Editing Nervii

{{short description|Belgic tribe}}
<!--this article has used the BC/AD convention since 5 July 2003-->
[[Image:Gaul, 1st century BC.gif|thumb|300px|A map of [[Gaul]] in the first century BC, showing the relative position of the Nervii tribe.]]

The '''Nervii''' or '''Nervians''' were one of the most powerful [[Belgae|Belgic]] tribes of northern [[Gaul]] at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including [[Brussels]], and stretched southwards to [[Cambrai]] in [[French Hainaut]]. During their first century BC Roman military campaign, [[Julius Caesar]]'s contacts among the [[Remi]] stated that the Nervii were the most warlike of the Belgae. In times of war, they were known to trek long distances to take part in battles. Being one of the northerly Belgic tribes, with the [[Menapii]] to the west, and the [[Eburones]] to their east, they were considered by Caesar to be relatively uncorrupted by civilization.<ref name=Fichtl>{{Citation|title=''Les Gaulois du Nord de la Gaule''|last=Fichtl|first=Stephan|year=1994|publisher=Paris}}</ref> According to [[Tacitus]] they claimed [[List of early Germanic peoples|Germanic]] descent.<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0083%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D28 28]</ref> According to [[Strabo]] they were of Germanic origin.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4C*.html 4.3]</ref>

== Name ==
They are mentioned as ''Nervii'' by [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] (mid-1st c. BC) and [[Orosius]] (early fifth c. AD),<ref>[[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]. ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'', 2:4; [[Orosius]]. ''Historiae Adversus Paganos'', 6:7:13.</ref> ''Neroúioi'' (Νερούιοι) by [[Strabo]] (early first c. AD),<ref>[[Strabo]]. ''Geōgraphiká'', 4:3:4.</ref> ''Nerui'' by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] (1st c. AD) and the ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'' (5th c. AD),<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]. ''Naturalis Historia'', 4:106; ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'', oc 5:25, 63:170, 7:121, 5:211, 7:75.</ref> ''Nervios'' by [[Tacitus]] (early second c. AD),<ref>[[Tacitus]]''. Historiae'', 66:79.</ref> and as ''Neroúsioi'' (Νερούσιοι) by [[Ptolemy]] (2nd c. AD).<ref>[[Ptolemy]]. ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis,'' 2:9:6.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Falileyev|2010}}, s.v. ''Nervii''.</ref>

The [[ethnonym]] ''Nervii'' probably stems from the Western [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] root *''ner''-, meaning 'man' (cf. [[Middle Welsh]] ''ner'' 'lord, chief'). It appears to be [[cognate]] with the Latin [[cognomen]] ''[[Nerva (disambiguation)|Nerva]]''.{{Sfn|Busse|2006|p=200}}

==Territory==
[[File:Pagi of the Nervians.png|thumb|300px|The three main early medieval ''pagi'' in the civitas of the Nervians, based on Deru's listing. Pagi: Orange = Cambrésis; Yellow = Hainaut ; Purple = Brabant. The shaded areas are modern Belgian provinces or French départements.]]
According to Xavier Deru, the core region of the Nervii was equivalent to the medieval ''pagus'' of [[Hainaut Province|Hainaut]], the region of the [[Haine]] river, the upper [[Sambre]], and [[Helpe Majeure|greater]] and [[Helpe Mineure|lesser]] Helpe rivers. To the north of the Haine, it also included what would become the medieval ''pagus'' of Brabant, making its northwestern border on the [[Scheldt]] (French ''Escaut'', Dutch ''Schelde'') river.<ref>{{citation|last=Deru|first=Xavier|title=Cadres géographiques du territoire des Nerviens|url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-du-nord-2009-5-page-179.htm|journal=Revue du Nord|volume=5|issue=383|pages=179–201|year=2009|doi=10.3917/rdn.383.0179|issn=0035-2624|doi-access=free}}</ref> A large population occupied the southern territories, near the river [[Sambre]] with the biggest being at [[Avesnelles]], near [[Avesnes-sur-Helpe]].

