The Helvii were a relatively small Celtic polity

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...

 west of the Rhône river

Rhône

Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...

 on the northern border of Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...

. Their territory was roughly equivalent to the Vivarais

Vivarais

Vivarais is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the département of Ardèche, named after its capital Viviers on the river Rhône...

, in the modern French department Ardèche

Ardèche

Ardèche is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.- History :The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones ,...

. Alba Helviorum was their capital, possibly the Alba Augusta mentioned by Ptolemy

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

, and usually identified with modern-day Alba-la-Romaine

Alba-la-Romaine

Alba-la-Romaine is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.-History:It was founded in Roman times and bore the names Alba Helviorum and possibly Alba Augusta. From the Middle Ages until 1904, it bore the name Aps, the family name of the local proprietors...

 (earlier Aps). In the 5th century the capital seems to have been moved to Viviers

Viviers, Ardèche

Viviers is a commune in the department of Ardèche in southern France.It is a small walled city situated on the right bank of the Rhône.-Population:-History:...

.

From the mid-2nd to mid-1st century BC, Helvian territory was on the northern border of the Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...

 of Gallia Transalpina (later the Narbonensis). As a border people, the Helvii played a crucial if limited role in the Gallic Wars

Gallic Wars

The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...

 under the leadership of Gaius Valerius Caburus

Gaius Valerius Caburus

Gaius Valerius Caburus was a leader of the Helvii, a relatively small Celtic polity whose territory was more or less equivalent to the Vivarais , on the northern border of Gallia Transalpina. Caburus was granted Roman citizenship in 83 BC by Gaius Valerius Flaccus during his governorship of Gaul...

, who had held Roman citizenship

Roman citizenship

Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....

 since 83 BC, and his sons Troucillus

Gaius Valerius Troucillus

Gaius Valerius Troucillus or Procillus was a Helvian Celt who served as an interpreter and envoy for Julius Caesar in the first year of the Gallic Wars. Troucillus was a second-generation Roman citizen, and is one of the few ethnic Celts who can be identified both as a citizen and by affiliation...

 and Domnotaurus. 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....

 calls the Helvii a civitas

Civitas

In the history of Rome, the Latin term civitas , according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the cives, or citizens, united by law . It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities on the one hand and rights of citizenship on the other...

, a polity

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...

 with at least small-scale urban centers (oppida

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...

), and not a pagus

Pagus

In the later Western Roman Empire, following the reorganization of Diocletian, a pagus became the smallest administrative district of a province....

or "tribe" (Latin tribus

Tribal Assembly

The Tribal Assembly of the Roman Republic was the democratic assembly of Roman citizens. During the years of the Roman Republic, citizens were organized on the basis of thirty-five Tribes: Four Tribes encompassed citizens inside the city of Rome, while the other thirty-one Tribes encompassed...

).

Geography

The source

Source (river or stream)

The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...

 of the Loire river (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 Liger) was located in Helvian territory, near their northern border along the crest of the Cévennes

Cévennes

The Cévennes are a range of mountains in south-central France, covering parts of the départements of Gard, Lozère, Ardèche, and Haute-Loire.The word Cévennes comes from the Gaulish Cebenna, which was Latinized by Julius Caesar to Cevenna...

, where their lands were contiguous with those of the Gabali

Gabali

The Gabali were a Gallic Tribe from Gallia Aquitania, in the mountainous region, where the Oltis and the Elaver emerge. They were subject to the Averni....

 and the Vellavi

Vellavi

The Vellavi were a Gaulish people in the region of Le Puy-en-Velay in the region of the Auvergne, which, at the time of Julius Caesar's campaigns against the Gaul lay on the border of Gallia Narbonensis...

; to the east, the Rhône offers a natural boundary, despite some indications that their holdings extended across the river.

The ridge between the rivers Ardèche

Ardèche River

The Ardèche is a 125 km long river in south-central France, a right-bank tributary of the Rhône River. Its source is in the Massif Central, near the village of Astet. It flows into the Rhône near Pont-Saint-Esprit, north-west of Orange...

 and Cèze

Cèze

The Cèze is a French river, a tributary of the Rhone. It runs through the departments of Lozère and Gard in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Its source is in the Cévennes mountains, near Saint-André-Capcèze...

 was likely their southern border, delimiting their territory from that of the Volcae Arecomici, though it is also possible that the Ardèche itself served this purpose. To the northeast, they were neighbors to the Segovellauni, separated perhaps by a ridge between the Eyrieux

Eyrieux River

The Eyrieux River is a tributary of the Rhône River in Europe. The Eyrieux runs for . It begins in the Massif Central and joins the Rhône in the Rhône Valley just downstream of Valence....

 and the Ouvèze

Ouvèze

The Ouvèze is river in southern France, left tributary of the Rhône. It rises in the southern French Prealps , in the commune of Montauban-sur-l'Ouvèze...

 rivers.

