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The Vindelici (Gaulish: *Uindelicoi) were a Gauls people dwelling around present-day Augsburg (Bavaria) during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
The ethnonym Vindelicī a latinized form of Gaulish *Uindelicoi (sing. *Uindelicos). It derives from the stem *uindo- ('clear, white, bright'), probably after the name of an unattested river *Uindelis or *Uindelos. A hydronym Vindelicus is mentioned by Florus as an alternative name of the Soulgas (Sorgue), in southeastern France. Alternatively, Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to translate the name as 'those from the white rocks', by deriving the second element from Gaulish lica ('flat stone').
Their chief town during the Roman period was known as Augusta Vindelicum or Aelia Augusta (modern Augsburg). A first Roman military camp was occupied from 10 BC up until ca. 15 AD, when it was probably destroyed by flooding and relocated to the south. The second fort, abandoned in the 70–80s, was rapidly covered by the expanding civilian settlement. Augusta Vindelicum served at a time as the capital of Raetia and the residence of the provincial governor. It obtained the status of municipium under the emperor Hadrian (117–138 AD). From the reign of Diocletian (284–305), the city became the capital of Raetia secunda.
In a broader sense, they included, as counted by Strabo, the Licates, Clautenatii, Vennones, Estiones, and Brigantii, although this classification has been criticized as doubtful by some scholars. Rather than sub-tribes, they may have rather been Pagus or clients of the Vindelici.
Despite the proximity of Augusta Vindelicum, the Vindelici were only partially Romanized.
Later on, the Vindelici served as auxiliary soldiers in the Roman army, in the cohortes Raetorum et Vindelicorum.
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