{{short description|Gallic tribe}} [[File:Monnaie - Bronze, fonds celtique, Arécomiques - btv1b11284540v (2 of 2).jpg|thumb|Bronze coin with the abbreviated name of the Arecomici]]

The '''Arecomici''' or '''Volcae Arecomici''' were a [[Gauls|Gallic]] tribe dwelling between the [[Rhône]] and the [[Hérault (river)|Hérault]] rivers, around present-day [[Nîmes]], during the [[La Tène culture|Iron Age]] and the [[Roman period]].

== Name == The meaning of the [[ethnonym]] ''Arecomici'' remains unclear. The [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] prefix ''are-'' means 'in front of, in the vicinity of', but the translation of the second element, -''comici'', is unknown.{{Sfn|de Hoz|2005|p=178}} The name ''[[Volcae]]'' stems from [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] ''uolcos'' ('hawk').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=327}}

== Geography == Their chief town [[Nemausus]] was inhabited since the [[Bronze Age]]; its original pre-Celtic name was likely forgotten after the takeover of the settlement by the Celtic Volcae.{{Sfn|de Hoz|2005|p=179}}

Another settlement was known as Vindomagus ('white market').{{Sfn|de Hoz|2005|p=179}}

== History == The Arecomici were probably first recognized or defined as a political entity by Rome around 75 BC.{{Sfn|Dietler|2015|p=359}} According to anthropologist Michael Dietler, the Roman colonization of the region, which led to the organization of Nemausus as a ''colonia Latina'' in the late 1st century AD, "resulted in the [[ethnogenesis]] of the Volcae Arecomici out of a formerly fluid coalition of different polities and ethnic groups".{{Sfn|Dietler|2015|p=90}}

They were indeed part of a political confederation encompassing multiple smaller tribes. By the early first century AD, the Volcae Arecomici were the dominant force of the confederation, ruling over twenty-four subject towns (''oppida ignobilia'') from their capital Nemausus.{{Sfn|Dietler|2015|p=|pp=88–89}}

== Economy == The Roman conquest was soon followed up by the first emissions of coins in Nemausus. Coins with the legend 'Volcae Arecomici' (AR/VOLC or VOLC/AREC) are dated to 70 BC.{{Sfn|Dietler|2015|p=91}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography === {{refbegin}} *{{cite book|last=de Hoz|first=Javier|year=2005|chapter=Ptolemy and the linguistic history of the Narbonensis|title=New approaches to Celtic place-names in Ptolemy's Geography|editor-last=de Hoz|editor-first=Javier|editor-last2=Luján|editor-first2=Eugenio R.|editor-last3=Sims-Williams|editor-first3=Patrick|publisher=Ediciones Clásicas|pages=173–188|isbn=978-8478825721|author-link=Javier de Hoz}} * {{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|date=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=9782877723695|author-link=Xavier Delamarre}} *{{Cite book|last=Dietler|first=Michael|title=Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France|date=2015|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-28757-0}} {{refend}}

==Further reading== * Dupraz, Emmanuel. "Commémorations cultuelles gallo-grecques chez les Volques Arécomiques". In: ''Etudes Celtiques'', vol. 44, 2018. pp. 35-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.2018.2180; www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_2018_num_44_1_2180

==External links== {{commonscat-inline}}

{{Gallic peoples}}

[[Category:Historical Celtic peoples]] [[Category:Gauls]] [[Category:Tribes in pre-Roman Gaul]]