Petrocorii
{{short description|Gallic tribe}}{{Cleanup lang|date=June 2021}}
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The Petrocorii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Etymology
They are mentioned as Petrocoriis by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/caesar-gallic_wars/1917/pb_LCL072.489.xml 7:75:3]. Petrokórioi (Πετροκόριοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD) and Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:2:2; Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:7:9. Petrocori by Pliny (mid-1st c. AD),Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:109. and as Petrogorii by Sidonius Apollinaris (5th c. AD).Sidonius Apollinaris. Epistles, 7:6:7.{{Harvnb|Falileyev|2010}}, s.v. Petrocori and Vesunna.
The Gaulish ethnonym Petrocorii means 'four armies', or 'four troops'. It derives from the Gaulish stem petru- ('four') attached to corios ('army'), after a Gallic custom of including numbers in tribal names (e.g. Vo-contii, Vo-corii, Tri-corii, Suess-iones).{{sfn|Lambert|1994|p=35}}{{sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=125, 250, 326|p=}} Their name may indicate a relatively recent formation emerging from the union of fragmented small ethnic groups.{{Sfn|Kruta|2000|p=71|ps=: "Il semble s'agir dans tous les cas de petites cités, issues peut-être de l'éclatement d'ensembles ethniques plus importants."}}
The word corios derives from Proto-Celtic *koryos ('troop, tribe'; cf. Middle Welsh {{Lang|wlm|cordd}} 'tribe, clan'; Mid. Ir. cuire), itself from Proto-Indo-European *kóryos, meaning 'army, people under arms'. The root is also found in other Gaulish tribal names such as the Tri-corii or the Corio-solites.{{sfn|Matasović|2009|p=218}} The root petru- stems from Proto-Celtic *kʷetwór- ('four'; cf. OIr. cetheoir, OW. and OBret. petguar).{{sfn|Matasović|2009|p=179}}
The city of Périgueux, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Petrocoriorum ('civitas of the Petrocorii'; Petrecors in the 8th c., Periguhès in 1466), and the Périgord region, attested in the 7th c. AD as pagum Petrocorecum ('pagus of the Petrocorii'; Petragoricus in 781, Peiregore in the 12th c.), are named after the Gallic tribe.{{sfn|Nègre|1990|p=155}}
Geography
File:CIL_XIII_1704.jpg. CIL XIII 1704.]]
File:Drachme_“au_style_flamboyant_frappé_par_les_Pétrocores.jpg
The Petrocorii lived in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers.{{sfn|Kruta|2000|p=776}}{{Sfn|Lafond|Olshausen|2006}} Their territory was located south of the Lemovices and Santones, east of the Bituriges Vivisci, west of the Arverni, and north of the Nitiobroges and Cadurci.{{harvnb|Talbert|2000}}, Map 14: Caesarodunum-Burdigala.{{Sfn|Lafond|Olshausen|2006}}
During the Roman period, their chief town was Vesunna, corresponding to the modern town of Périgueux.
History
In 52 BC, they supplied around 5,000 warriors to Vercingetorix, to aid him to fight the Roman legions of Julius Caesar. Strabo mentions their excellence working with iron.{{sfn|Kruta|2000|p=776}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
= Bibliography =
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
- {{Cite book| last=Delamarre | first=Xavier | title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental | publisher=Errance | isbn=9782877723695 |date=2003|author-link=Xavier Delamarre}}
- {{Cite book|last=Falileyev|first=Alexander|title=Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World|publisher=CMCS|year=2010|isbn=978-0955718236}}
- {{Cite book|last=Kruta|first=Venceslas|title=Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme|publisher=Robert Laffont|year=2000|isbn=2-221-05690-6|author-link=Venceslas Kruta}}
- {{Cite journal|last1=Lafond|first1=Yves|last2=Olshausen|first2=Eckart|date=2006|title=Petrocorii|journal=Brill's New Pauly|doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e916400}}
- {{Cite book| last=Lambert | first=Pierre-Yves | title=La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies | publisher=Errance | isbn=978-2-87772-089-2|author-link=Pierre-Yves Lambert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TjMcAQAAIAAJ|date=1994}}
- {{Cite book|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic|date=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004173361|language=en|author-link=Ranko Matasović}}
- {{Cite book|last=Nègre|first=Ernest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsNpi7IVulEC|title=Toponymie générale de la France|date=1990|publisher=Librairie Droz|isbn=978-2-600-02883-7|author-link=Ernest Nègre}}
- {{Cite book|last=Talbert|first=Richard J. A.|title=Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0691031699|author-link=Richard Talbert}}
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{{Gallic peoples}}