Editing Bituriges Cubi

{{short description|Gallic tribe}}
[[Image:Gaul, 1st century BC.gif|thumb|A map of [[Gaul]] in the 1st century BC, showing the relative positions of the Celtic tribes. The term Germani ''(Germania = the fertile land)'' is a description of territory populated by various ethnicities - not of a tribe.]]
[[File:Bituriges Cubi denier Gaulois silver 1780mg.jpg|thumb|Silver [[French denier|denier]] of the Bituriges Cubi, 1780 mg. [[Hotel de la Monnaie]].]]
The '''Bituriges Cubi''' ([[Gaulish language|Gaulish]]: ''Biturīges Cubi'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in a territory corresponding to the later province of [[Berry (province)|Berry]], which is named after them, during the [[La Tène culture|Iron Age]] and the [[Roman period]]. They had a homonym tribe, the [[Bituriges Vivisci]], in the [[Bordeaux|Bordelais]] region, which could indicate a common origin, although there is no direct evidence of this.{{Sfn|Kruta|2000|p=471}}

== Name ==
They are mentioned as ''Bituriges'' by [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] (mid-1st c. BC),<ref>[[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]. ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'', 7:5:5.</ref> ''Bitoúriges oi̔ Kou͂boi'' (Βιτούριγες οἱ Κοῦβοι) and ''Koúbois Bitoúrixi'' (Κούβοις Βιτούριξι) by [[Strabo]] (early 1st c. AD),<ref>[[Strabo]]. ''Geōgraphiká'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/strabo-geography/1917/pb_LCL050.217.xml 4:2:2].</ref> ''Bituriges ... qui Cubi appellantur'' by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] (1st c. AD),<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]. ''Naturalis Historia,'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/pliny_elder-natural_history/1938/pb_LCL352.203.xml 4:109].</ref> and as ''Bitoúriges oi̔ Kou͂boi'' (Βιτούριγες οἱ Κοῦβοι) by [[Ptolemy]] (2nd c. AD).<ref>[[Ptolemy]]. ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis,'' 2:7:10.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Falileyev|2010}}, s.v. ''Bituriges Cubi''.</ref>

The [[Gaulish]] [[ethnonym]] ''Biturīges'' means 'kings of the world', or possibly 'perpetual kings'. It derives from the stem ''bitu-'' ('world', perhaps also 'perpetual'; cf. [[Old Irish|OIr.]] ''bith'' 'world, life, age', ''bith''- 'eternally', [[Old Welsh]] ''bid'', [[Old Breton|OBret.]] ''bit'' 'world') attached to ''riges'' ('kings'; <small>sing.</small> ''rix''). Whether the meaning 'perpetual' was already associated with ''bitu''- in ancient Celtic languages or appeared later in Old Irish remains uncertain. In any case, the meaning 'world' probably emerged from the notion of 'living world, place of the livings', since the [[Proto-Celtic]] stem *''bitu-'' derives from [[Proto-Indo-European]] *''gʷiH-tu''-, meaning 'life' (cf. Lat. ''vīta'' 'life', [[Old Church Slavonic|OCS]] ''žiti'' 'to live').{{Sfn|Lambert|1994|p=36}}{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=76}}{{sfn|Matasović|2009|p=67}}

The city of [[Bourges]], attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Biturigum'' ('[[civitas]] of the Bituriges', ''Bituricas'' in 844, ''Bituris'' in 1182), and the region of [[Berry, France|Berry]], attested in 860 as ''pagus Biturigus'' ('[[pagus]] of the Bituriges'), are named after the Gallic tribe.{{Sfn|Nègre|1990|p=152}}

== Geography ==

Their chief town during the pre-Roman era was the [[oppidum]] of [[Avaricum|Avaricum Biturigum]] (modern [[Bourges]]).{{sfn|Busse|Koch|2006|pp=214–215}} Their dwelled west of the [[Aedui]], south of the [[Carnutes]] and [[Aulerci Cenomani|Cenomani]], north of the [[Pictones]], [[Lemovices]] and [[Arverni]], and east of the [[Turones]].{{Sfn|Kruta|2000|p=471}}

