Vediantii
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The Vediantii were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast, near present-day Nice, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
They are mentioned as Ou̓ediantíōn (Οὐεδιαντίων) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[1] and an oppidum Vediantiorum civitatis is documented by Pliny (1st c. AD).[2][3]
The ethnonym Vediantii is probably Celtic. It has been interpreted as 'pertaining to the praying ones' (from the root wed- 'to pray' extended by a present participial formation -ie-nt-),[4][5] as the 'Leaders' (from *wedʰ-yā 'guidance, leadership'), or else as the 'Sages' (from *weid-yā 'knowledge, doctrine').[6][7]
Geography
The Vediantii dwelled on the Mediterranean coast, between the Var river and the Mont Agel, around the Massaliote colony of Nikaea (modern Nice).[8] Their territory was located east of the Deciates and Nerusii, west of the Intimilii, and south of the Vesubiani.[9]
Their chief town was the oppidum Vediantiorum, known as Cemenelum by the 2nd century AD. Corresponding to modern Cimiez, now a neighbourhood of Nice, the settlement controlled an important trading route from the Mediterranean coast towards the hinterland and the Alps. The acropolis stood about two kilometres inland, north of the Massaliote port of Nice, at the starting point of routes leading into the Alpine hinterland, in a position from which its inhabitants could defend themselves against pirates and mountain raiders.[10] After the subjugation of the Ligurian tribes in 14 BC, Cemenelum became the centre of the local Roman military government, then served as the capital of the new Roman province from its creation by Nero in 63 AD.[11][12]
The territory contained several ports, reflecting both land-based and maritime activity. In addition to Nice, a Massaliote trading post, local landing places recorded in the Itinerarium maritimum Antonini included Anao, Olivula and Avisio. Monaco (Portus Herculis Monoeci), another Massaliote port, also lay within their territory. Epigraphy records the name of a Gallo-Roman settlement in the hinterland, the vicus Cuntinus (modern Contes), whose inhabitants honoured a protective deity, Segomo Cuntinus. Another small settlement, vicus Navelis in the pagus Licirrus, is attested but cannot be precisely located, though it lay within the territory of the civitas of Cemenelum.[10]