An [[oppidum]] found near [[Asse]] may have belonged to them but it was isolated and near to the territory of the [[Menapii]]. In the south the Nervians stretched no further than the forests of [[Arrouaise]] and [[Thiérache]]<ref name=wightman30>{{Citation|title=Gallia Belgica|last=Wightman|first =Edith Mary|year=1985|publisher= University of California Press|isbn=9780520052970| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aEyS54uSj88C}} page 30.</ref> South of them were the [[Viromandui]], south of Cambrai, and the [[Remi]]. Deru proposes that the region or ''pagus'' of [[Cambrai]] in the southwest was relatively undeveloped until Roman times.<ref>{{citation|title=L'occupation du Cambrésis à la période romaine. Résultats des campagnes de prospections systématiques
|first=Xavier |last=Deru| journal=Revue du Nord |year=2012 |volume=5 |issue= 398| pages=121–141|doi=10.3917/rdn.398.0121 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
  
To the east, based upon medieval boundaries it is likely that the Nervii's territories stretched to the [[Dyle (river)|Dyle]] and the [[Eau d'Heure]]. Some of this territory especially in the north may have been added to the district during Roman times according to Deru. The ''civitas'' of the Nervii did not include [[Leuven|Louvain]] or [[Namur]].

Caesar also mentions smaller tribes who were expected to contribute troops to Nervian forces; Levaci, Pleumoxii, Geidumni, Ceutrones, and Grudii. None of these can be convincingly located.

In the Middle Ages, Hainaut was sometimes still referred to as the county of the Nervians (''comitatus nerviensis'') in medieval Latin, and when this came to be politically united with mainly Dutch speaking Brabant again, the counties were still distinguished in the official Latin titles (''comitatus Nerviensis [[wikt:atque|atque]] Bracbatensis'').

Today, Hainaut is divided between France and Belgium. To its north, parts of the modern Belgian provinces of [[Antwerp (province)|Antwerp]], [[East Flanders]], [[Flemish Brabant]] and French-speaking [[Walloon Brabant]] include the rest of the old Nervian territory.

==Language==
Although it is often assumed that the Nervii spoke a Celtic language, the evidence regarding their linguistic affiliation is inconclusive. The same applies to other Belgian tribes, like the [[Menapii]] and [[Morini]], to the west of the Nervii on the [[English Channel]], and the ''[[Germani cisrhenani]]'' to the east of the Nervii, stretching to the Rhine.<ref name=wightman>{{Citation|title=Gallia Belgica|last=Wightman|first =Edith Mary|year=1985|publisher= University of California Press|isbn=9780520052970| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aEyS54uSj88C}} page 12-14.</ref>

Caesar writes that the Belgae generally had received immigration from Germanic people from east of the Rhine.<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 2#4|2.4]]</ref> The Romanized Greek [[Strabo]] wrote that the Nervii were of Germanic origin.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4C*.html 4.3]</ref> [[Tacitus]], in his book ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'', says that in his time the Nervii and [[Treveri]] both claimed Germanic ancestry, similar to that of their mutual neighbours the [[Tungri]], in order to distinguish them from the weaknesses of the [[Gauls]].<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0083%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D28 28]</ref>

