Bagienni
Ancient Ligurian tribe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bagienni (or Vegenni or Vagienni) were an ancient Ligurian people of north-western Italy mentioned in Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia. They were based in various areas of what is today south-western Piedmont, but particularly in the upper part of the Tanaro valley. They were also present in the Val Trebbia in today's Emilia Romagna. Their capital, known to the Ancient Romans as Augusta Bagiennorum, was located in the frazione Roncaglia of Bene Vagienna in the modern Province of Cuneo.
Origins
The writer, naturalist and Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder writes in his book "The Natural History" book III chapter 7 on the Vagienni:
The more celebrated of the Ligurian tribes beyond the Alps are the Salluvii, the Deciates, and the Oxubii; on this side of the Alps, the Veneni and the Vagienni, who are derived from the Caturiges.[1]
History
Name
The manuscript tradition of Pliny's text is inconsistent. The 9th-century Codex Leidensis Vossianus F 4 reads uagienni, while other manuscripts have bagiensi. The form uagienni also appears in Ligurum Vagiennorum from the same codex (3.20.117), likely influenced by the preceding <m> in Ligurum, whereas other witnesses read gabi-. In 3.24.135, however, Vagienni is transmitted by all manuscripts and is emended by editors to Bagienni.[4]
