Cosuanetes

The Cosuanetes were an ancient tribe living in the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman era.

Name

They are mentioned as Cosuanetes (var. -naetes, -nates) by Pliny (1st c. AD),^[1] as Kōtonántioi (Κωτονάντιοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),^[2] and as Kōnsonántai (Κωνσονάνται) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).^[3][4]

According to Xavier Delamarre, the name could be interpreted as the Celtic Co-su-anates, from anatia ('soul'), or Co-su-uan-ates, from -uanos ('killer of').^[5] However, Alexander Falileyev argues that "the discrepancies in spelling and Strabo's association of the tribe with the Raeti makes Celtic interpretation, though possible (ko(m)-su-an-et-es or the like) not necessary".^[4] The ethnic name Suanetes appears to be linguistically related.^[5]

Geography

The tribe was probably located in modern western Austria, near the Rucinates, although no precise location is certain.^[6][4] They were part of the Vindelici.^[7]

History

They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium.^[8]

References

1. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:137.
2. Strabo, Geōgraphiká, 4:6:8.
3. Ptolemy. Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis, 2:12:4.
4. Falileyev 2010, s.v. Cosuanetes.
5. Delamarre 2003, pp. 44, 306–207.
6. Talbert 2000, Map 19: Raetia.
7. Schumacher, Dietz & Zanier 2007.
8. Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 3:20.

Primary sources

• Pliny (1938). Natural History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674993648.
• Strabo (1923). Geography. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Jones, Horace L. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674990562.

Bibliography

• Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
• Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
• Schumacher, Stefan; Dietz, Karlheinz; Zanier, Werner (2007). "Vindeliker". In Beck, Heinrich (ed.). Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol. 35 (2 ed.). De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110187847.
• Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.