Libui


The Libui were a Celto-Ligurian tribe living of southern Gaul and northern Italy during Iron Age. Their presence is recorded in the Rhône delta, as well as in the Po plain following migrations in the 5th century BC.

Name

They are mentioned as Lebékioi by Polybius, Libui by Livy, Libii and Libiciorum by Pliny, and as Libikō̃n by Ptolemy.
According to Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel, the ethnonym Libikoi could derive from an earlier *lubhikoi with pretonic vowel assimilation.

Geography

The Libui lived around the two 'Libic mouths' of the Rhône mentioned by Pliny, a designation corresponding to the western branch of the delta and thus to the Camargue region. Their territory was situated west of the Anatilii and Avatici, south of the Volcae Arecomici and Cavari. According to historian Guy Barruol, they were part of the Saluvian confederation.
An oppidum with Latin Rights given by Pliny as Libii was probably the name of their chief town.

History

writes that groups of Libui and Salyes settled in the Po plain, near the Ligurian Laevi on the banks of the Ticino, at the time of major Celtic incursions during the 5th century BC. Pliny refers to these Libui as Libicii, specifying that they lived around Vercellae.

Primary sources