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The Tricastini were a small Gauls tribe dwelling in the modern Tricastin region, near present-day Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, during the Iron Age and the Roman Empire.
The Tricastini were probably one of the most ancient Celtic tribes of Gaul. They are first mentioned in Livy's legendary narration of Bellovesus' expedition from Gaul into Italy, then in his historical account of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 BC, when the Tricastini let the Carthaginian troops move across their land. After 121 BC, their territory was annexed to the province of Gallia Transalpina by the Roman Republic. By the 1st century AD, the Tricastini were part of the Cavares.
The city of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, attested as Augusta Tricastinorum in the 1st century AD and as Civitas Tricastinorum in the 4th century, is named after the tribe. It appears as civitate Tricastrina in 1136, and most likely evolved into Sanctum Paulum *Tricastrum during the Middle Ages, then into Sainct Pol Trois Chasteaux by 1545. The insertion of an Epenthesis r that changed Tricastini to Tricast rini, a form attested by the 12th century, caused a Semantics reinterpretation of the name, leading eventually to the French language Trois-Châteaux, meaning "three-castles" (Latin Tria-Castra). The region of Tricastin, attested as Tricassinus during the Roman era, also takes its name from the tribe.
Some scholars have proposed that the original territory of the Tricastini was located further east of their attested homeland, in a mountainous region near the settlement of Altonum (Le Pègue). Principally occupied from the late 6th to the 3rd century BC, Le Pègue represented the eastern frontier of their territory in the late 1st century BC. In this view, the Tricastini could have moved towards the Rhône valley in the 3rd–early 2nd century in search for economic opportunities. This could explain the archaic form of their tribal name, which may reflect the fossilization of an ancestral ethnonym preserved in a remote area and unaffected by later linguistic change.
When the colony of Arausio (Orange) was founded c. 36/35 BC, a very large part of their territory was given to the Roman colonists. An eastern portion of this area was then handed back to the Tricastini, apparently corresponding the less fertile lands that were not attributed to the settlers.Lorenzo Gagliardi (2026). 9791090426368, Presses universitaires juridiques, Université de Poitiers. EAN 9791090426368
Another town, Novem Craris (now Logis-de-Berre, in Les Granges-Gontardes), was located in the plain. It occupied an important position on the trade route of the Rhône Valley even before the Roman period. Destroyed by fire in the 3rd century AD, the settlement was rebuilt on a neighbouring site.
In the 2nd century AD, Ptolemy mentioned a Noiomagos ("new market") as the capital of the Tricastini, but this is probably a confusion with modern Nyons, in Vocontii lands, which was known as Noviomagos in ancient times. Alternatively some scholars have argued that it was the name originally given to Augusta Tricastinorum. In this view, the double toponym may suggest that the settlement was originally founded during the Republican period, before it took its attested name under Augustus (27 BC–14 AD), although available archaeological evidence do not predate the late 1st century BC.
Since the myth was probably based on historical events, this could indicate that the Tricastini were already living in Gaul, apparently near their attested homeland, at the time of the Battle of the Allia (387 BC), from which the legend appears to derive. Although the tribal names may also have been taken from names current at the time of Livy, Guy Barruol argues that it would be unlikely for Livy to single out this minor group rather than the more prominent Cavari, who dominated the middle Rhône valley when he was writing. At any rate, the archaic form of the name Tricastini probably indicates an ancient ethnogenesis. Although it is attested in the Roman era, the name is not affected by the Gaulish - st- > - ss- sound shift, which suggests a fossilization of the ancestral ethnonym, possibly in a mountainous area.
After 121 BC, their territory was annexed by the Roman Republic into the province of Gallia Transalpina.
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