Vadicassii
The Vadicassii (Ancient Greek: Ou̓adikássioi, Οὐαδικάσσιοι) were an ancient Gallic tribe of the Roman period, located near the Meldi (Meaux), on the frontier between Gallia Celtica and Gallia Belgica.
Name
[edit]The tribe is only mentioned once as Ou̓adikássioi (Οὐαδικάσσιοι) by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD.[1][2]
They have sometimes been conflated with the Bodiocasses, located around modern Bayeux, and the Veliocasses, around modern Rouen, although the geographical indications given by Ptolemy do not match.[2]
The modern region of Valois, attested as Pagus vadensis in 796 AD (later Pago vadense in 842, Pagus vadisus in 853), and the town of Vez, attested as Vadum ca. 866,[3] are probably named after the tribe.[2]
Geography
[edit]Ptolemy places the tribe near the Meldi (Meaux), on the borders of Gallia Belgica.[2][4]
North of the Meldi lay the Carolingian-era Pagus vadisus (with its capital Vadum, now Vez), whose name closely resembles that of the Vadicassii. This area, situated between the Meldi and the Suessiones, corresponds to modern Valois, a territory that partially overlaps (or predates) the domain of the Silvanectes.[2]
Ptolemy gives Noiomagos as the Vadicassii capital. No ancient toponym in the region clearly matches that name, apart from Nogeon (in Réez-Fosse-Martin within Valois), though references to Nogeon date only from the 18th century.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:8:11.
- ^ a b c d e f Popineau 2020, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Gendron, Stéphane (2006). La toponymie des voies romaines et médiévales: les mots des routes anciennes (in French). Errance. p. 70. ISBN 978-2-87772-332-9.
- ^ Smith, William (1854). "Vadicassii". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Walton and Maberly.
- Bibliography
- Popineau, Jean-Marc (2020). "Les Sulbanectes, une approche archéogéographique (Vᵉ s. avant notre ère - Ier s. après)". Compte-rendus et Mémoires de la Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Senlis 2016-2017. p. 11–41.
