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Map showing the different Gaulish tribes. The Petrocorii are located in the centre-west of what is now France.

The Petrocorii (French: Pétrocores, Latin: Petrocorii) were a Gaulish tribe located in the present-day Dordogne region of France, between the Dordogne and Isle rivers. Their capital was Vesunna, which is today the town of Périgueux. Périgueux as well as the ancient province of Périgord take their names from this tribe.

Etymology

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Drachma "in a flamboyant style" struck by the Petrocorii

The name "Petrocorii" is composed of two parts. The first part of the word comes from the Gaulish petru- meaning "four". This comes from the ordinal number petuar(ios), which is attested on a piece of pottery from La Graufesenque (tuđđos petuar "fourth batch"). The form petru- is well attested in petru-sidius, petru-decameto ("fourteen"), etc. This is compared with the Gaulish pedwar: pedr- and the Breton pevar meaning "four". This is the same etymology as the Latin quadru- and that of the Gothic fidur- (compare the English "four"), which all come from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetur̥ / *kʷetru-.[1]

The second part of the word corios means "army" and is found in the ethnonym of Trégor "the three armies" and the Curiosolitae, as well as in different toponyms and names of people. This is the same word as in modern Celtic (compare Irish cuire, meaning "troop" or "army").[2]

The general meaning of Petrocorii is therefore "four armies"[3][4] or "four clans".[5]

Demonym

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Stylobate indirectly mentionning the Petrocorii who erected this pedestal in Lyon. CIL XIII 1704.

The name of the Petrocorii is sometimes used today as a demonym of Périgueux, mainly called Périgourdins.

History

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According to Venceslas Kruta, "the Petrocorii lived in the region situated between the Dordogne and the Vézère."[6] In 52 BCE, they supplied around 5000 warriors to Vercingetorix, to aid him to fight the Roman legions of Julius Caesar.[7] Strabo mentions their excellence working with iron.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental (in French). Paris: Errance. p. 249-250. ISBN 2-87772-237-6. OCLC 354152038.
  2. ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental (in French). Paris: Errance. p. 125. ISBN 2-87772-237-6. OCLC 354152038.
  3. ^ Lot, Ferdinand (1967). La Gaule : Les fondements ethniques, sociaux et politiques de la nation française. Paris: Arthème Fayard. p. 37.
  4. ^ Lambert, Pierre-Yves (1994). La langue gauloise : description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies (in French). Paris: Editions Errance. p. 35. ISBN 2-87772-089-6. OCLC 33132140.
  5. ^ Penaud, Guy (2003). Le Grand Livre de Périgueux (in French). Périgueux: La Lauze. p. 395-396. ISBN 2-912032-50-4. OCLC 52948657.
  6. ^ Kruta, Venceslas (2000). Les Celtes : histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme (in French). Paris: Robert Laffont. ISBN 2-221-05690-6. OCLC 45647099.
  7. ^ Aubarbier, Jean-Luc; Binet, Michel; Mandon, Guy (1987). Nouveau guide du Périgord-Quercy (in French). Rennes: Ouest-France. p. 22-23. ISBN 2-85882-842-3. OCLC 19922927.
  8. ^ Lachaise, Bernard (2000). Histoire du Périgord (in French). Périgueux: Fanlac. p. 94. ISBN 2-86577-216-0. OCLC 47216937.

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