Ambisontes

TheAmbisontes(Gaulish:'those around the Isontia') were aGallictribe dwelling in the upperSalzachvalley during theRoman period.

Name

They are mentioned asAmbisontesbyPliny(1st c. AD),and asAmbēsóntioi(Ἀμβησόντιοι) byPtolemy(2nd c. AD).

TheGaulishethnonymAmbisontesmeans 'the people from around the Isontia', stemming from the root *amb(i)- ('around, on both sides') attached to the name of the riverIsontia(modernSalzach).Thehydronymitself, while not necessarily Celtic, is most likely ofIndo-Europeanorigin, and can be derived from the stem *[h₁]ish₁-ont-('she who moves quickly').

Geography

The Ambisontes lived in the upper valley of theSalzachriver. Their territory was situated north of theSaevatesandLaianci,south of theAlauni,and east of theBreuniandCosuanetes.

History

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on theTropaeum Alpium.

References

Primary sources

• Pliny(1938).Natural History.Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0674993648.

Bibliography

• de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia(2015). "Zu den keltisch benannten Stämmen im Umfeld des oberen Donauraums". In Lohner-Urban, Ute; Scherrer, Peter (eds.).Der obere Donauraum 50 v. bis 50 n. Chr.Frank & Timme.ISBN978-3-7329-0143-2.
• Delamarre, Xavier(2003).Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental.Errance.ISBN9782877723695.
• Falileyev, Alexander (2010).Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.CMCS.ISBN978-0955718236.
• Talbert, Richard J. A.(2000).Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.Princeton University Press.ISBN978-0691031699.