Bituriges Vivisci

The Bituriges Vivisci (Gaulish: Biturīges Uiuisci) were a Gallic tribe dwelling near modern-day Bordeaux during the Roman period. They had a homonym tribe, the Bituriges Cubi in the Berry region, which could indicate a common origin, although there is no direct of evidence of this.[1]

Coins of the Bituriges Vivisci, 5th-1st century BCE, derived from the coin designs of Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul. Cabinet des Médailles.

Name

They are mentioned as Bitourígōn te tō͂n Ou̓iouískōn (Βιτουρίγων τε τῶν Οὐιουίσκων) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),[2] Bituriges liberi cognomine Vivisci by Pliny (1st c. AD),[3] and as Bitoúrges oi̔ Ou̓ibískoi (Βιτούργες οἱ Οὐιβίσκοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).[4][5]

The Gaulish ethnonym Biturīges means 'kings of the world', or possibly 'perpetual kings'. It stems from the root bitu- ('world', perhaps also 'perpetual'; cf. OIr. bith 'world, life, age', bith- 'eternally', Old Welsh bid, OBret. bit 'world') attached to riges ('kings'; sing. rix). Whether the meaning 'perpetual' was already associated with bitu- in ancient Celtic languages or appeared later in Old Irish remains uncertain. In any case, the meaning 'world' probably emerged from the notion of 'living world, place of the livings', for the Proto-Celtic root stems from Proto-Indo-European *gʷiH-tu- ('life'; cf. Lat. vīta 'life', OCS žiti 'to live').[6][7][8]

Geography

The Bituriges Vivisci dwelled in the modern Bordelais region, between the Garonne (Garumna) river and the Atlantic ocean.[1] Their territory was located west of the Petrocorii, south of the Santones, northwest of the Nitiobroges and Cadurci, and east of the smaller Medulli.[9]

Their port (emporium) and chief town was Burdigala (Bordeaux).[1]

Writing in the early 1st century AD, Strabo describes them as the only Gallic tribe dwelling among the Aquitani, which suggests a relatively late coming to the region. According to historian Venceslas Kruta, they may have settled in their attested homeland as a result of the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), for their presence is not mentioned by Caesar.[1]

The Garumna, after being increased by the waters of three rivers, discharges its waters into the region that is between those Bituriges that are surnamed "Vivisci" and the Santoni—both of them Galatic tribes; for the tribe of these Bituriges is the only tribe of different race that is situated among the Aquitani; and it does not pay tribute to them, though it has an emporium, Burdigala, which is situated on a lagoon that is formed by the outlets of the river.

— Strabo 1923, Geōgraphiká 4:2:1.

See also

References
  1. Kruta 2000, p. 471.
  2. Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:2:1.
  3. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:108.
  4. Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:7:7.
  5. Falileyev 2010, s.v. Bituriges Vivisci.
  6. Lambert 1994, p. 36.
  7. Delamarre 2003, p. 76.
  8. Matasović 2009, p. 67.
  9. Talbert 2000, Map 14: Caesarodunum-Burdigala.

Primar sources
  • Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674993648.
  • Strabo (1923). Geography. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Jones, Horace L. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674990562.

Bibliography
  • Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
  • 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.
  • Kruta, Venceslas (2000). Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme. Robert Laffont. ISBN 2-221-05690-6.
  • Lambert, Pierre-Yves (1994). La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies. Errance. ISBN 978-2-87772-089-2.
  • Matasović, Ranko (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic. Brill. ISBN 9789004173361.
  • Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.


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