Insubres
Encyclopedia
The Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria
, in what is now Lombardy
http://digilander.libero.it/Alboino/1liv/golasecca_file/popins.jpg. They were the founders of Milan
(Mediolanum). Though ethnically Celt
ic at the time of Roman
conquest (at the beginning of the 2nd century BC), they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian
, Celtic and "Italic"
population (such as the Golasecca culture
http://img641.imageshack.us/f/italiabronz.png/) strata with Gaulish tribes who had come from what is now southern France
.
, Polybius
, Livy
, Pliny the Elder
, Strabo
and Caecilius Statius
.
1. the first wants them a Celt
ic population, resulted from migrations happened in the 7th and 6th century BC of Gaulish Celtic tribes towards North-west Italy and their intermixing with the natives.
2. the second, and the most reliable being supported by archaeological findings and their analysis, wants them as part of the Celtic-Ligurian people.
About the Insubres wrote the Roman historian Livy
. According to his writings all of Northern Italy
(between the northern and westestern Alpine watershed, the rivers Adda
and Oglio
at the east and Emilian Apennine
to south) suffered in the course of centuries of repeated invasions by Celtic tribes from Gaul
. He claimed that before the invasion of the 4th century BC there was a previous one, dated around the late 7th and early 6th century BC.
This hypothesis, however, besides being supported only by Livy among the ancient historians, doesn't get any confirmation in archaeological terms. If the hypothesis of the Celtic invasion during the 7/6th century is true you would have to find significant changes in habits and customs of the Golasecca culture
people around that period. The study of objects found in the funeral burials due to the Golasecca culture between the 10th and 4th century BC (date of the first established Celtic invasion of northern Italy), however, shows a gradual and slow cultural evolution without any radical change. There are effectively significant celtic cultural elements from the areas north of the Alps
, but there are also elements drawn from the Venetic
, Halstatt and, mainly, Etruscan
cultural districts which prove that celticization
was the turnout of a cultural exchange, not of an invasion.
Finally, regarding their origin can be said that probably the Insubres, together with other peoples of the Culture of Golasecca, arrived in northern Italy in a period that goes from the 2nd millennium BC to the Bronze Age
migrating from the south of modern France
, occupying part of the Ligurian territory and then forming that stock of populations defined as Celtic-Ligurians.
, Venetia
and Transalpine Gaul, the Insubres knew progress and created a distinct society of their own. In the light of archaeological findings it can be also assumed that it was an oligarchic society
, where power was in the hands of a few Lords
.
-Insubres, being at the time the Gaulish element at least culturally and politically dominant, fought the Roman advance into Northern Italy
.
Together with the Boii
, Lingones
, Taurini
, Gaesatae
and other Gaulish groups, they were defeated in 224
or 225 BC
by the Roman army led by consul Lucius Aemilius Papus
at the Battle of Telamon
. Two years later the Romans, backed by their Gaulish allies the Cenomani
, reduced the only fortified place of the Insubres at Acerrae
, and defeated them again at the Battle of Clastidium
. After the defeat of the Gaesatae, they were compelled to accept the Roman occupation of Milan in 221
and forcible alliance with Rome, while the victors annexed much of their territory.
During the invasion of Hannibal of 218
-217 BC
, the Insubres rebelled in support of the Carthaginians. They supported the Carthaginians again in 200 BC
, this time under Hamilcar
. After several other clashes, they definitively allied with Rome in 194
, maintaining some autonomy for their capital. In 89 BC
they obtained Latin citizenship and, in 49 BC
, Roman citizenship.
Romanization of the Insubres was probably quick, also due to the reported similarities of the Celtic
and Latin
languages; in a short span of time after the Roman conquest several literary figures emerged, like that of Caecilius Statius
.
Insubria
and Insubric language are named after the Insubres.
Insubria
Insubria is a historical-geographical region which corresponds to the area inhabited in Classical antiquity by the Insubres. Secondarily the name can refer to the Duchy of Milan...
, in what is now Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
http://digilander.libero.it/Alboino/1liv/golasecca_file/popins.jpg. They were the founders of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
(Mediolanum). Though ethnically Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic at the time of Roman
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
conquest (at the beginning of the 2nd century BC), they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian
Ligurian
Ligurian may mean:* Ligurian, pertaining to modern Liguria* Ligurian, pertaining to the ancient Ligures* Ligurian , a modern language spoken in parts of Italy, France, Monaco and Argentina...
