Acitavones

The Acitavones were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the Alps during the Iron Age.

Name

They are mentioned as Acitavones (var. agitabo-) by Pliny (1st c. AD),^[1] and as Acitavones on the Tropaeum Alpium.^[2][3]

The etymology of the name Acitauones is unclear. The first element, acito-, could mean 'field' (cf. Old Irish ached, achad),^[4] or else be a variant of agido- ('face, appearance').^[5]

Geography

According to historian Guy Barruol, they may have dwelled in the Aosta Valley, near the Little St Bernard Pass.^[6] Their territory was located north of the Medulli and Segusini, south of the Veragri, west of the Salassi, and east of the Ceutrones.^[7]

History

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium.^[8][1]