PART
5 –
Ch.XXXII.6
The
Pelasgians or proto – Latins (Arimii)
(The
southern Pelasgians)
XXXII.
6. Pelasgians in southern Gallia and Iberia.
Even a long time
before the invasion of the Celts into
In this chapter we
shall treat only the vast territory of southern
A branch of the Liguri had occupied, as we saw, a
significant part of the Italic peninsula, even a long time before the Trojan
times. And other Ligurian tribes, leaving the regions of the Alps, had spread
in the course of centuries, with their numerous flocks, over the plains of
southern Gallia, some of them even
passing beyond the Pyrenees [1].
[1. Arbois de Jubainville, the distinguished French historian, who has
especially studied the prehistoric times of Europe, extends the domination of
the Liguri in the ante-Celtic epoch,
over the entire territory of Gallia: “Before the Iberi, before the Celts, they
(Ligurii) have dominated the country which was later called Gaule” (Les
premiers habitants, I. p. 382)].
Eratosthenes (3rd century bc) calls the
entire western peninsula of
Finally, the big
At the same time with
the settling of the LIguri in the southern parts of
As Pliny tells us,
The vulgar language
spoken in the southern parts of
[2. During the Middle Ages, this
southern
This Roman
language, which once had reigned over all the southern part of
We have in this
regard a very important admission of
As we know, the
Romans had conquered the southern parts of
The geographer Strabo, who had lived in the same
century as
We are now
presented with the question, which was the old geographical origin of this
Ligurian population from the territory of southern
We shall summarize
here the main data, preserved to this day, regarding this matter.
One of the tribes
which dwelt on the
Another group of
Dacians, called by the Greek geographers Deciates,
or in Latin form Deciani, had their
dwellings near the maritime Alps. Deciatii were a warlike tribe which loved
independence. They started the first fights with the Romans in
On the other side
of the Rhodan, stretched along the shores of the
The origin of the
names Ardelay, Ardelles, Ardelu, Ardeuil, Ardillats, Ardilleux, Ardillieres,
which today are still the names of various villages from the southern territory
of France, goes back to the ante-Celtic period (Janin, Dict. d. communes de France, 1851. p. 19).
The working of
mines had started on the territory of southern
One of the most
important centers of these miners had been in ante-Celtic times the city Rhoda (Pliny, lib. III. 5. 2), a name of Pelasgian origin, from which
derives the name of Rhodan.
Another locality
situated close to Rhodan had in the Roman epoch the name of Boxs(ani), meaning Colliery (Rom. bocsa, carbunaria). Another city from
the lower parts of Rhodan is called by the ancient geographers Taruscon or Tarasco (Strabo, lib.
IV. 1. 12). In the same mountainous region of the
It is important
that we find the homonyms of these localities in the regions rich in metals of
Ardel or Transilvania: Ruda, Rodna (famous silver mines also called Rhodana in the Middle Age), Bocsa, Bocsani, Trascau, Albac (Albaceni) and Ilva-mare
near Rodna.
We are left with
only a few words from the ancient idiom spoken by the Pelasgian nations of
southern
Elements from this Aremoric language are presented by: the localities Alba, Boxsani, Piscenae, Raurica or Raurici, Rhoda, Ursulae,
Vadum Sabatium, Vesuna; the rivers Arauris,
Argenteus amnis, Druentia (in Romania we have Drince, village and stream), Oltis,
Varus; the mountains Albia (Strabo, lib. IV. 6. 1), Gaura (Itin. Hierosol., p. 555), Mancelus,
Matrona, Stura (Pliny, lib. III.
20. 4) and Vesulus (Pliny, lib. III. 20. 3). A tribe in
[3. Vadum Sabatium seems to be a corrupt form. In a manuscript of Strabo (Ed. Didot, p. 965) this
locality is called Sabatou Ouada. On the
The ancient
populations of
For legumes they
had the word legaria (Varro, R. R. lib. I. 32), and on an
inscription discovered on the territory of the Volcii Arecomicii, written with
Greek letters (Pelasgian), can be read very clearly the word dede
= dedit (Monin, Monuments d. anciens
idioms gaulois, Paris, 1861, p.17).