, Celtic and "Italic"
Ancient Italic peoples
Ancient people of Italy are all those people that lived in Italy before the Roman domination.Not all of these various people are linguistically or ethnically closely related...
population (such as the Golasecca culture
Golasecca culture
The Golasecca culture was a Celtic culture in northern Italy , whose type-site has been excavated at Golasecca in the province of Varese, Lombardy.-Archeological sources:...
http://img641.imageshack.us/f/italiabronz.png/) strata with Gaulish tribes who had come from what is now southern 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...
.
Classical sources
The Insubres are mentioned by CiceroCicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, 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...
, 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...
, Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, 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...
and Caecilius Statius
Caecilius Statius
Statius Caecilius, also known as Caecilius Statius was a Roman comic poet.A contemporary and intimate friend of Ennius, he was born in the territory of the Insubrian Gauls, probably in Mediolanum, and was probably taken as a prisoner to Rome , during the great Gallic war...
.
Ethnicity of the Insubres
Regarding the ethnic origin of the Insubres there are two main thesis:1. the first wants them a Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic population, resulted from migrations happened in the 7th and 6th century BC of Gaulish Celtic tribes towards North-west Italy and their intermixing with the natives.
2. the second, and the most reliable being supported by archaeological findings and their analysis, wants them as part of the Celtic-Ligurian people.
About the Insubres wrote the Roman historian 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...
. According to his writings all of 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...
(between the northern and westestern Alpine watershed, the rivers Adda
Adda
Adda can refer to:*Adda in Italy.*River Adda in Wales.*Adda , a concept/slang in South Asia, especial Bengal, also Addabazi.*Adda , an archaeological site in Nigeria.*Adda Corporation, a Taiwanese fan manufacturer....
and Oglio
Oglio
The Oglio is a left-side tributary of the Po River in Lombardy, Italy. It is 280 km long....
at the east and Emilian Apennine
Apennine mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...
to south) suffered in the course of centuries of repeated invasions by Celtic tribes from Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. He claimed that before the invasion of the 4th century BC there was a previous one, dated around the late 7th and early 6th century BC.
This hypothesis, however, besides being supported only by Livy among the ancient historians, doesn't get any confirmation in archaeological terms. If the hypothesis of the Celtic invasion during the 7/6th century is true you would have to find significant changes in habits and customs of the Golasecca culture
Golasecca culture
The Golasecca culture was a Celtic culture in northern Italy , whose type-site has been excavated at Golasecca in the province of Varese, Lombardy.-Archeological sources:...
people around that period. The study of objects found in the funeral burials due to the Golasecca culture between the 10th and 4th century BC (date of the first established Celtic invasion of northern Italy), however, shows a gradual and slow cultural evolution without any radical change. There are effectively significant celtic cultural elements from the areas north of 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....
, but there are also elements drawn from the Venetic
Adriatic Veneti
The Veneti were an ancient people who inhabited north-eastern Italy, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of the Veneto....
, Halstatt and, mainly, 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...
cultural districts which prove that celticization
Celticization
Celticization is a supposed mechanism of the spread of the Celts and the Celtic languages in Iron Age Europe.During the first millennium BC, the early Celts expanded from a core territory in Central Europe to Iberia, the British Isles and later also the Balkans, and are assumed to have "Celticized"...
was the turnout of a cultural exchange, not of an invasion.
Finally, regarding their origin can be said that probably the Insubres, together with other peoples of the Culture of Golasecca, arrived in northern Italy in a period that goes from the 2nd millennium BC to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
migrating from the south of modern 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...
, occupying part of the Ligurian territory and then forming that stock of populations defined as Celtic-Ligurians.
Culture and society
The Insubres culture followed then what was a slow and of its own evolution. Thanks to the cultural and commercial exchanges with neighboring areas, such as EtruriaEtruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
, Venetia
Venetia
Venetia is a name used mostly in a historical context for the area of Northeast Italy, corresponding approximately to the present-day Italian administrative regions of the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia...
and Transalpine Gaul, the Insubres knew progress and created a distinct society of their own. In the light of archaeological findings it can be also assumed that it was an oligarchic society
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
, where power was in the hands of a few Lords
Lords
- Places :*Lord's Cricket Ground, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone County Cricket Club.- Politics :*House of Lords, upper house of the British parliament*Lords Spiritual, clergymen of the House of Lords...
.
History
The Insubres, or rather the GaulGauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
-Insubres, being at the time the Gaulish element at least culturally and politically dominant, fought the Roman advance into 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...
.
Together with the Boii
Boii
The Boii were one of the most prominent ancient Celtic tribes of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul , Pannonia , in and around Bohemia, and Transalpine Gaul...
, 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...
, Taurini
Taurini
The Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the river Po, in the centre of modern Piedmont.In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal since his allies were the Insubres. The Taurini and the Insubres had a long-standing feud. Their chief town was...