The Romans were not precise in their [[ethnography]] of northern [[barbarians]]: by "Germanic" Caesar may simply have meant "originating east of the Rhine" with no distinction of language intended. During Caesar's lifetime, Germanic languages east of the Rhine may have been no closer than the river [[Elbe]].<ref name=wightman/> It has instead been argued based on place name studies that the older language of the area, though apparently [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], was also not Celtic (see [[Nordwestblock]]) and that Celtic, though influential amongst the elite, might never have been the main language of the part of the Belgic area north of the Ardennes.<ref name="Davidsfonds">{{Citation|last1=Lamarcq|last2=Rogge|first1=Danny|first2=Marc|title=De Taalgrens: Van de oude tot de nieuwe Belgen|publisher=Davidsfonds |year=1996}} page 44.</ref><ref name="M. Gysseling 1975 pp. 1-6">{{cite journal | last1 = Gysseling | first1 = M. | year = 1975 | title = Enkele Belgische leenwoorden in de toponymie | journal = Naamkunde | volume = 7 | pages = 1–6 }}</ref> On the other hand, these same studies of placenames such as those of [[Maurits Gysseling]], have also shown evidence of Germanic languages entering the Belgic area north of the [[Ardennes]], before the Roman conquest, while strong evidence for old Celtic place names is found in the Ardennes and to the south of them.<ref name="Davidsfonds"/><ref name="M. Gysseling 1975 pp. 1-6"/> Luc van Durme summarizes competing evidence of Celtic and Germanic influence at the time of Caesar by saying that "one has to accept the rather remarkable conclusion that Caesar must have witnessed a situation opposing Celtic and Germanic in Belgium, in a territory slightly more to the south than the early medieval [[Romance languages|Romance]]–Germanic language border", but van Durme also accepts that "second century BC Germanisation did not block the [[Celticization|celtisation]] coming from the south . . . but that both phenomena were simultaneous and interfering instead".<ref>{{citation|title=Genesis and Evolution of the Romance-Germanic Language Border in Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7VcdGI20FkC&pg=PA9|issue=Language Contact at the Romance-Germanic Language Border|journal=Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development|isbn = 9781853596278|last1 = Treffers-Daller|first1 = Jeanine|last2 = Willemyns|first2 = Roland|year = 2002|doi = 10.1080/01434630208666450|s2cid = 144862907|url-access = subscription}}</ref>

The ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'' reports that the Nervii were a Gaulish tribe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lukeuedasarson.com/NDsagittariiNerviiGallicani.html|title=N.D. unit listing: Sagittarii Nervii Gallicani|website=lukeuedasarson.com|access-date=2017-10-07}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[Julius Caesar]] considered the Nervii to be the most warlike of the Belgic tribes, and that the Belgic tribes were the bravest in Gaul. He says that their culture was a Spartan one: they would not partake of alcoholic beverages or any other such luxury, feeling that the mind must remain clear to be brave. He also says they disliked foreign trade and neither had a merchant class nor would permit merchants within their territory.<ref>{{Citation|title=The conquest of Gaul|last=Caesar|first =(transl S. A. Handford)|year=1982|publisher= Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-190414-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrGDlCHNufEC}}, page 65.</ref>

Archaeologists have sought to define the territories of the northern Belgic tribes by looking at the coins they used. The Nervii are associated with a [[stater]] type that uses a Greek [[epsilon]].<ref name=wightman20>{{Citation|title=Gallia Belgica|last=Wightman|first =Edith Mary|year=1985|publisher= University of California Press|isbn=9780520052970| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aEyS54uSj88C}} page 20.</ref>

Remarkably, given the archaeological evidence of a Celtic [[La Tène culture]] having been present in the pre-Roman past, Caesar reports that the Nervii had no cavalry. In fact they [[Pleaching|established hedges]] throughout their lands in order to make them difficult for cavalry.<ref name=wightman30/>

The [[Frasnes hoard]], accidentally unearthed by foresters in 1864 near [[Frasnes-lez-Anvaing|Frasnes-lez-Buissenal]] in [[Hainaut (province)|Hainaut]], along with coins associated with the [[Morini]] and the Nervii, also contained characteristically Gallic gold [[torc|torque]]s, one of which was in Alastair Bradley Martin's Guennol collection.<ref>Thomas P.F. Hoving, "'Valuables and Ornamental Items': The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair Bradley Martin" ''The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin'' New Series, 28.3 (November 1969:147-160) p. 152.</ref>