All these words
belong as we see to the same archaic dialect which even today is spoken (with
its normal changes of course) by the Romanian people from the Carpathians. We
can therefore ascertain, as a historical conclusion, that the geographical
origin of most of the tribes from the territory of southern
We arrive now at
the
Before the Liguri, another important Pelasgian
group dwelt on the territory of southern
The invasion of the
Celts follows. Part of the Ligurii
from the
Iberii from the
western parts of Europe formed, as the grammarian Apollodorus tells us, the same people with the Iberi from near the
Asian Caucasus (fragm. 123 and 161; Varro
at Pliny, lib. III. 3. 3). About the
latter Tacitus writes: “Iberii and Albanii (from the eastern parts of the
In a similar way,
the ancient ethnic genealogies considered the western Iberi as close brothers
with the original inhabitants of
But in Roman times
the name of the Iberi had disappeared almost completely from the Pyrenean
peninsula. When the Roman legions stepped for the first time on the soil of
Hispania, the majority of the population there was formed by other tribes,
other colonies of shepherds, farmers and mine workers, who in fact did not
belong any more to the ancient family of the Iberi.
To this new series
of Pelasgian migrations belonged the following tribes: Albocenses, Ambirodaci, Ablaidaci, Arevaci, Argeli, Aurienses, Barbarii
(Barbarium promont.), Berones, Bibali,
Bursaonenses, Calnici, Comanesciqi, Cosetani, Dagences, Deciani, Ergavicenses,
Gruii, Hergetes (Ilergetae, Ilaraugatae), Indigetes, Laeetani or Letani,
Longeidoci, Lunarii (Lunarium promont.), Pelendones, Ossigi, Orienses (Aurienses), Turdetani, Turduli, Tarraconenses, Vaccaei, Vascones, Virvesci and Vloqi.
Among all these
nationalities, the principal rank, in number and social status, belonged to the
Turdetani. They were settled in the
southern parts of Hispania, in the regions of today
Turdetanii, writes Strabo (lib. III. 1. 6), are the most
learned of all the Hispani. They use grammar; they have a description of their
historical traditions; they have, according to them, 6000 years old poems and
laws written in verse.
By their name,
customs, occupations and particularities of their idiom, Turdetanii seem to
have originated in the eastern parts of
Turda is one of the oldest cities of
Transilvania (around the city are often found various objects belonging to the
Stone Age). Situated near the foothills of the gold mountains of Transilvania
and on the banks of Aries river
(Aureus), Turda was for 3 centuries (XIV – XVII) the legislative capital of
Transilvania, a prerogative which needed without doubt to be founded on an
ancient historical tradition. We must remember here a characteristic
coincidence, that Turdetanii, the most civilized people of Hispania, boasted
that they had a 6000 years old law codex [4].
[4. The name Turdetani, form derived from Turdi,
is just a simple Greek imitation, like Volci
of
The names of other
localities from the inner regions of the Carpathians also have the same origin.
Two villages situated on the
Finally, the family
name Turdea is even today widespread on the fine valley of the gold river
(Aries) in Transilvania.
The entire
In the northern
parts of the peninsula, the most famous mines figured in the Roman epoch under
the name metalla Alboc (ensia), a name which presents a
particular importance when we look for the geographical origin of the metallurgical
tribes from Hispania (C. I. L. vol.
II. nr. 2598).
Albac is the name of an important Romanian
village on the
Its inhabitants, Albaceni, work the gold mines from
immemorial times. Here also the river Aries has its source.
Among all the
Hispanic populations which dwelt on the foothills of the
Settled near the
sources of the river Durius (
By name, Pelendonii
of Hispania seem to have been the same people as Pelendonii of Dacia (Tab.
Peut. Segm VII. 4). A locality called Pelendoua,
or more correctly Pelendona, is
mentioned on Tabula Peutingeriana. It was situated in Dacia Malvensis, on the
road leading from Amutria (Gura
Motrului) towards Romula (Resca).
Close to the
energetic Pelendonii of Hispania was the city called in Roman inscriptions “Uxama”. In Roman times still existed
the tradition about the ancient founders of Uxama, that they had their origin
in the eastern parts of
Silius Italicus calls Uxama a city surrounded with Sarmatian walls, and tells us at the
same time that this people also had Sarmatian customs (Pun. Lib. III. v. 384
seqq). The same city figures with Ptolemy
under the name Uxama Argelae (lib.
II. c. 6. 55, Ed. Didot), and on a Latin inscription from
These inhabitants
of Uxama had conserved until late their original character. We find in Roman
inscriptions referring to Uxama a series of particularly singular barbarian
names. The personal names are usually ending in o, like: Arraedo, Atto,
Crastuno, Docilico, Eburaneo, Magulio, Ranto, Urcico; and the following
villages are mentioned with names of tribes or peoples: Calnici, Coronici, Corovesci and Comenesciqi (C. I. L. vol. II. p. 387).
The same names of
villages and hamlets are present even today on the western territory of the
Romanian Country, under the forms Calnic,
Cornesci, Corobesci and Comanesci.
