Tricastini


The Tricastini were a Gallic tribe dwelling near present-day Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, in the Tricastin region, during the Roman period.

Name

They are mentioned as Trikastínoi by Ptolemy. They were also known as Tricassis during the Roman period, a variant of Tricasses, a name borne by another Gallic tribe attested further north in the Champagne region.
The meaning of the name Tricastini, attested by the 1st c. AD, is unclear. The Gaulish suffix tri- certainly means 'three', and the second may element -castini is probably an alternative spelling of -cassis. The meaning of -cassis / -casses is less certain, possibly 'hair, hairstyle', perhaps a particular warrior coiffure, or 'tin, bronze '. Based upon such interpretations, the translation 'the three-braided ones', 'those who have three braids', has been proposed for Tricastini / Tricassis.
The city of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, attested as civitas Tricastinorum ca. 400 AD is named after the tribe. The insertion of an epenthetic r that changed Tricastini to Tricastrini, attested by the 12th century, caused a semantic reinterpretation of the name, leading eventually to the modern French Trois-Châteaux.

Geography

The Tricastini dwelled on the west bank of the Rhône river, in a mountainous region, between the Cavari, the Vocontii and the Segovellauni.
In the 2nd century AD, their capital was Noviomagus, likely the modern city of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux. In the first century AD, it was referred to as Augusta Tricastinorum.

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