Taurini

File:Gallia Cisalpina-en.svg 391-192 BC.]]

The Taurini were a Ligurian or Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the river Po, around present-day Turin, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as Taurĩnoí (Ταυρῖνοί) by Polybius (2nd c. BC),Polybius. Historíai, 3:60:8. Taurini by Livy (late 1st c. BC),Livy. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, 5:34:8; 21:38:5. Taurinoí (Ταυρινοί) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),Strabo. Geōgraphiká, 4:6:6; 4:6:12. Taurinorum by Pliny (1st c. AD),Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:123. and as Taurínōn (Ταυρίνων; var. Ταυρικῶν, Ταυρινῶν) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 3:1:31.{{Harvnb|Falileyev|2010}}, s.v. Taurini.

The ethnic name Taurini can be translated as 'the tribe of the bull'.{{Sfn|de Bernardo Stempel|2006|p=46}} It is either an older form of the metathesized Celtic noun taruos ('bull'), or a non-Celtic Ligurian form.{{sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=291}}

Geography

The Taurini lived between the Dora Riparia and the upper Po river and the lower Dandrune river.{{Sfn|Sartori|2006}} Their territory was located east of the Iemerii, west of the Libicii and Iadatini.{{harvnb|Talbert|2000}}, Map 39: Mediolanum.

File:Torino - Porta Palatina.jpg

Their original capital, Taurasia, was destroyed by the Carthaginians after they opposed in vain Hannibal's march into Italy in 218 BC. It was refounded by the Romans after 25 BC as Colonia Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin), at the confluence of the Dora and Po. The settlement was hit by a fire in 69 AD.{{Sfn|Sartori|2006}}{{Sfn|Salmon|Potter|2015}}

History

They were involved in Rome's wars against the Celts at the end of the 4th century BC.{{Sfn|Sartori|2006}}

In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal, who had allied with their long-standing enemies, the Insubres. Their chief town was captured by Hannibal's forces after a three-day siege.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Culture

The ethnic identity of the Taurini is unclear. They have been variously described as Celts, Ligurians, or more likely, Celticized Ligurians.{{Sfn|Sartori|2006}}{{Sfn|Salmon|Potter|2015}}

References

=Bibliography=

{{Cite journal|last=de Bernardo Stempel|first=Patrizia|year=2006|title=From Ligury to Spain: Unaccented *yo > (y)e in Narbonensic votives ('gaulish' DEKANTEM), Hispanic coins ('iberian' -(sk)en) and some theonyms|journal=Palaeohispanica|volume=6|pages=45–58|issn=1578-5386|author-link=Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel}}
{{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|year=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=9782877723695|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 journal|last1=Salmon|first1=Edward Togo|last2=Potter|first2=T. W.|year=2015|title=Augusta Taurinorum|journal=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.972|isbn=978-0-19-938113-5}}
{{Cite journal|last=Sartori|first=Antonio|date=2006|title=Taurini|journal=Brill's New Pauly|doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1201630}}
{{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}}