, an Allemanic tribe) and are most likely influenced by the Latin background of the ancient writers. this combination "Boii-dwellers" may have meant "those who dwell where the Boii formerly dwelt".
Settlement in north Italy
According to the ancient authors, the Boii arrived in northern Italy by crossing the AlpsAlps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
. While of the other the tribes who had come to Italy along with the Boii, the Senones
Senones
The Senones were an ancient Gaulish tribe.In about 400 BC they crossed the Alps and, having driven out the Umbrians settled on the east coast of Italy from Forlì to Ancona, in the so-called ager Gallicus, and founded the town of Sena Gallica , which became their capital. In 391 BC they invaded...
, Lingones
Lingones
Lingones were a Celtic tribe that originally lived in Gaul in the area of the headwaters of the Seine and Marne rivers. Some of the Lingones migrated across the Alps and settled near the mouth of the Po River in Cisalpine Gaul of northern Italy around 400 BCE. These Lingones were part of a wave of...
and Cenomani
Cenomani
The Cenomani or Aulerci Cenomani were a Gallic people, a branch of the Aulerci in Gallia Celtica, whose territory corresponded generally to Maine in the modern départment of Sarthe, west of the Carnutes between the Seine and the Loire...
are also attested in Gaul at the time of the Roman conquest, there is no such clear evidence for the Boii in Gaul. It remains therefore unclear where exactly the Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
an origins of the Boii lay, if somewhere in Gaul, Southern Germany
Southern Germany
The term Southern Germany is used to describe a region in the south of Germany. There is no specific boundary to the region, but it usually includes all of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, and the southern part of Hesse...
or in Bohemia.
Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
relates that the Celts were close neighbors of the Etruscans and "cast covetous eyes on their beautiful country." Invading the Po valley
Po Valley
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of 46,000 km² including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po River basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the...
with a large army they drove out the Etruscans and resettled it, the Boii taking the right bank in the center of the valley. Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
confirms that the Boii emigrated from their lands across the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
and were one of the largest tribes of the Celts. The Boii occupied the old Etruscan settlement of Felsina, which they named Bononia (Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
). Polybius describes the Celtic way of life in Cisalpine Gaul as follows:
"They lived in unwalled villages, without any superfluous furniture; for as they slept on beds of leaves and fed on meat and were exclusively occupied with war and agriculture, their lives were very simple, and they had no knowledge whatever of any art or science. Their possessions consisted of cattle and gold, because these were the only things they could carry about with them everywhere according to circumstances and shift where they chose. They treated comradeship as of the greatest importance, those among them being the most feared and most powerful who were thought to have the largest number of attendants and associates."
The archaeological evidence from Bologna and its vicinity contradicts the testimony of Polybius and Livy on some points, who say the Boii expelled the Etruscans and perhaps some were forced to leave. It much rather indicates that the Boii neither destroyed nor depopulated Felsinum, but simply moved in and became part of the population by intermarriage. The cemeteries of the period in Bologna contain La Tène
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
weapons and other artifacts, as well as Etruscan items such as bronze mirrors. At Monte Bibele
Pianoro
Pianoro is a town and comune in the province of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, in the hills of the Tusco-Emilian Apennines .Highway SS 65 connects the town to Bologna and Florence across the Apennines...
not far away one grave contained La Tène weapons and a pot with an Etruscan female name scratched on it.
War against Rome
In the second half of the 3rd century BC, the Boii allied with the other Cisalpine Gauls and the Etruscans against Rome. They also fought alongside Hannibal, killing (in 216 BC) the Roman general L. Postumius AlbinusLucius Postumius Albinus (consul 234 and 229 BC)
Lucius Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus was a Roman consul of the third century BC. Most of our knowledge about his career and his demise comes from Livy's Ab Urbe Condita. From his filiation, "A. f. A. n.", we know that he was probably the son of Aulus Postumius Albinus, consul in 242 BC.He was...
, whose skull was then turned into a sacrificial bowl. A short time earlier, they had been defeated at Telamon in 224 BC, and were again later at Placentia in 194 BC (modern Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
) and Mutina in 193 BC
Battle of Mutina 193 BCE
The Battle of Mutina was fought in 193 BC, near Mutina, between the Roman Republic and the Boii. The Roman army won the battle. The battle marked the total defeat of the Boian Gauls, but since the Consul's victory cost the Romans dear, and the officers of Merula accused him of negligence on his...
(modern Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
). After the loss of their capital, according to Strabo, a large portion of the Boii left Italy.
Boii on the Danube
Contrary to the interpretation of the classical writers, the Pannonian Boii attested in later sources are not simply the remnants of those who had fled from Italy, but rather another division of the tribe, which had settled there much earlier. The burial rites of the Italian Boii show many similarities with contemporary Bohemia, such as inhumation, which was uncommon with the other Cisalpine Gauls, or the absence of the typically western Celtic torcTorc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
s. This makes it much more likely that the Cisalpine Boii had actually originated from Bohemia rather than the other way round. Having migrated to Italy from north of the Alps, some of the defeated Celts simply moved back to their kinsfolk.Other tribes of whom divisions are attested both in the 'Celtic homeland' and at the periphery include the Senones (Umbria and the Marne region), Lingones (Aemilia and the Langres plateau), Cenomani (Venetia and Maine), Tectosages (Galatia and Provence).
The Pannonian Boii are mentioned again in the late 2nd century BC when they repelled the Cimbri
Cimbri
The Cimbri were a tribe from Northern Europe, who, together with the Teutones and the Ambrones threatened the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC. The Cimbri were probably Germanic, though some believe them to be of Celtic origin...
and Teutones (Strabo VII, 2, 2). Later on, they attacked the city of Noreia
Noreia
Noreia was an ancient city in the eastern Alps, the capital of the kingdom of Noricum. Its location has so far not been determined precisely.Some researchers think that Noreia can be identified with the excavated Celtic-Roman settlement on the Magdalensberg in Carinthia, Austria. Others place it in...
