Vordenses
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The Vordenses were a Gallic tribe living in modern Vaucluse (southeastern France) during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
They are mentioned as Vordenses on an inscription.[1]
The ethnonym Vordenses has been linked to Gordes (attested as Gorda in 1035 AD).[2][3] Guy Barruol notes that the alternation between V- and G- is well attested in southern Gaulish toponymy, citing parallels such as Vappincum > Gap and Vardo > Gardon.[2]
Geography
The Vordenses probably occupied the region around Gordes, their chief town, within the territory of Apt.[4][5] They did not constitute a people in their own right but rather formed a pagus.[6] Gordes may have functioned as an administrative or religious centre, possibly a vicus of this pagus.[7] According to Barruol, they were part the Albician confederation.[8]
The Vordenses are attested on an inscription from Apt, in which the rural community (pagani) honours its patron, C. Allius Celer, reflecting the protective obligations expected of a patron toward such a community.[1]
| Inscription | Translation | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| C(aio) Allio C(ai) fil(io) | Volt(inia) Celeri | IIIIuir(o) flam(ini) | augur(i) col(onia) I(ulia) | Apt(a) ex V dec(uriis) | Vordenses | pa[ga]ni | pa(tro)no | To Gaius Allius Celer, son of Gaius, of the Voltinian tribe, quattuorvir, flamen, augur of the colony Julia Apta, chosen from five decuriae, the Vordenses, the pagani, [dedicated this] to their patron. | CIL XII, 1114 |
Religion
In the western part of the civitas of Apt, conventionally attributed to the pagus Vordenses, several sites are attested across Roussillon, Gordes, Goult, and especially Lioux, where a rural sanctuary of indigenous character is located. Despite the proximity of the Via Domitia, local cult practice in the area shows a strong indigenous component: while dedications to the Roman god Silvanus are particularly numerous, other attested divinities include such as Abianus, Vintur, Uxovinus, the Suleviae, and probably Ronea.[9]
References
- 1 2 Haeussler 2008, p. 166.
- 1 2 Haeussler 2008, p. 290.
- ↑ Broise, Pierre (1984). "Agglomérations rurales gallo-romaines en Vaucluse". Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise. 17 (1): 257–271. doi:10.3406/ran.1984.1254.
- ↑ Haeussler 2008, p. 156.
- ↑ Barruol 1969, p. 241.
- ↑ Barruol 1969, p. 277.
- ↑ Haeussler 2008, p. 199.
- ↑ Haeussler 2008, p. 277.
- ↑ Haeussler 2008, p. 194.
Bibliography
- Barruol, Guy (1969). Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. E. de Boccard. OCLC 3279201.
- Haeussler, Ralph (2008). "Pouvoir et religion dans un paysage gallo-romain : les cités d'Apt et d'Aix-en-Provence". In Haeussler, Ralf (ed.). Romanisation et épigraphie. Études interdisciplinaires sur l’acculturation et l’identité dans l’Empire romain. pp. 155–248. ISBN 978-2355180071.