, Gaesatae
Gaesatae
The Gaesatae were a group of Gaulish warriors who lived in the Alps near the river Rhône and fought against the Roman Republic in the Battle of Telamon of 225 BC...
and other Gaulish groups, they were defeated in 224
224 BC
Year 224 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Torquatus and Flaccus...
or 225 BC
225 BC
Year 225 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Papus and Regulus...
by the Roman army led by consul Lucius Aemilius Papus
Lucius Aemilius Papus
Lucius Aemilius Papus , or Lucius Aemilius Q.f. Cn.n. Papus, a member of the patrician gens Aemilia of the branch cognominated Papus, was a Roman general and statesman who led the Romans to victory over the Gauls in the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC.He was the son of Quintus Aemilius Papus, himself...
at the Battle of Telamon
Battle of Telamon
The Battle of Telamon was fought between the Roman Republic and an alliance of Gauls in 225 BC. The Romans, led by the consuls Gaius Atilius Regulus and Lucius Aemilius Papus, defeated the Gauls, thus extending their influence over northern Italy....
. Two years later the Romans, backed by their Gaulish allies the Cenomani
Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul)
The Cenomani , was an ancient tribe of the Cisalpine Gauls, who occupied the tract north of the Padus , between the Insubres on the west and the Veneti on the east. Their territory appears to have extended from the river Addua to the Athesis...
, reduced the only fortified place of the Insubres at Acerrae
Acerrae (Cisalpine Gaul)
Acerrae was ‘a city of Cisalpine Gaul, in the territory of the Insubres. Polybius describes it merely as situated between the Alps and the Po; and his words are copied by Stephanus of Byzantium: but Strabo tells us that it was near Cremona: and the Tabula places it on the road from that city to...
, and defeated them again at the Battle of Clastidium
Battle of Clastidium
The Battle of Clastidium was fought in 222 BC between a Roman Republican army led by the Roman consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus and the Insubres led by Viridomarus. The Romans won the battle, and in the process, Marcellus earned the Spolia opima, one of the highest honors in ancient Rome, by...
. After the defeat of the Gaesatae, they were compelled to accept the Roman occupation of Milan in 221
221 BC
Year 221 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asina and Rufus/Lepidus...
and forcible alliance with Rome, while the victors annexed much of their territory.
During the invasion of Hannibal of 218
218 BC
Year 218 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Longus...
-217 BC
217 BC
Year 217 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geminus and Flaminius/Regulus...
, the Insubres rebelled in support of the Carthaginians. They supported the Carthaginians again in 200 BC
200 BC
Year 200 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Cotta...
, this time under Hamilcar
Hamilcar
Hamilcar was a common name in the Punic culture. There are several different transcriptions into Greek and Roman scripts. The ruling families of ancient Carthage often named their members with the traditional name Hamilcar...
. After several other clashes, they definitively allied with Rome in 194
194 BC
Year 194 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Africanus and Longus...
, maintaining some autonomy for their capital. In 89 BC
89 BC
Year 89 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Strabo and Cato...
they obtained Latin citizenship and, in 49 BC
49 BC
Year 49 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Marcellus...
, Roman citizenship.
Romanization of the Insubres was probably quick, also due to the reported similarities of the Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
and 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...
languages; in a short span of time after the Roman conquest several literary figures emerged, like that of Caecilius Statius
Caecilius Statius
Statius Caecilius, also known as Caecilius Statius was a Roman comic poet.A contemporary and intimate friend of Ennius, he was born in the territory of the Insubrian Gauls, probably in Mediolanum, and was probably taken as a prisoner to Rome , during the great Gallic war...
.
Insubria
Insubria
Insubria is a historical-geographical region which corresponds to the area inhabited in Classical antiquity by the Insubres. Secondarily the name can refer to the Duchy of Milan...
and Insubric language are named after the Insubres.
See also
- Ancient peoples of Italy
- Celts in the Alps and Po Valley
- Cisalpine GaulCisalpine GaulCisalpine 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...
- LepontiiLepontiiThe Lepontii were an ancient people occupying portions of Rhaetia in the Alps during the time of the Roman conquest of that territory. The Lepontii have been variously described as a Celtic, Ligurian, Raetian, and Germanic tribe...
- Prehistoric ItalyPrehistoric Italythumb|A Sardinian bronze statuette, perhaps portraying a tribal chief. [[Cagliari]], Museo Archeologico Nazionale.The territory of what is now Italy was settled by Neanderthal man in the Lower Palaeolithic, roughly 500,000 years ago. As elsewhere in Europe, the Neanterthals co-existed with Homo...