Also in the western
parts of Romania, from where so many Pelasgian colonies had gone forward
towards the Apennines and Pyrenees, exists even today the village Erghevita, homonym with Ercavica (Ergavicenses, Ergevicenses) from Tarraconia (C. I. L. vol. II.
4203; Pliny, lib. III. 4. 8).
So, we can assert
with total certainty that the Hispanic tribes called Pelendones, Calnici,
Coronici, Corovesci, Comenesciqi and Ergevicenses, had migrated from the
western parts of ancient
Apart from
Numantia, the renowned acropolis of the Pelendoni, another strong and rich
citadel of Hispania Tarraconensis had been Sagunt,
situated close to the shores of the
[5. We must mention here that the
name Uxama is only a simple
geographical term in Celtic form. On a Latin inscription from Hispania we also
find the form Uxenensis instead of Uxamensis (C.I.L. vol. II. nr. 3125), which shows us that Uxama also existed as Uxena or Uxana.
And with Appianus (Hisp. 17) we find it as ‘Axeinia. The inhabitants
of Sagunt, who had come from the same Ardea
or Argela from where the Uxenii
had come, were also called Ausoni (Livy, XXI. 7. 14; Silius Italicus,
The geographical
traditions of the migrants are usually preserved in the names of their new
countries or lands.
The peoples and
tribes named in Roman inscriptions Ambirodaci,
Ablaidaci, Longeidoci, Arronidaeci and
Couneidoqi (ethnic names composed by the same system as the names Celtoligures, Celtiberi, Gallograeci,
Galatosarmatae, Massagetae, Carpodacae, etc) belonged to the same family of
the ancient inhabitants of Uxama and Sagunt.
Ambirodacii (C. I.
L. vol. II. nr. 4306), seem to have been, as their name shows, only a fraction of the Deciatii or Decii, who had once lived in the
neighborhood, or in community with Ambarii,
near the Rhodan (Livy, lib. V. 34; Caesar, Bell. Gall.
The fact is
positive: an ancient population of Daco-Getic
and Illyric origin had existed on
the
To the same
geographical origin also belonged the tribes called Ilergetes (at Pliny and Livy; Ilergetae at Strabo and Ptolemy; Illaraugatae at Hecateus),
Indigetes (at Pliny; Indigetae at Ptolemy) and Misgetes (Hecateus,
fragm. 12). The Ilergetes constituted probably a population formed of Getae and
Illyri emigrated towards the western parts. Two cities in Hispania, one in
Baetica, the other in Tarraconia, have the name Iluro. A third city Iluro
was across the
[6. A population emigrated from
Two barbarian coins from the
inferior region of the
From the
Originally from the
Carpathians seem to have also been the so-called Tarraconi (Tarraconenses). A number of villages with the name Tarkany are found in the counties
Bihor, Heves, Zemplin, Borsod and even across the Danube in the counties Iaurin
and Tolna (Lipszky, Rep. loc.
Hungariae, p. 672; Hornyansky,
Geogr. Lex. D. K. Ungarn, p. 371), which indicates that in this region were
once the dwellings of a significant tribe with the name Tarcani.
Finally, we also
find on the
On a sepulchral
inscription from Tarraconia, discovered close to
The ancient population
of Hispania was divided in ante-Roman times in a great number of independent
peoples and tribes, exactly like the Pelasgian race from
We do not know the
political history of these Hispanic tribes. But by their customs, institutions
and religion they belonged to the same civilization, to the same race. Their
ethnic character was generally “barbarian”,
but barbarian in the meaning of the Greek geographers, that they belonged to
the great family of the populations settled on the northern parts of Hellada,
in
Especially the
warlike populations from the northern parts of the peninsula, as Strabo tells us, had common customs
with the Gauls, the Scythians and the Thracians (Geogr. Lib. III. 4. 17).
A promontory in the
northern parts of Hispania is called in ancient geography Scythicum (Mela, Orb.
Descr. lib. III. 1), certainly from the ethnic character of the tribes which
dwelt in that region. A city of the Cantabrii
was called in Roman times Decium
(Mela, Orb. Descr. lib. III. 1),
today Dax. The so-called Concani,
who formed an independent tribe on the
Finally, we still
find with the Cantabrii a particular Hyperborean custom. When these people
reached a more advanced age, they threw themselves from cliff tops, in order to
avoid the weakness of old age (Silius
Italicus, lib. III. v. 325). The main musical instrument of these barbarian
populations from the
The ancient
populations of Hispania spoke the same
national idiom, but at the time of the Roman conquest the original Hispanic
language was mostly corrupted from the incorporation of various Celtic, Greek
and Asian words and forms.