==Gallic Wars==
The Nervii were part of the Belgic alliance that resisted Julius Caesar in 57 BC. After the alliance broke up and some tribes surrendered, the Nervii, under the command of [[Boduognatus]] and aided by the [[Atrebates]] and [[Viromandui]], came very close to defeating Caesar (the [[Atuatuci]] had also agreed to join them but did not arrive in time). In 57 BC at the [[battle of the Sabis]]  (now identified as the river [[Selle (Somme tributary)|Selle]], near modern [[Saulzoir]]; previously identified as the [[Sambre]]),<ref>Pierre Turquin ("La Bataille de la Selle (du Sabis) en l' An 57 avant J.-C.", ''Les Études Classiques'' 23.2 (1955), 113-156)</ref> they concealed themselves in the forests and attacked the approaching Roman column at the river. Their attack was so quick and unexpected that some of the Romans didn't have time to take the covers off their shields or even put on their helmets. The element of surprise briefly left the Romans exposed. However Caesar grabbed a shield, made his way to the front line, and quickly organised his forces; at the same time, the commander of the [[Legio X Gemina|tenth legion]], [[Labienus|Titus Labienus]], attacked the Nervian camp. The two legions who had been guarding the baggage train at the rear arrived and helped to turn the tide of the battle. Caesar says the Nervii were almost annihilated in the battle and is effusive in his tribute to their bravery, calling them "heroes".<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 2|2]]</ref>

When [[Ambiorix]] and the [[Eburones]] rebelled in 53 BC, the remaining Nervii joined the uprising and besieged [[Quintus Tullius Cicero]] – brother of the orator – and his legion in their winter camp until they were relieved by Caesar in person.<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 5#38|5.38-52]]</ref> They were able to rapidly build a rampart around the Roman fortification, using only swords to dig, "in less than three hours they completed a fortification of ten miles in circumference; and during the rest of the days they began to prepare and construct towers of the height of the ramparts, and grappling irons, and mantelets". Caesar reported that this technique was learned from the Romans, and under the advisor of captured Roman soldiers.<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 5#42|5.42]]</ref> 
<blockquote>On the seventh day of the attack, a very high wind having sprung up, they began to discharge by their slings hot balls made of burned or hardened clay, and heated javelins, upon the huts, which, after the Gallic custom, were thatched with straw. These quickly took fire, and by the violence of the wind, scattered their flames in every part of the camp.<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 5#43|5.43]]</ref></blockquote>
The situation was recovered when a Nervian in the Roman camp was able to send a slave with a message, who managed to remain inconspicuous and get it to Caesar.<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 5#45|5.45]]</ref> Caesar was able to amass forces and defeat some of the Nervians.

The Nervii and their allies, the Aduatuci, Eburones, [[Treveri]] and [[Menapii]] continued to prepare for war with the Romans, and sought assistance from the Germanic peoples east of the Rhine. The Roman struck a significant blow when they killed the Treveran king [[Indutiomarus]]. Soon after:
<blockquote>Accordingly, while the winter was not yet ended, having concentrated the four nearest legions, he marched unexpectedly into the territories of the Nervii, and before they could either assemble or retreat, after capturing a large number of cattle and of men, and wasting their lands and giving up that booty to the soldiers, compelled them to enter into a surrender and give him hostages.<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 6#3|6.3]]</ref></blockquote>

In the final phase of Caesar's war in Gaul, the Nervii were called upon to contribute to the large allied force of [[Vercingetorix]] which amassed at [[Alesia (city)|Alesia]], but these were defeated in the [[Battle of Alesia]].

==Roman period==
[[File:Old cambrai diocese.png|thumb|right|The medieval diocese of [[Cambrai]] was based upon the Roman civitas of the Nervii.]]
During the [[Roman era]], the original chief city of the Nervian [[civitas]] was at [[Bagacum]], (Gaulish: ''Bāgācon'', from ''bagos'' 'beech').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=64}} The city was founded to the south of the traditional Nervian territory and is now known as [[Bavay]], a town in France near the Belgian border. The forum has been excavated. The town was founded in c.30 BC and rapidly became a centre of Roman civilization. Towns belonging to the Nervian territory were ''Fanum Martis'' ([[Famars]]), and Geminiacum ([[Liberchies]]).