== History ==
According to a legend recounted by [[Livy]], the Bituriges ruled over all of Gaul ca. 600 BC. Faced with overpopulation in their homeland, the Biturigian king [[Ambigatus]] sent his sister's sons [[Bellovesus]] and [[Segovesus]] in search of new territories to settle. Segovesus headed towards the [[Hercynian Forest]], while Bellovesus is said to have led the Gallic invasion of northern [[Italy]].{{sfn|Busse|Koch|2006|pp=214–215}} {{Blockquote|text=While Tarquinius Priscus reigned at Rome, the Celts, who make up one of the three divisions of Gaul, were under the domination of the Bituriges, and this tribe supplied the Celtic nation with a king. Ambigatus was then the man, and his talents, together with his own and the general good fortune, had brought him great distinction; for Gaul under his sway grew so rich in corn and so populous, that it seemed hardly possible to govern so great a multitude.|source={{harvnb|Livy|2019}}. ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/livy-history_rome_5/1924/pb_LCL172.119.xml 5.34].|author=|title=}}Many Greek ceramics and amphoras imported from [[Massilia|Massalia]], as well as local productions of fine art pottery dated to the second part of the 6th century BC were found on the site Bourges, which, according to historian [[Venceslas Kruta]], gives archeological credit to the essence of the tradition reported by Livy evoking the power of the people of the region well before his own time.{{sfn|Kruta|2000|p=145}}

In the 1st century BC, the Bituriges Cubi were client of the [[Aedui]] as part of their confederation headed. During the Gallic Wars, they supported the Arverni in their fight against Caesar, and suffered great losses in the siege of their oppidum named [[Noviodunum]], followed by their chief town Avaricum in 52 BC, the only oppidum in their territory spared by the scorched-earth tactics of [[Vercingetorix]]. They also took part in the defence of [[Alesia (city)|Alesia]] during the [[Battle of Alesia|siege of the oppidum]] by the Romans. After the defeat of Vercingetorix, Rome had to suppress a Gallic revolt in the territory of the Bituriges in 51 BC. Their submission to Rome was reportedly quick, and they asked Caesar to intervene against their neighbours the [[Carnutes]] only a few weeks later.{{Sfn|Kruta|2000|p=471}}{{sfn|Busse|Koch|2006|pp=214–215}}

== Legacy ==
A passage from [[Livy]], ''summa imperii penes Biturges'' ('all the power in the hands of the Bituriges'), has become the [[motto]] of the city of [[Bourges]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bourges - Armes et devise|url=https://www.ville-bourges.fr/site/la-ville_armes-devise|website=Ville de Bourges}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of peoples of Gaul]]
* [[Saint-Benoît-du-Sault]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Primary sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book|last=Livy|title=History of Rome|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-0674992566|series=Loeb Classical Library|translator-last=Yardley|translator-first=J. C.|author-link=Livy}}
{{refend}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last=Busse|first=Peter E.|last2=Koch|first2=John T.|chapter=Biturīges|editor-last=Koch|editor-first=John T.|title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia|date=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-440-0|editor-link=John T. Koch}}
* {{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|date=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 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 book|last=Lambert|first=Pierre-Yves|title=La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies|date=1994|publisher=Errance|isbn=978-2-87772-089-2|author-link=Pierre-Yves Lambert}}
*{{Cite book|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004173361|author-link=Ranko Matasović}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nègre|first=Ernest|title=Toponymie générale de la France|date=1990|publisher=Librairie Droz|isbn=978-2-600-02883-7|author-link=Ernest Nègre}}
{{refend}}

{{Gallic peoples}}

[[Category:Bituriges Cubi| ]]
[[Category:Gauls]]
[[Category:Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul]]
[[Category:Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars]]
[[Category:Historical Celtic peoples]]