This rustic
barbarian language spoken on the
The language of the
Turdetani, especially those from near the river Baetis, had become in the times
of Strabo (1st century
bc) almost an Italic Latin language (Geogr. Lib. III. 2. 15).
Tacitus mentions in his Annals that at the time of
Tiberius a peasant from Tarraconia had spoken before the Roman tribunal in the
language of his fathers, sermone patrio
(lib. IV. 45).
And Livy tells us (lib. XXVI. C. 49-50)
about Scipio Africanus and two conversations he had in Hispania in 209bc: one
with the wife of Mandonius, a brother of the king of the Ilergetae, the other
with Allucius, a Celt-Iber prince, whose fiancée, of an extraordinary beauty,
had been brought captive to Scipio. As results from Livy’s narration, these
conversations had proceeded without the help of any interpreter. So, Scipio
Africanus could understand very well the idiom of the Ilergetae, and on the
other hand, they could also understand, without great difficulty, the vulgar
Latin idiom in which Scipio had most certainly spoken to them.
As elements of this
national language of the Hispanic tribes we have the following names of
localities: Alba, Argenteola, Arsa
and Arsi, Baniana, Banienses, Blanda,
Blandae, Ceresus, Ceret (Eckhel,
Doctr. Num. I. 60), Lancia, Plumbarii
and Plumbaria isl., Rhode (Rhoda), Turbula, Urson,
Ursaone (C. I. L. vol. II. nr. 191), Vacca,
Vama and Vesperies; mountains: Argenteus mons, Cuneus prom. (Pliny,
lib. IV. 35. 4; Strabo, lib. III. 1.
4) and Lunarium prom.; rivers: Alba, Florius, Pisoraca (C. I. L. vol.
II. nr. 4883) and Vacca (see Pliny, III. IV; Strabo, III; Ptolemy,
II. c. 4-6 for the geographical nomenclature of Hispania).
As for the metallurgical terminology of the
Hispanic tribes, the following names of localities are characteristic: Argenteola, Argenteus mons, Baniana,
Banienses, Plumbaria, Rhode s. Rhoda
[7].
[7. Baniana in Turdetania (Ptol.
II. 4. 9) and Banienses in
We find with Pliny other remains from the idiom of
the workers of mines in Hispania. From these we extract the following:
alutatium,
gold found on the surface of the earth, brought by alluvia (lib. XXXIII. 21)
alutia,
mines in which water was used for the washing and separation of gold from
substances of other nature; the same words have once existed also in
balucem
(balux s. baluca), smaller grains of gold found in the sand of rivers, Romanian
beuta, small white pebble brought by
water currents.
palacras
(palacra), bigger pieces of massive gold (lib. XXXIII, c. 21). In the language
of the mine workers of Transilvania is found the word paraclau, hammer for breaking the stones, and paracluire, the breaking of stones (Francu si Candrea,
Romanii din muntii apuseni, p. 43). These words hint at the form paracla for the stones broken with
“paraclaul”.
galena,
lead sulphate (Pliny, lib. XXXIII.
47), Romanian galita, iron oxide
cuniculus,
the subterranean tunnel for the extraction of metals, in Romanian culcus (Francu si Candrea, Ibid.
p. 42), meaning the inclination of the vein [8].
[8. Cuniculus had two meanings in literary Latin language: subterranean gallery and rabbit. With the latter meaning, the
word was, according to Varro (R. R.
III. 12. 6), of Hispanic origin, because the rabbits, says he, make holes in
the ground, in which they hide.
The etymology of the word cuniculus,
under both meanings, comes from cunae,
cradle, or nest, so the term “culcusul
vinei” (TN – cradle of the vein) used by Romanian metallurgists is the same
word as cuniculus in Latin and
Hispanic form, subterranean gallery, for the extraction of metals].
The following words
also belong to the original stock of the Hispanic language:
casa
(Isidorus, Orig. lib. XV. 12.
1), Romanian casa
catare = videre
(Ibid. Orig. XII. 2. 38), Romanian a
cata or a cauta
cusire
(Isidorus, Orig. at Diez, Etym. Worterbuch, 1853, p. 119),
Romanian a cose
domno
(C. I. L. vol. II. nr. 4442, nr. 6273), Romanian domnului
esca
(Isidorus, Orig. XVII. 10, 18),
Romanian esca (TN – today iasca)
lancia,
Romanian lance. According to Varro this word is not Latin but
Hispanic (Gellius, Noct. Att. lib.
XV. 30)
porca
(Isidorus, Orig. lib. XV. 15.