The Nervians were well known for the export of grain; an interesting tombstone of a ''[[frumentarius]]'' was excavated as far away as [[Nijmegen]]. They also produced ceramics (''terra nigra'').

Inscriptions found on  artifacts recovered at [[Rough Castle Fort]] along the [[Antonine Wall]] across the [[Central Belt]] of Scotland indicate that in the second century the fort was the base for 500 men of the Sixth Cohort of Nervii, an infantry unit. According to Tacitus, the Nervians also served in [[Cohort (military unit)|cohort]]s based along the Rhine border. Altars found at the Roman fort of [[Whitley Castle]] in Northumberland, also known as Epiacum, bear inscriptions showing that the Second Nervians were garrisoned at the fort. Two sandstones uncovered at [[Bainbridge, North Yorkshire|Bainbridge]], record the Roman construction of a fort at Brough Hill in the third century. An inscription on a tablet indicated that the fort was built by the Sixth Cohort, under the charge of [[Gaius Valerius Pudens]], a senator of consular rank.

At some point probably after the disastrous attacks by the [[Franks]] in 260-275 AD, a new chief city was designated at Camaracum ([[Cambrai]]), further south than Bavay, and Bavay itself, and the main road it was on, became part of a new secondary fortified border zone. The northern part of Nervian territory, was eventually settled by Germanic groups, while the southern part, the southern part of medieval [[Pagus of Brabant|Brabant]], and [[County of Hainaut|medieval Hainaut]], remained more Romanized. By 432 it seems the Franks had penetrated into the country of the Romanized Nervians and had been taken over by the Franks. Their king [[Childeric I]] was buried in [[Tournai]]. The medieval [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai]] continued to cover the same approximate area as the Roman ''civitas'' until 1559.

One likely difference between the Roman and medieval boundaries is that the north-eastern part of the archdiocese, the deanery of Antwerp east of the river [[Rupel]] may have been a medieval attachment.<ref>{{citation|last=Faider-Feytmans |first=Germaine |title= Les limites de la cité des Nerviens |journal= L'Antiquité classique |volume=21 |issue= 2 |year=1952 |pages= 338–358 |doi=10.3406/antiq.1952.3453 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/antiq_0770-2817_1952_num_21_2_3453}}. See page 354.</ref>

==In popular culture==
The Nervii and their western neighbours the Menapii are the main subjects of the comic book ''[[Asterix in Belgium]]''. In it, a competition between the Belgians and the Gauls from [[Armorica]] takes place to decide who was the bravest, under the unlikely adjudication of Julius Caesar.

The Nervii are featured in the video game ''[[Total War: Rome II]]''.

==Museums==
* Musée Archéologique de Bavay (France)
* [http://www.musee-mariemont.be Musée Royal de Mariemont], Morlanwelz (Belgium)
* Provinciaal Archeocentrum Velzeke (Belgium) [http://www.pam-ov.be/velzeke www.pam-ov.be/velzeke]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book|last=Busse|first=Peter E.|title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia|date=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-440-0|editor-last=Koch|editor-first=John T.|pages=195–200|editor-link=John T. Koch|chapter=Belgae}}
*{{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|publisher=Errance|year=2003|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}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.livius.org/a/battlefields/sabis/selle.html Battle of the Sabis]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080917231936/http://home.nordnet.fr/~floridant/bavay.htm Bavay: cité gallo-romaine]

==See also==
* [[List of Celtic tribes]]

{{Gallic peoples}}

[[Category:Nervii| ]]
[[Category:Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul]]
[[Category:Tribes involved in the Gallic Wars]]
[[Category:Belgae]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Gauls]]
[[Category:Auxiliary infantry units of ancient Rome]]