Sources : A.L.F RIVET & C. SMITH : Place-Names of Roman Britain, p 259 :
- César, Guerre des Gaules, II, 4 : ATREBATES (of Gaul).
- Ptolémée, II, 3, 12 : Atrebatioi (ATREBATII);
- Itinéraire d'Antonin, 478-3 : CALLEVA ATREBATUM;Â
- Ravenna, 106-32 : CALEBA ARBATUM.
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DERIVATION. Jackson in Britannia, I (1970), 70, analyses the name as a compound of *treba- ' to inhabit ', from *trebo- 'inhabitation, settlement', with prepositional prefix *ad- 'to' and verbal-adjectival suffix *-tis. He adds that the force of the preposition is unclear; early Irish aittreb, Welsh athref 'inhabitation, dwelling', from *ad-trebo-, suggest that *ad- had no spécial force in the compound. The meaning is 'settlcrs, inhabitants'. The main element appears in the place-name Locatrebe of Scotland, the name of the deity Contrebis known from altars at Lancaster and Overborough (RIB 600, 610), the place Contrebia of the Celtiberi in Spain (now Banos de Sacedon, Guadalajara) and the tribe Arrotrebae of N. Spain mentioned by Pliny. Further treb- names in Spain are listed by Tovarin EC, xi (1966—67), 246. Cognates include Latin tribus, Germanie thorpa (English thorp) ; modem Celtic derivatives arc mentioned by Williams. In Gaul the name of the Atrebates survives in that of 259 Arras (Pas-de-Calais, France). On the suffïx, stated by some as *-(i)atis, sec Holdcr I. 253 and O'Rahilly EIHM 147; a study of it by G. Combarnous in RIO, 27 (1975), 17~35> is extremely unsound, as it confuses this suffïx with others and with elements similar only in appearance. Tribal names seem much given to variation of declension when taking Latin forms. The Atrebates are not only Atrebatii, as above, but their Gaulish part is also Atrebatae in Orosius. In Britain we find Calidonii—Caledones, Novantae beside Trinovantes, Selgovae—*Selgoves and Smertae - *Smerti. Such variations are found not uncommonly also in Gaul, Spain, etc.
IDENTIFICATION. A people of southern Britain with their capital at Calleva, Silchester, Hampshire.
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Ce texte sera intégré à ma page spéciale sur les Atrébates sur le site Marikavel. Il y sera plus lisible car j'y indiquerai les caractères originels italiques.
JCE
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