6), furrow or earth dug out by the iron of the plough, Romanian porca, little hole in the ground in a
children’s game.
tubracus
(Isidorus, Orig. lib. XIX. 22. 30),
Romanian turec
Lucem
dubian, as the inhabitants of southern Hispania called a sanctuary
dedicated to the Lighting Moon,
according to Strabo (lib. III. 1.
9). The orientalist Movers supposes it to mean Lucem divinam (Phoeniz. II. 652). But in ancient mythology Lux
divina is more a literary and theological term, than a folk term. If the words Lucem dubian had had a clean Latin
form, Strabo certainly would not have mentioned them as a dialectal
particularity of the Hispanics. We incline to believe that the original form
was Lucem du bia (n), the final n being only the form of the Greek accusative, meaning the moon
which lights the path of travelers, as the moon is similarly invoked in
traditional Romanian poetry.
We also add here the personal names Domnina and Florica (C.I.L.vol.II.nr. 1836, 4994).
We can see from the
above that the ancient Hispanic language was similar at origin with the rustic
Latin language of
In regard to the
origin of the Hispanic language we also note here that the national alphabet of
the populations from Tarraconia (C. I. L. vol. II. nr. 4424, 4318) was the same
as the ancient alphabet of Dacia, whose traces have been preserved to this day
with the Romanian rafters from the banks of Bistrita (see Ch.XXVIII. 5).
Finally, another
fact deserving to be noted: the system of internal administration applied by
the Romans in Hispania indicates that the ancient populations of this province
belonged to the Latin family.
In the times of Pliny the Old, 50 cities of Hispania
had the right of ancient Latin citizenship, jus Latii antique or veteris
(lib. III. 3. 1; 4. 1; IV. 35. 5); and in 75ad the emperor Vespasian accorded
to the entire Hispania the privilege of the Latin rights (Pliny, lib. III. 4. 15).
It results that the
political, civil and religious institutions of the Hispanic populations were generally
identical with those of the ancient Latins. The Iberic peninsula contained a
population of Latin origin, pre-existent to Roman conquest.
We therefore
establish, from a historical point of view, that the Pelasgians, which had
migrated mostly from the Carpathians, had been the first importers of
civilization in southern
[9. Apart from the names mentioned
above, the toponimy of the Iberic peninsula presents a great number of homonyms
with the localities and rivers from the Carpathians and the
In Hispania: In Transilvania In Hispania In Transilvania
and
Acinipo Asinip Ergavicenses Erghevita
Alba Alba (Ercavica)
Alboc(um) Albac Gerunda Grind
Areva fl. Oreva fl. Gruii Gruia
Argenteus m. Argentariu m. Ieso Iesi,
Arsa, Arsi Arsa, Arsi Laelia Lelesci
Balsa Balsa Laminium Lemniu, Lemna
Bania, Banienses Bania, Baia Lunarium
prom. Luna
Barca Barca, Barcanesci Murgi (Murgis) Murgas,
Murgesci
Batorensis (Batora) Bator (com. Bihor, Murgeni
Heves,
Zabolti) Ossigi Osica, Gura Usicei
Brana Bran Rhode
(Rhoda) Ruda
Bursaoneneses Bursan, Bursani Sacili
(Sacilis) Sacele
Burum
Caunus m. Caun Tuati Tuhat
Ceresus Cires Turbula Turbura, Turburea
Ceret Ceret Turta Turda
Decium Decia Ucia Ucea
Deciana Deciani Ursaone Ursoia
Deva fl. Deva Vama Vama
The number of these homonyms could
be a lot bigger if we had a more authentic and complete toponimy of ancient
Hispania. But the Roman literati had generally adopted the nomenclature of the
localities from Hispania as they had found it with the Greek authors, and
afterwards the Roman administration had also altered a large part of the
ancient names.
Pliny’s
words are memorable in this regard. He tells us in the geographical description
of the province Baetica that he will mention only the more important localities,
and those whose names could be easier
pronounced in the Latin language. And Mela
(III. 15) writes that in the region inhabited by the Cantabri, a number of populations and rivers existed, whose names could not be pronounced by the
mouths of the Latins].
(TN – throughout this book I have generally preserved the
Romanian spelling of the names of the numerous Pelasgian tribes, as it is much
closer to their original (or Greek and Roman) spelling, than the English one. I
made some exceptions though, for better or for worse, in the case of some names
very widely circulated in English translation, like for example: Thracians
(Traci), Dacians (Daci), Hyperboreans (Hiperborei), Pelasgians (Pelasgi),
Trojans (Troieni), Acheans (Ahei), etc, etc.)