Roman politics

In the 70s BC, following the civil war

Sulla's second civil war

Sulla's second civil war was one of a series of civil wars of ancient Rome. It was fought between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius the younger in 82 BC.-Prelude:...

 between the aristocratic faction

Optimates

The optimates were the traditionalist majority of the late Roman Republic. They wished to limit the power of the popular assemblies and the Tribunes of the Plebs, and to extend the power of the Senate, which was viewed as more dedicated to the interests of the aristocrats who held the reins of power...

 of Sulla and the remnants of the supporters

Populares

Populares were aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power. They are regarded in modern scholarship as in opposition to the optimates, who are identified with the conservative interests of a senatorial elite...

 of Marius

Gaius Marius

Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...

 and Cinna

Lucius Cornelius Cinna

Lucius Cornelius Cinna was a four-time consul of the Roman Republic, serving four consecutive terms from 87 to 84 BC, and a member of the ancient Roman Cinna family of the Cornelii gens....

, the Roman popularist

Populares

Populares were aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power. They are regarded in modern scholarship as in opposition to the optimates, who are identified with the conservative interests of a senatorial elite...

 Quintus Sertorius

Quintus Sertorius

Quintus Sertorius was a Roman statesman and general, born in Nursia, in Sabine territory. His brilliance as a military commander was shown most clearly in his battles against Rome for control of Hispania...

 refused to yield Spain to the Sullan dictatorship

Roman dictator

In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...

. His secession sparked the Sertorian War

Sertorian War

The Sertorian War was a conflict of the Roman civil wars in which a coalition of Iberians and Romans fought against the representatives of the regime established by Sulla. It takes its name from Quintus Sertorius the main leader of the opposition to Sulla. The war lasted from 80 BC to 72 BC. The...

, during which Celtic polities in Mediterranean Gaul were subjected to troop levies

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 and forced requisitions to support the military efforts of Metellus Pius

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was a pro-Sullan politician and general. He was named Pius because of his 99 BC petition to return his father from exile and was true to his cognomen for the constance and inflexibility with which he always fought for his father's rehabilitation and return to...

, Pompeius Magnus

Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

 ("Pompey the Great"), and other Roman commanders against the rebels. Some Celts, including perhaps the Helvii and Volcae Arecomici, supported Sertorius. After the renegade Roman was assassinated, Metellus and Pompeius were able to declare a victory, and the Helvii and Volcae were forced to cede a portion of their lands to the Greek city-state Massilia (present-day Marseilles), a loyal independent ally of Rome for centuries, located strategically at the mouth of the Rhone river

Rhône River

The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...

 and the staunch supporter of Pompeius.

During Caesar's Gallic Wars, none of the Gallic civitates within the Narbonese province joined the pan-Gallic rebellion of 52 BC

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...

, nor engaged in any reported acts of hostility against Roman forces. The Helvian Valerii, in fact, play a key role in securing Caesar's rear militarily

Rear (military)

In military parlance, the rear is the part of concentration of military forces that is farthest from the enemy . The rear typically contains all elements of the force necessary to support combat forces - food, medical supplies and substantial shelters, planners and command headquarters....

 against 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....

, who sent forces to invade Helvian territory. In his 1861 history of the Vivarais

Vivarais

Vivarais is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the département of Ardèche, named after its capital Viviers on the river Rhône...

, Abbé

Abbé

Abbé is the French word for abbot. It is the title for lower-ranking Catholic clergymen in France....

 Rouchier conjectured that Caesar, seeing the strategic utility of Helvian territory on the border of the Roman province along a main route into central Gaul, cultivated the Valerii by redressing the punitive measures taken against them by Pompeius. Caesar mentions the land forfeiture in his Bellum Civile

Commentarii de Bello Civili

Commentarii de Bello Civili , or Bellum Civile, is an account written by Julius Caesar of his war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Senate...

, while discreetly omitting any actions taken by his loyal Helvian friends against Rome in the 70s.

During the Roman civil wars of the 40s

Caesar's civil war

The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...

, Massilia chose to maintain its longstanding relationship with Pompeius even in isolation, as the Gallic polities of the Narbonensis continued to support Caesar. The Massiliots were besieged and defeated by Caesar, and as a result lost their independence, as well as the land, Caesar implies, that they had taken from the Helvii.

During his dictatorship, Caesar was criticized by political rivals for what were perceived as overly generous grants of citizenship to the Gauls and for admitting even "trouser-wearing Gauls

Braccae

Braccae is the Latin term for trousers, and in this context is today used to refer to a style of pants, made from wool. The Romans encountered this style of clothing among peoples whom they called Galli...

" to the Roman senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

. These new Gallic senators were most likely from Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy

Northern Italy

Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...

), which had become so Romanized that after 42 BC it was no longer assigned as a province and was administered by the same forms of municipal government

Municipium

Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...

 as the rest of the Italian peninsula

Italian Peninsula

The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...

 (see Annexing Cisalpine Gaul). Ronald Syme

Ronald Syme

Sir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome...

, however, pointed out that a few Narbonese Gauls are known to have been highly educated, second-generation Roman citizens who were eminently qualified for senatorial rank. Among those named by Syme were the Helvian Gaius Valerius Troucillus

Gaius Valerius Troucillus

Gaius Valerius Troucillus or Procillus was a Helvian Celt who served as an interpreter and envoy for Julius Caesar in the first year of the Gallic Wars. Troucillus was a second-generation Roman citizen, and is one of the few ethnic Celts who can be identified both as a citizen and by affiliation...

.

Selected bibliography

• Rivet, A.L.F. Gallia Narbonensis, with a Chapter on Alpes Maritimae: Southern France in Roman Times. London 1988.