// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Tigulli say to its date? "You're gulli-geous
The Tigulli were a Ligurian tribe living in the modern Tigullio region of Italy during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
[edit]They are mentioned as Tigullia by Pliny (1st c. AD),[1] Tigulia by Pomponius Mela (1st c. AD),[2] Tigoullía by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[3] and in corrupted variants such as Tegulata (Antonine Itinerary) and Tigtila (Tabula Peutingeriana). The designation also appears in the toponym Segesta Tigulliorum (modern Sestri Levante) mentioned by Pliny.[4]
The ethnic name Tigullii can be translated as 'the inhabitants of Tigulia' (Segesta Tigulliorum, modern Sestri Levante).[5] The suffix -ullo-, here combined with a secondary -io-, is frequent in Celtic, as in the name of the Medulli of the western Alps.[5] Its meaning is debated. Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to interpret the toponym Tigulia as meaning 'the last town [of the gulf]'.[6] Giulia Petracco Sicardi connects instead the base *tig(u)- with the Helvetic ethnonym Tigurini and with the Celtic epithet tigirno- ('lord').[5]
Geography
[edit]The Tigulli lived around Segesta Tigulliorum (modern Sestri Levante), in the Tigullio region between Genua (modern Genoa) and Luna (modern Luni).[4]
Ancient sources mention two neighbouring settlements east of Genua: Tigullia, cited by Pliny, Pomponius Mela and Ptolemy, and Segesta Tigulliorum, also recorded by Pliny.[7][8] Their precise relationship is difficult to determine. One hypothesis sees Segesta as a coastal settlement with a landing place (positio), and Tigullia as an inland site along the road axis, functioning as a mansio or a market. Some authors have treated Segesta Tigulliorum and Tigullia as a single centre, placing the inland nucleus at the site of the parish church of Santo Stefano.[8]
The name Segesta possibly derives from the Indo-European root *segh- ('to be firm'), implying a strong or fortified place. This may reflect original nature of the vicus-type settlement of the Romanised site.[8]
History
[edit]Knowledge of the Tigulli is largely derived from the Chiavari necropolis, an Iron Age Ligurian burial ground connected to wider commercial networks and used from the 7th century BC by a tribal group settled in the Rupinaro basin.[9]
Further evidence comes from an inscription from Sala Colonia (modern Chellah, Morocco), dated to around AD 140, which identifies Lucius Minicius Pulcher, a cavalry commander, as originating domo Tigullis ex Liguria.[7][9] Although Minicius' enrolment in the Galeria tribus seems to imply a connection with Genua, it also included citizens from several other centres, such as Luna and Veleia, making the administrative status of Tigullis uncertain.[9]
References
[edit]- ↑ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 5:48.
- ↑ Pomponius Mela, De Chorographia, II 4,72.
- ↑ Ptolemy, Geogr., III 3.
- 1 2 Benente 2015, pp. 5–6.
- 1 2 3 Petracco Sicardi & Caprini 1981, p. 75.
- ↑ de Bernardo Stempel 2006, p. 46.
- 1 2 Euzennat et al. 1982, pp. 185–187.
- 1 2 3 Benente 2015, p. 7.
- 1 2 3 Benente 2015, pp. 9–10.
Primary sources
[edit]- Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674993648.
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Bibliography
[edit]- Benente, Fabrizio (2015). "Tra Età romana e Medioevo. Appuni per una storia del territorio". MuSel. Quaderni di Storia del territorio. Gammarò Editori. pp. 5–27.
- Euzennat, Maurice; Marion, Jean; Gascou, Jacques; de Kisch, Yves (1982). "Inscriptions antiques du Maroc, 2. Inscriptions latines". Études d'Antiquités africaines. 1 (1): 0–0.
- de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2006). "From Ligury to Spain: Unaccented *yo > (y)e in Narbonensic votives ('gaulish' DEKANTEM), Hispanic coins ('iberian' -(sk)en) and some theonyms". Palaeohispanica. 6: 45–58. ISSN 1578-5386.
- Petracco Sicardi, Giulia; Caprini, Rita (1981). Toponomastica storica della Liguria (in Italian). Genoa: Sagep. ISBN 88-7058-023-7.