Petrocorii
The Petrocorii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Etymology
They are named as Petrocorii by Caesar, Petrokórioi by Strabo and Ptolemy, Petrocori by Pliny, and as Petrogorii by Sidonius Apollinaris.The Gaulish ethnonym Petrocorii means 'four armies', or 'four troops'. It derives from the Gaulish stem petru- attached to corios, after a Gallic custom of including numbers in tribal names. Their name may indicate a relatively recent formation emerging from the union of fragmented small ethnic groups.
The word corios derives from Proto-Celtic *koryos, itself from Proto-Indo-European *kóryos, meaning 'army, people under arms'. The root is also found in other Gaulish tribal names such as the Tri-corii or the Corio-solites. The stem petru- stems from Proto-Celtic *kʷetwór-.
The city of Périgueux, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Petrocoriorum, and the Périgord region, attested in the 7th c. AD as pagum Petrocorecum, are named after the Gallic tribe.
Geography
The Petrocorii lived in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers. Their territory was located south of the Lemovices and Santones, east of the Bituriges Vivisci, west of the Arverni, and north of the Nitiobroges and Cadurci.During the Roman period, their chief town was Vesunna, corresponding to the modern town of Périgueux.