The Remi (Gaulish language: Rēmi, 'the first, the princes') were a Belgae tribe dwelling in the Aisne, Vesle and Suippe river valleys during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their territory roughly corresponded the modern Marne and Ardennes and parts of the Aisne and Meuse departments.
Name
They are mentioned as
Remi by
Julius Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Pliny (1st c. AD),
[Julius Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 2:3, passim; Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:106.] Rhē̃moi (Ῥη̃μοι;
var. Ῥημοὶ) by
Strabo (early 1st c. AD) and
Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),
[Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:3:5; Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:9:6.] Remos by
Tacitus (early 2nd c. AD),
[Tacitus . Historiae, 4:68.] Rhēmō̃n (Ῥημω̃ν) and
Rhēmoĩs (Ῥημοι̃ς) by
Cassius Dio (3rd c. AD),
[Cassius Dio. Rhōmaïkḕ Historía, 39:1, 40:11.] and as
Nemorum in the
Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).
[ Notitia Dignitatum, oc 11:34.][, s.v. Remi.]
The Gaulish language ethnonym Rēmi (sing. Rēmos) literally means 'the first ones', that is to say 'the princes'. It stems from a Proto-Celtic form reconstructed as *reimos ('first, prince, chief'; cf. Old Irish rem- 'in front of', Welsh language rwyf 'prince, chief', Cornish language ruif 'king'), itself from Proto-Indo-European * prei-mos ('first, leader'; cf. Latin prīmus 'furthest in front, foremost').
The city of Reims, attested ca. 400 AD as civitate Remorum ( Rems in 1284), is named after the Belgic tribe.
Geography
Territory
Remi dwelled in the Aisne,
Vesle and
Suippe valleys, with a heavy concentration in the middle Aisne valley. Their territory was located south of the
Suessiones. As they were encircled by forests, however, the lands under their control nowhere bordered on neighbouring tribes.
Settlements
La Tène period
Before the Roman conquest (57 BC), the villages of the Remi were located along natural pathways and terrestrial cross-ways such as at
Nizy-le-Comte,
Thugny-Trugny, or
Acy-Romance, which occupied from the early 2nd century BC up until the 1st century AD. The rural areas of the Aisne valley were densely occupied and structured around trade relations with Mediterranean merchants, with large farms held by local aristocrats and bordered by numerous hamlets.
In the late 2nd–early 1st century BC, a few Oppidum were erected at Bibrax (Vieux Laon, Saint-Thomas), Nandin (Château-Porcien), Moulin à Vent (Voncq), La Cheppe, and Vieux Reims (Condé-sur-Suippe/Variscourt).
Roman period
At the beginning of the
Roman Empire, the Remi left the villages and oppida that were in unfavourable positions within the emerging economic system of the Empire. For instance, the oppidum of Saint-Thomas (
Bibrax) was abandoned in the middle of the 1st century BC, whereas Le Moulin à Vent, which bordered the trade route between
Reims and
Trier, developed into the town of
Voncq, attested as
Vongo vicus in the 3rd c. AD.
Durocortorum (modern Reims), a former oppidum probably built in the late 2nd–early 1st century BC and mentioned by Caesar in the mid-1st century BC, was promoted as the capital of their civitas at the end of the 1st century BC. The name of the settlement stems from the Gaulish language word duron ('gates' > 'enclosed town, market town').
Secondary agglomerations of the Roman period are also known at Vervins, Chaourse, Nizy-le-Comte, Laon or Coucy-les-Eppes. Nizy-le-Comte, occupied at least until the end of the 4th century AD, probably reached around 80 hectares at its height.
History
La Tène period
According to archaeologist Jean-Louis Brunaux, large-scale migrations occurred in the northern part of Gaul in the late 4th–early 3rd century BC, which may correspond to the coming of the
Belgae. However, those cultural changes emerged later among the Remi: whereas new funerary customs (from burial to cremation) are noticeable from 250 to 200 BC onward on the territories of the
Ambiani or
Bellovaci, incineration did not occur before 200–150 in the
Aisne valley. As such, the Remi were probably not regarded as culturally integrated to the Belgae at the time of
Caesar's conquest of the region.
By the mid-1st century BC, the Remi already possessed a structured economic system with monetary issuance, since they had prospered from their local agricultural production and from trade between northern Gaul and the Mediterranean area. After a period of regression in the 4th–3rd century, trade relations eventually recovered and gained in intensity during the second part of the 2nd century. A local landed nobility founded on agricultural and mining possessions subsequently emerged in the Aisne valley, and the Remi elite came to be influenced by the Latin culture through contacts with Roman merchants.
Wine, in particular, was imported in large quantity from southern Europe by the local Remi elite before the Roman conquest.
Gallic Wars
During the
Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), under the leadership of
Iccius and
Andecombogius, the Remi allied themselves with
Julius Caesar:
They maintained their loyalty to ancient Rome throughout the entire war, and were one of the few Gallic polities not to join in the rebellion of Vercingetorix.
When the Belgae besieged the oppidum of Bibrax (Saint-Thomas), defended by the Remi and their leader Iccius at the Battle of the Axona (57 BC), Caesar sent Numidian, Cretan and Balearic soldiers to avoid the seizure of the stronghold.
Roman period
A
founding myth preserved or invented by
Flodoard (d. 966) makes Remus, brother of Romulus, the
founder of the Remi, having escaped their fraternal rivalry instead of dying in
Latium.
[Michel Sot, “Les temps mythiques: les origines païennes et chrétiennes de Reims. I. Les origines païennes,” in Un historien et son Église au Xe siècle: Flodoard de Reims (Paris: Fayard, 1993).]
Political organization
Until the
Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), the Remi shared a common cultural identity with the neighbouring
Suessiones, with whom with they were linked by the same law, the same magistrates and a unified commander-in-chief. In reality, this virtual state of union between the two tribes probably leaned in favour of the Suessiones. When
Caesar entered
Gallia Belgica in 57 BC, the Remi asked the protection of the Romans, thus gaining independence from a possibly asymmetrical relationship.
Economy
In the second part of the 2nd century BC, as the result of early trade contacts with the Mediterranean world, and encouraged by a political will to build economic relations with Rome, the Remi were the first people to issue coins in
Gallia Belgica. Their oppida were responsible for the minting of coins in the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC.
Religion
Two pre-Roman sanctuaries located at La Soragne (Bâalons-
Bouvellemont) and Flavier (Mouzon) attest the religious offering of miniature weapons. In another sanctuary (Nepellier, in Nanteuil-sur-Aisne) were found Celtic
, along with destroyed weapons, coins, and human remains. Nepellier dates back to 250–200 BC and continued to be used during the Roman period until its destruction in
Late antiquity.
During the Roman period, Mars Camulus was probably the principal god of the Remi. Gallo-Roman sanctuaries are attested at Nizy-le-Comte, Versigny, and Sissonne. A statuette of Jupiter with a wheel was found in Landouzy-la-Ville. Although it features distinct Gallic characteristics, the inscription honours the Roman god Jupiter and the Imperial numen. Another inscription from Nizy-le-Comte was dedicated to Apollo.
See also
-
List of peoples of Gaul
-
List of Celtic tribes
Primary sources
Bibliography
Further reading
