The Suetrii (Gaulish: * Su(p)etrioi, 'the good birds') or Suetri were a Gauls tribe dwelling around present-day Castellane (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as
Suebri (
var. suberi,
uebri) and
Svetri by Pliny (1st c. AD),
as
Souētrōn (Σουητρ...ων;
var. Σουιντρ...ων, Σουκτρ...ων) by
Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),
[Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 3:1:38.] and as
Suetrio on an inscription.
[CIL 5:7900][, s.v. Suetrii.]
The ethnonym Suetrii can be explained as the Gaulish * su-(p)etri-, meaning 'good birds' (cf. Lat. accipiter).
Geography
Territory
The Suetrii dwelled in the middle valley of the Verdon river, with an extension in the valley of the . Their territory was located south of the
Vergunni and
Sentii, west of the
Nerusii, and north of the
Ligauni. On the west, they were separated from the
Sentii and the
Reii by the
Verdon Gorge.
[, Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum.]
Settlements
Their chief town, Salinae (present-day
Castellane), was founded during the Roman period and acquired its name after the local supply of salt. Salinae was located west of the medieval town, in an area called Le Plan. It was situated on a trade road leading from Vintium (
Vence), near the coast, to Dinia (
Digne-les-Bains), in the Alps, via Salinae and Sanitium (
Senez).
The exact location of the pre-Roman oppidum remains unknown, although it was most likely seated on one of the hills surrounding Salinae. Its name may have been Ducelia, as suggested by later medieval documents.
History
They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the
Tropaeum Alpium.
[Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.]
Primary sources
Bibliography