(in modern Austria) shortly before a group of Boii (32,000 according to 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....
- the number is probably an exaggeration) joined the Helvetii
Helvetii
The Helvetii were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC...
in their attempt to settle in western Gaul. After the Helvetian defeat at Bibracte
Bibracte
Bibracte, a Gaulish oppidum or fortified city, was the capital of the Aedui and one of the most important hillforts in Gaul. It was situated near modern Autun in Burgundy, France. The material culture of the Aedui corresponded to the Late Iron Age La Tène culture,In 58 BC, at the Battle of...
, the influential Aedui
Aedui
Aedui, Haedui or Hedui , were a Gallic people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who inhabited the country between the Arar and Liger , in today's France. Their territory thus included the greater part of the modern departments of Saône-et-Loire, Côte-d'Or and Nièvre.-Geography:The country of the Aedui is...
tribe allowed the Boii survivors to settle on their territory, where they occupied the oppidum of Gorgobina
Gorgobina
Gorgobina was a Celtic oppidum on the territory of the Aedui tribe. After the defeat of the Helvetii in 58 BC at nearby Bibracte, the Helvetians' Boii allies settled there . If this really was an act of clemency on Julius Caesar's part may be disputed...
. Although attacked by 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....
during one phase of the war, they supported him with two thousand troops at the battle of Alesia
Alesia
-Places:France*Alesia , an ancient city in Gaul**Battle of Alesia*Alésia , a station in the Paris Métro*Rue d'Alésia, Paris*Le quartier Alésia, an unofficial district of Paris that mostly overlaps Petit-MontrougeUnited States...
(Caes. Bell. Gall., VII, 75).
Again, other parts of the Boii had remained closer to their traditional home, and settled in the Slovak and Hungarian lowlands
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
by the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and the Mura, with a centre at Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
. Around 60 BC they clashed with the rising power of the Dacians
Dacians
The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
under their king Burebista
Burebista
Burebista was a king of the Getae and Dacians, who unified for the first time their tribes and ruled them between 82 BC and 44 BC. He led plunder and conquest raids across Central and Southeastern Europe, subjugating most of the neighbouring tribes...
and were defeated. When the Romans finally conquered Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
in 8 AD, the Boii seem not to have opposed them. Their former territory was now called deserta Boiorum (deserta meaning 'empty or sparsely populated lands'). However, the Boii had not been exterminated: There was a civitas Boiorum et Azaliorum (the Azalii being a neighbouring tribe) which was under the jurisdiction of a prefect of the Danube shore (praefectus ripae Danuvii). This civitas, a common Roman administrative term designating both a city and the tribal district around it, was later adjoined to the city of Carnuntum
Carnuntum
Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube in the Noricum province and after the 1st century the capital of the Upper Pannonia province...
.
Plautus
PlautusPlautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
refers to the Boii in Captivi
Captivi
Captivi is a Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title has been translated as The Captives or The Prisoners, and the plot concerns slavery and prisoners of war. Although the play contains much broad humor, it is a relatively serious treatment of significant themes...
:
- At nunc Siculus non est, Boius est, Boiam terit
- But now he is not a SicilianSicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
— he is a Boian, he has got a Boian woman.
There is a play on words: Boia means "woman of the Boii", also "convicted criminal's restraint collar".
Livy
In volume 21 of his work Ab Urbe ConditaAb Urbe condita (book)
Ab urbe condita libri — often shortened to Ab urbe condita — is a monumental history of ancient Rome written in Latin sometime between 27 and 25 BC by the historian Titus Livius. The work covers the time from the stories of Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c....
, Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
(59 BC - 17 AD) claims that it was a Boian man that offered to show Hannibal
Hannibal Barca
Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca Hannibal's date of death is most commonly given as 183 BC, but there is a possibility it could have taken place in 182 BC. was a Carthaginian military commander and tactician. He is generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history...
the way across the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
.
- When, after the action had thus occurred, his own men returned to each general, ScipioPublius Cornelius ScipioPublius Cornelius Scipio was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic.A member of the Corneliagens, Scipio served as consul in 218 BC, the first year of the Second Punic War, and sailed with an army from Pisa to Massilia , with the intention of arresting Hannibal's advance on Italy...
could adopt no fixed plan of proceeding, except that he should form his measures from the plans and undertakings of the enemy: and Hannibal, uncertain whether he should pursue the march he had commenced into ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, or fight with the Roman army which had first presented itself, the arrival of ambassadors from the Boii, and of a petty prince called Magalus, diverted from an immediate engagement; who, declaring that they would be the guides of his journey and the companions of his dangers, gave it as their opinion, that Italy ought to be attacked with the entire force of the war, his strength having been nowhere previously impaired.
Inscriptions
In the 1st century BC, the Boii living in an oppidumEnclosed oppidum
An enclosed oppidum was a type of large, late Iron Age settlement, or oppidum surrounded by an encircling bank and ditch.They differ from hillforts through being not necessarily sited on high ground and through being permanent settlements with a strong economic function.As well as re-occupying...
of Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
(Slovakia) minted Biatec
Biatec
Biatec was the name of a person, presumably a king, who appeared on the Celtic coins minted by the Boii in Bratislava in the 1st century BC. The word Biatec is also used as the name of those coins. In the literature, they are also sometimes referred to as "hexadrachms of the Bratislava type"...
s, high-quality coins with inscriptions (probably the names of kings) in Latin letters. This is the only "written source" provided by the Boii themselves.