They are mentioned as Sotiates by Caesar, and as Sottiates by Pliny. The meaning of the name Sotiates is unclear. The suffix is possibly the Gaulish -ates, which appears in the names of many Gallic tribes across Europe. The origin of the first elementSoti- is unknown. The city of Sos, attested as oppidum Sotiatum in the 1st c. BCE is named after the tribe.
Culture
The ethnic identity of the Sotiates is debated. Their lifestyle was very similar to that of the Gauls, which led some scholars to postulate that they were originally a Gallic people that had settled at the frontier of Aquitania. In the mid-first century BCE, led by their chief Adiatuanos, the Sotiates fought alone against the Roman armies of Crassus, whereas other Aquitani tribes had formed a coalition against the foreign invader. Furthermore, the name Adiatuanos is probably related to the Gaulish adiantu-, and thus may be translated as 'zealously striving '. Caesar mentions that their chief was protected by a troop of 600 men named soldurii, which could be a Latinized form of Gaulish soldurio according to Xavier Delamarre. Theo Vennemann argues on the contrary that the name may be of Aquitanian origin, since it is used by the local people, and the first element ofsol-durii could be related to the Basquezor. In any case, the soldurii of Adiatuanos were probably involved in a patron-client relationship that has been compared to the Gallic ambactus, and the size of his army illustrates the concentration of a personal power ruling over different clans. They may also have been an Aquitanian tribe that had been Celticized before Caesar's first historical accounts. A sword found in a funeral near Sotiatum and dated to the 3rd century BCE attests the diffusion of prestigious items of Celtic type among the local population. Joaquín Gorrochategui notes that the province of Aquitania experienced "a profound Gallic influence, which becomes more evident as one moves away from the Pyrenees northwards and eastwards. Evidence of this penetration are the names of Gallic persons and deities, the names of tribes in -ates, and later the Romance toponyms in -ac".
Geography
Their capital was the oppidumSotiatum, located at the confluence of the Gueyze and Gélise rivers.
History
The Sotiates are mentioned in two classical sources: Caesar's Bellum Gallicum and Cassius Dio's History of Rome.
Gallic Wars (58–50 BC)
In 56 BCE, the Sotiates were led by their chief Adiatuanos in the defence of their oppidum against the Roman officer P. Licinius Crassus. After a failed sortie attempt with 600 of his soldurii, Adiatuanos had to capitulate to the Romans.
