{{short description|Legendary Gallic chief}} '''Bellovesus''' (Gaulish: 'Worthy of Power') is a legendary Gallic chief of the Bituriges, said to have lived ca. 600 BC. According to a legend recounted by Livy, the king Ambigatus sent his sister's sons Bellovesus and Segovesus in search of new lands to settle because of overpopulation in their homeland. While Segovesus headed towards the Hercynian Forest, Bellovesus is said to have led the Gallic invasion of the Po Valley during the legendary reign of the fifth king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus (616–579 BC), where he allegedly conquered the Etruscans and founded the city of Mediolanum (Milan).{{Sfn|Euskirchen|2006}}
== Etymology == The Gaulish personal name ''Bello-uesus'' literally means 'Worthy of Power'. It is formed with the stem {{Lang|xtg|bello}}- ('strong, powerful') attached to ''{{Lang|xtg|uesus}}'', meaning 'worthy, good, deserving', itself from Proto-Celtic *''wesus'' ('excellent, noble'; cf. Old Irish ''feib'' 'in excellence', OIr. ''fó'' 'goodness', OIr. ''fíu'', Welsh ''gwiw'' 'worthy, valuable').{{sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72, 318}}{{sfn|Matasović|2009|p=418}}
== Origin == Although the background of the story is anachronistic, for the historical Celtic invasion of the Italian Peninsula occurred between the end of the 5th century and the middle of the 4th century BC, in the context of the Battle of the Allia (387 BC),{{sfn|Kruta|2000|pp=212|ps=: "L'événement aurait toutefois précédé de deux siècles l'invasion historique, puisqu'il remonterait à l'époque du règne de Tarquin l'Ancien et de la fondation de Marseille."}} the essence of the myth was most likely inspired by actual events.{{sfn|Kruta|2000|p=145|ps=: "L'archéologie a ainsi donné raison à la tradition rapportée par Tite-Live qui évoque la puissance du peuple de la région, les Bituriges, dans les temps lointains qui avaient précédé l'invasion de l'Italie par l'armée de Bellovèse, neveu de l'Ambigat qui aurait régné alors sur les « Rois du monde» (c'est la signification du nom des Bituriges) dont Avaricum (Bourges) était encore le chef-lieu au temps de César."}}<ref>{{harvnb|Euskirchen|2006|ps=: "The essence of this migratory legend is regarded as authentic."}}</ref> According to historian Venceslas Kruta, the story of Bellovesus "is probably the legendary construction of a 'myth of origins', likely Insubrian, which integrates various elements borrowed from Celtic, Cisalpine and Transalpine traditions, as well as Massaliote and Etrusco-Italian."{{sfn|Kruta|2000|p=408}} The Gallic tribes mentioned in the legend were probably arranged freely out of names current at the time of Livy in the late 1st century BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hoops|first=Johannes|title=Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde|date=1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-016315-5|pages=275–276}}</ref>
== Story == The Roman historian Livy mentioned that he was the son of the sister of the king Ambicatus. His family belonged to the tribe of Bituriges, then the most powerful Gallic people. At that time, the Bituriges were suffering from overpopulation, so it became necessary to open new settlement areas.<ref name="Livy">{{harvnb|Livy|2019}}. ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/livy-history_rome_5/1924/pb_LCL172.119.xml 5.34–35].</ref> Bellovesus and his brother Segovesus were entrusted with this task:
{{blockquote|text=Whereupon to Segovesus were by lot assigned the Hercynian highlands; but to Bellovesus the gods proposed a far pleasanter road, into Italy. Taking out with him the surplus population of his tribes, the Bituriges, Arverni, Senones, Haedui, Ambarri, Carnutes, and Aulerci, he marched with vast numbers of infantry and cavalry into the country of the Tricastini.|source={{harvnb|Livy|2019}}. ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/livy-history_rome_5/1924/pb_LCL172.119.xml 5.34].}}
The Alps represented an insurmountable hurdle since no road had been built across them yet. Only after they gave support to the Greeks, who in the area of the Salyes had landed and established ca. 600 BC the colony of Massalia (Marseille), did Bellovesus and his followers succeed in crossing the mountain range through Taurine passes and the pass of the Duria. Having arrived in Italy, the Gauls defeated the Etruscans near the Ticino River, then settled in an area later called Insubria and, according to Livy, "bore the same name as an Haeduan canton".<ref name="Livy" /> Here, Bellovesus decided to build a new city and to call it Medhelanon,<ref name="Tellier2">{{cite book |last=Tellier |first=Luc-Normand |url=https://archive.org/details/urbanworldhistor00tell |title=Urban World History |publisher=Press de l'Université du Québec |year=2009 |isbn=978-2-7605-1588-8 |location=Québec |page=[https://archive.org/details/urbanworldhistor00tell/page/n289 274] |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="cronologia2">{{cite web |title=Cronologia di Milano dalla fondazione fino al 150 d.C. |url=http://www.storiadimilano.it/cron/finoal150.htm |access-date=11 July 2018 |language=it}}</ref> later Latinized by the ancient Romans into Mediolanum, the modern Milan..{{sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=221-222}}<ref name="Quintela2">{{cite journal |last=García Quintela |first=Marco |year=2005 |title=Celtic Elements in Northwestern Spain in Pre-Roman times |journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |quote=[...] a toponym, clearly in the second part of the composite Medio-lanum (=Milan), meaning 'plain' or flat area [...]}}</ref><ref name="CraccoRuggini172">L.Cracco Ruggini, ''Milano da "metropoli" degli Insubri a capitale d'Impero: una vicenda di mille anni'', in Catalogo della Mostra "''Milano capitale dell'Impero romani (286-402 d.C.)''", edited by Gemma Sena Chiesa, Milano, 1990, p.17.</ref>
Another group made up of Cenomani and led by Etitovius followed their track and, with the approval of Bellovesus, crossed the Alps by the same pass before settling around the present-day cities of Brescia and Verona. They were followed by the coming of Libui, Salyes, Boii, and Lingones in the Po Valley, driving both the Etruscans and Umbrians away from their lands.<ref name="Livy" />
== References == ;Citations {{reflist}} ;Primary sources {{refbegin}} * {{Cite book|last=Livy|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL233/2019/volume.xml|title=History of Rome|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-0674992566|series=Loeb Classical Library|translator-last=Yardley|translator-first=J. C.|author-link=Livy}} {{refend}} ;Bibliography {{refbegin}} *{{Cite book |last=Delamarre |first=Xavier |title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental |year=2003 |publisher=Errance |isbn=9782877723695 |author-link=Xavier Delamarre}} *{{Cite journal |last=Euskirchen |first=Marion |date=2006 |title=Bellovesus |journal=Brill's New Pauly |doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e215190}} *{{Cite book |last=Kruta |first=Venceslas |title=Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire : des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme |publisher=Robert Laffont |year=2000 |isbn=2-221-05690-6 |author-link=Venceslas Kruta}} *{{Cite book |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic |year=2009 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004173361 |author-link=Ranko Matasović}} {{refend}}
==See also== * Cisalpine Gaul * Insubres
== External links == * [https://books.google.com/books?id=5ACpKbOXv_0C&dq=bellovesus&pg=PA517 description of the people migration under Bellovesus.] In: Miranda Green: ''The Celtic World''. * [https://books.google.com/books?id=fClcIJoAiCsC&dq=bellovesus&pg=RA4-PA140 description of the people migration under Bellovesus.] In: Henri Hubert: ''The Rise of the Celts''.
Category:7th-century BC monarchs Category:Celtic warriors Category:Gaulish tribal chiefs Category:Legendary monarchs