Silvanectes

The Silvanectes (or Sulbanectes) were a small Belgic tribe dwelling around present-day Senlis (Oise) during the Roman period.

Name

Attestations

They are mentioned as Ulmanectes by Pliny (1st c. AD),^[1] as Soubánektoi (Greek: Σουβάνεκτοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),^[2] and as Siluanectas in the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD).^[3][4]

The Silvanectes are also attested under the name Sulbanectes in an inscription,^[5] and their capital was mentioned as civitas Sulbanectium in 48 AD.^[6]

Etymology

The etymology of the ethnonym remains unclear. It could be a Latinized form of Gaulish *Seluanecti (from seluā- 'possession, property' > 'herd'; cf. Old Irish selb 'property, possession', Welsh ar helw 'in possession of'), corrupted under the influence of Latin silva ('forest').^[7] A comparison with Old Irish sulbair ('eloquent') has also been proposed.^[6]

The city of Senlis, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Silvanectum ('civitas of the Silvanectes', Sinleti in the 6th c., Senliz in 1211) is named after the Gallic tribe.^[6]

Geography

The Silvanectes dwelled southwest of the Suessionnes, near the Meldi and the Bellovaci.^[5] Their small territory, a depression surrounded by wooded heights, could be easily dominated by the more powerful Bellovaci, to which they were probably tributary.^[5]