Mandubii
Gallic tribe
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Name
An oppidum Mandubiorum is mentioned by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1] and the tribe is designated as Mandoubíōn (Μανδουβίων) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD).[2][3]
The ethnonym Mandubii is a latinized form of Gaulish *Mandubioi (sing. *Mandubios). It is generally seen as deriving from the stem mandu- ('pony').[4][5] Alternatively, Pierre-Yves Lambert has proposed to compare the name with the Welsh mathru ('trample upon').[6]
Geography
The territory of the Mandubii was located in the Haux-Aixois region, between the settlements of Alesia in the north, Blessey in the east, Braux in the west, and Sombernon in the southeast.[7] This small area
During the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus, their small territory was incorporated into the Lingonian territory.[8] In the unstable period following the death of Nero in 68 AD, the Mandubii were excluded from the Lingonian territory and attached to the Aedui.[7]
History
Mandubian ceramics are attested in Villaines-les-Prévôtes by the 2nd century BC. While under the influence of the neighbouring and more powerful Aedui and Lingones, the Mandubii benefited from a relative autonomy (at least economic and cultural) before the Roman conquest.[9]
Religion
At Alesia, Apollo appears prominently as a local deity, presiding over the monumental sanctuary of Croix-Saint-Charles, a site occupied since the pre-Roman period. There, he is assimilated with Moritasgus, a god attested only at Alesia. Dedications have also been found to Rosmerta, and to the couples Albius and Damona, Ucuetis and Bergusia, and Mars Cicolluis with Litavis.[10]