Paemani
ThePaemani(alsoPoemaniorCaemani) were a smallBelgic-Germanictribe dwelling inGallia Belgicaduring theIron Age.Their ethnic identity remains uncertain.Caesardescribed them as part of theGermani Cisrhenani,but a number of scholars have argued that their name may be ofCelticorigin.[1][2]Like other Germani Cisrhenani tribes, it is possible that their old Germanicendonymcame to be abandoned after a tribal reorganization, that they received their names from their Celtic neighbours, or else that they were fully or partiallyassimilatedto Celtic culture at the time of the Roman invasion of the region in 57 BC.[3]
Name
[edit]Attestations
[edit]The name appears asCaemaniin Caesar's accounts (mid-1st c. BC); the variantPaemani(orPaemanes) is also attested in manuscripts.[4]
One of the two variants may be a scribal error.[1]Alternatively, scholar Peter E. Busse has proposed to interpret the forms asQ-Celtic/P-Celticequivalents: "that Caesar wrote Q-CelticCaemanes,withC-rather than expectedQu-,is easily explained either as a mishearing or as the result of learning the name from P-Celtic intermediaries who had nokwin their own language.[2]
Etymology
[edit]The variantPaemaniis possibly ofCelticorigin, for it appears closely related to the namesPoemaneni(Galatia) andPoemana(Gallaecia, CelticHispania), which all occur in Celtic milieus, but a convincing etymology has not yet been found.[1][5]The name may possibly be interpreted as 'the herdsmen', by comparison with the Greekpoimḗn.It appears to be an archaic formation, having preserved the initialp-, which has normally been lost in 'Q-Celtic languages' such asGaulishandOld Brittonic.[5]
Alternatively, aGermanicetymology from*haima-('home') has also been proposed forCaemani,although it cannot explain the spellingPaemanes,and Germanic sound laws rather predict a**Haemanesor**Chaemanesform.[2]
The hypothesis that the name of theFamenneregion may derive fromPaemani,following the influence of the Germanic sound shift fromp-tof-,[4]is now considered doubtful by most scholars,[6][7]which, according toEdith Wightman,"does not prove that they did not inhabit the region".[6]
Geography
[edit]The Paemani dwelled in the northern part of theArdennes and Eifelregion, between theRhôneand theMeuseriver, near theCaerosiin the south, theEburonesin the north, and theTungriandAtuatuciin the west.[8]
References
[edit]- ^abcNeumann 1999,p. 118.
- ^abcBusse 2006,p. 200.
- ^Neumann 1999,pp. 110–111.
- ^abBusse 2006,p. 199.
- ^abWoudhuizen, Fred C. (2020). "The Old Indo-European Layer in the Mediterranean as Represented by Hydronyms, Toponyms, and Ethnics".Journal of Indo-European Studies.48:45.
- ^abWightman 1985,p. 31.
- ^von Petrikovits 1999,p. 93.
- ^Talbert 2000,Map 11: Sequana-Rhenus.
Bibliography
[edit]- Busse, Peter E. (2006). "Belgae". In Koch, John T. (ed.).Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia.ABC-CLIO. pp. 195–200.ISBN978-1-85109-440-0.
- Neumann, Günter (1999)."Germani cisrhenani — die Aussage der Namen".In Beck, H.; Geuenich, D.; Steuer, H. (eds.).Germanenprobleme in heutiger Sicht.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN978-3110164381.
- Talbert, Richard J. A.(2000).Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.Princeton University Press.ISBN978-0691031699.
- von Petrikovits, Harald (1999)."Germani Cisrhenani".In Beck, H.; Geuenich, D.; Steuer, H. (eds.).Germanenprobleme in heutiger Sicht.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN978-3110164381.
- Wightman, Edith M.(1985).Gallia Belgica.University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-05297-0.
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