The Aedui had an ambiguous relationship with the Roman Republic, as well as other Gallic tribes. In 121 BC, they appealed to Rome against the Arverni and Allobroges. During the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), they gave valuable though not whole-hearted support to Caesar, before eventually giving lukewarm support to Vercingetorix in 52. Although they were involved in the revolts of Iulius Sacrovir in 21 AD and Vindex in 68 AD, their aristocracy became highly Romanized under the Empire.[1]
Name
They are mentioned as Ardues (Ἄρδυες) by Polybius (2nd c. BC),[2]Haedui by Cicero (mid-1st c. BC) and Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),[3]Haeduos by Livy (late 1st c. BC),[4]Aedui by Pliny (mid-1st c. AD),[5]Aidúōn (Αἰδύων) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[6] and as Aídouoi (Aἴδουοι) by Cassius Dio (3rd c. AD).[7][8]
The ethnonymAedui is a latinized form of Gaulish *Aiduoi (sing. *Aiduos), which means 'the Ardent ones'. It derives from the Celtic stem *aidu- ('fire, ardour'; cf. Old Irisháed 'fire', Welshaidd 'ardour'; also the Irish deity Aéd or Aodh), itself from Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰos ('firewood'; cf. Sanskritédhas 'bonfire', Latinaedes 'building, temple'; cf. also Ancient GreekAether 'god of the upper sky' and Aethra 'bright sky', from aíthō 'to ignite, to kindle').[9][10]
During the Roman period, Bibracte was abandoned for Augustodunum ('fortress of Augustus'; modern-day Autun).[1]
Ancient sources
The country of the Aedui is defined by reports of them in ancient writings. The upper Liger formed their western border,[15] separating them from the Bituriges. The Arar formed their eastern border, separating them from the Sequani.[16] The Sequani did not reside in the region of the confluence of the Dubis and the Arar, and of the Arar into the Rhodanus, as Caesar says that the Helvetii, traveling southward along the pass between the Jura Mountains and the Rhodanus, which belonged to the Sequani, plundered the territory of the Aedui.[17] These circumstances explain an apparent contradiction in Strabo, who in one sentence says that the Aedui lived between the Arar and the Dubis, and in the next, that the Sequani lived across the Arar (eastward).[18]
History
Pre-Roman period
Burgundy is situated in the heartland of the early La Tène culture (see Vix Grave).
By the early 3rd century BC, the emergence of settlements with diversified functions, along with the creation of sanctuaries, suggest the beginning of a civilization centered around the oppidum.[12]
Roman period
Outside of the Roman province and prior to Roman rule, Gaul was occupied by self-governing tribes divided into cantons, and each canton was further divided into communes. The Aedui, like other powerful tribes in the region, such as the Arverni, Sequani, and Helvetii, had replaced their monarchy with a council of magistrates called grand-judges. The grand-judges were under the authority of a senate. This senate was made up of the descendants of ancient royal families. Free men in the tribes were vassals of the heads of these families, in an exchange of military, financial, and political interests.[19]
According to Livy (v. 34), the Aedui took part in the expedition of Bellovesus into Italy in the sixth century BC. Before Caesar's time, they had attached themselves to the Romans and were honoured with the title of brothers and kinsmen of the Roman people.[20] When the Sequani, their traditional rivals, defeated and massacred the Aedui at the Battle of Magetobriga in 63 BC, with the assistance of the Germanic chieftain Ariovistus, the Aedui sent the druidDiviciacus to Rome with an appeal to the senate for help; but his mission was unsuccessful.[21]
After his arrival in Gaul in 58 BC, Caesar restored the independence of the Aedui. In spite of this, they subsequently joined the Gallic coalition against Caesar (B. G. vii. 42), but after the surrender of Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia, the Aedui gladly returned to their allegiance. Augustus dismantled their capital, Bibracte, on Mont Beuvray, and constructed a new town with a half-Roman, half-Gaulish name, Augustodunum (modern Autun).[22]
In AD 21, during the reign of Tiberius, the Aedui revolted under Julius Sacrovir, and seized Augustodunum, but they were soon put down by Gaius Silius (TacitusAnn. iii. 43–46). The Aedui were the first of the Gauls to receive from the emperor Claudius the distinction of jus honorum, thus being the first Gauls permitted to become senators.[23]
Until Claudius (41–54 AD), the Aedui were the first northern Gallic people to send senators to Rome.[1]
The oration of Eumenius, in which he pleaded for the restoration of the schools of his native Augustodunum, suggests that the district was then neglected. The chief magistrate of the Aedui in Caesar's time was called the Vergobretus (according to Mommsen, "judgment-worker"). He was elected annually, and possessed powers of life and death, but was forbidden to go beyond the frontiers of his territory. Certain clientes, or small communities, were also dependent upon the Aedui.[21]
Religion
The Temple of Janus was located just outside the Aedian town of Augustodunum. It probably dates back to the second half of the 1st century AD.[24]
According to Julius Caesar, the Aedui were one of the strongest Gallic tribes, in rivalry with the Helvetii, Sequani, Remi, and Arverni. Furthermore, the Aedui seemed to work in a semi-republican state, with the powerful Vergobret at least slightly being at the will of the people, similar to the senators of Rome.[26]
^ abOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aedui". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 244–245. This cites:
A. E. Desjardins, Géographie de la Gaule, ii. (1876–1893)
Barral, Philippe; Guillaumet, Jean-Paul; Nouvel, Pierre (2002). "Le territoire des Éduens d'après les dernières découvertes". In Garcia, D.; Verdin, F. (eds.). Territoires celtiques, espaces ethniques et territoire des agglomérations d'Europe occidentale, actes du XXIV° congrès de l'AFEAF, Martigues, 1er - 4 juin 2000. Errance. pp. 271–296. ISBN978-2877722193.
Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN9782877723695.
Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN978-0955718236.
Goudineau, Christian; Rebourg, Alain (1987). "Les origines d'Autun". Les villes augustéennes de Gaule: actes du Colloque international d'Autun, 6, 7 et 8 juin 1985. Société éduenne des lettres, sciences et arts. OCLC28069333.
Hornung, Sabine (2016). "Die Häduer – „Brüder" Roms". Siedlung und Bevölkerung in Ostgallien zwischen Gallischem Krieg und der Festigung der Römischen Herrschaft. Eine Studie auf Basis landschaftsarchäologischer Forschungen im Umfeld des Oppidums "Hunnenring" von Otzenhausen (Lkr. St. Wendel) (in German). Philipp von Zabern. pp. 319–346.
Thévenot, Émile (1960). Les Éduens n'ont pas trahi : essai sur les relations entre Éduens et César au cours de la guerre des Gaules et particulièrement au cours de la crise de 52. Latomus. OCLC264975672.