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The Arverni (Gaulish: * Aruernoi) were a Gauls people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman Empire. They were one of the most powerful tribes of ancient Gaul, contesting primacy over the region with the neighbouring Aedui.
They are mentioned in 207 BC as treating with Carthaginian commandant Hasdrubal Barca. Headed by their chiefs Luernius and Bituitus, the Arverni were at the head of an extensive empire. After Bituitus was defeated by Domitius Ahenobarbus and Fabius Maximus in 121 BC, the Arvernian empire was reduced to suzerainty over some neighbouring tribes.
In 52 BC, during the Gallic Wars, the Arvernian chief Vercingetorix led the Gallic revolt against the armies of Julius Caesar. After an initial victory at the Battle of Gergovia, Vercingetorix was defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Alesia, after which the Arverni lost their power of suzerainty. They maintained however a status of civitas libera, and remained a prosperous tribe during the Roman period. Under emperor Augustus, their capital was moved from Gergovia to Augustonemetum (present-day Clermont-Ferrand).
Following invasions of the region in the 3rd century AD, Clermont-Ferrand was reduced in size but remained an important centre during the later part of the Roman period. In 475, despite a heroic struggle led by their bishop, Sidonius Apollinaris, the Arvernian territory was eventually ceded to the Visigoths.
The ethnonym Arverni is a latinized form of Gaulish * Aruernoi (sing. * Aruernos). Its etymology remains unclear. Pierre-Yves Lambert has suggested to interpret it as "those who are above", by decomposing the name as * ar(e)-uer-no- (cf. Latin supernus). Alternatively, a connection with the Gaulish stem * uernā- ("alder"; cf. French vergne, Occitan language verne) has also been proposed.
The region of Auvergne, attested in 511 as ecclesiae Arvenicae ( pagus Arvenicus or pago Alvernio in the 9th c., Alvernhe ca. 1071–1127) is named after the Gallic tribe.
They dwelled east of the Lemovices and Petrocorii, south of the Bituriges Cubi and Aedui, north of the Ruteni, Cadurci and Vellavi, and west of the Segusiavi and Ambarri., Map 14: Caesarodunum-Burdigala, Map 18: Augustonemetum-Vindonissa.
But when Arverni king Bituitus was defeated by the Ancient Rome of Quintus Fabius and Gnaeus Ahenobarbus in 121 BC at the climactic Battle of the Isère River, their ascendancy passed to the Aedui and Sequani. Unlike the Allobroges, who were brought under direct Roman rule as a result of the Celtic wars of the 120s, the Arverni negotiated a treaty that preserved their independence, though their territory was diminished.
No further Arvernian kings are mentioned in the historical record between 121 BC and 52 BC, and they may have adopted a constitutional oligarchy at this time. However, there were at least two later attempts to re-establish rulership by Celtillus and Vercingetorix. The defeat of the Arverni under Bituitus led directly to the establishment of Gallia Narbonensis as a Roman province, referred to simply as the Provincia so often that a part of the ancient region is today known as Provence.
The King Luernius was mentioned in writing by the Greek ethnographer Posidonius. Luernius was known to have scattered gold and silver coins to his followers while riding in his chariot. Under Luernius, the Arverni were at the head of a formidable Gallic military hegemony which stretched from the Rhine to the Atlantic coast.
They joined Bellovesus' migrations towards Italy, together with the Aedui, Ambarri, Aulerci, Carnutes and Senones.Livius, Ab Urbe condita 5.34-35.3.
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