Petrocorii

They are named as Petrocorii by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),^[1] Petrokórioi (Πετροκόριοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD) and Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),^[2] Petrocori by Pliny (mid-1st c. AD),^[3] and as Petrogorii by Sidonius Apollinaris (5th c. AD).^[4][5]

The Gaulish ethnonym Petrocorii means 'four armies', or 'four troops'. It derives from the Gaulish stem petru- ('four') attached to corios ('army'), after a Gallic custom of including numbers in tribal names (e.g. Vo-contii, Vo-corii, Tri-corii, Suess-iones).^[6][7][a] Their name may indicate a relatively recent formation emerging from the union of fragmented small ethnic groups.^[10]

The city of Périgueux, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Petrocoriorum ('civitas of the Petrocorii'; Petrecors in the 8th c., Periguhès in 1466), and the Périgord region, attested in the 7th c. AD as pagum Petrocorecum ('pagus of the Petrocorii'; Petragoricus in 781, Peiregore in the 12th c.), are named after the Gallic tribe.^[11]

Petrocorii (circled) on a map of Gallic peoples in the 1st century BC

The Petrocorii lived in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers.^[12][13] Their territory was located south of the Lemovices and Santones, east of the Bituriges Vivisci, west of the Arverni, and north of the Nitiobroges and Cadurci.^[14][13]

During the Roman period, their chief town was Vesunna, corresponding to the modern town of Périgueux.^[5]

In 52 BC, they supplied around 5,000 warriors to Vercingetorix, to aid him to fight the Roman legions of Julius Caesar. Strabo mentions their excellence working with iron.^[12]

• Périgord & County of Périgord
• History of Périgueux