Oppidum

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Oppidum

Oppidum (plural oppida) is a Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, linguistic reconstruction common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans....
*pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
described the larger Celt

Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic Iron Age

Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
settlements he encountered in Gaul

Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
as oppida, and the term is now used to describe the large pre-Roman towns that existed all across Western and Central Europe.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Oppidum'

Start a new discussion about 'Oppidum'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Oppidum (plural oppida) is a Latin

Latin

Ancient Rome

Proto-Indo-European language

Julius Caesar

Celt

Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
settlements he encountered in Gaul

Gaul

Hill fort

A hill fort is type of fortification refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age and Iron Ages....
s, although by no means did all of them have significant defensive functions. Oppida surrounded by earthworks

Earthworks

Earthworks can refer to:* Earthworks "lumps and bumps" on the landscape showing archaeological features;* Earthworks in civil engineering based on moving massive quantites of soil;...
are known as enclosed oppida

Enclosed oppidum

An enclosed oppidum was a type of large, late Iron Age settlement, or oppidum surrounded by an encircling bank and ditch. They differ from hillforts through being not necessarily sited on high ground and through being permanent settlements with a strong economic function....
. The main features of the oppida are the architectural construction of the walls and gates, the spacious layout and commanding view of the surrounding area.

The development of oppida was a milestone in the urbanisation of the continent as they were the first large settlements north of the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
that could genuinely be described as town

Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
s. Caesar pointed out that each tribe of Gaul would have several oppida but that they were not all of equal importance, perhaps implying some form of hierarchy

Hierarchy

A 'hierarchy' is an arrangement of items The word derives from the Greek language , from ?e?????? , "president of sacred rites, high-priest" and that from , "sacred" + , "to lead, to rule"....
.

In conquered lands, the Romans used the infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure can be defined as the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise , or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function....
of the oppida to administer the empire, and many became full Roman towns. This often involved a change of location from the hilltop into the plain.

Examples

Bibracte
Bibracte

Bibracte, a Gaulish oppidum or fortified city, was the capital of the Aedui and one of the most important hillforts in Gaul. It was situated near modern Autun in Bourgogne, France....
(Mont Beuvray), France
Salon-de-Provence
Salon-de-Provence

Salon-de-Provence is a Communes of France in the Bouches-du-Rh?ne Departments of France in southern France. It is the location of an important Salon-de-Provence Air Base....
, France
Corent
Corent

Corent is a village and Communes of the Puy-de-D?me department in the Puy-de-D?me departments of France of central France.It sits approximately 2 miles north of Les Martres-de-Veyre on the side of the old volcanic Puy de Corent....
, France
Oppidum d'Ensérune
Oppidum d'Ensérune

The Oppidum d'Enserune is an ancient hill-town near the village of Nissan-lez-Enserune, France, located between B?ziers and Narbonne close to the D609 and Canal du Midi....
, France
Manching
Oppidum of Manching

The Oppidum of Manching was a large Celts proto-urban or city-like settlement at modern-day Manching , Bavaria . The settlement was founded in the 3rd century BC and existed until circa 50-30 BC....
, Germany
Glauberg
Glauberg

The Glauberg is a Celts oppidum in Hesse, Germany consisting of a fortified settlement and several burial mounds, "a princely seat of the late Hallstatt and early La T?ne periods."archaeology discoveries in the 1990s place the site among the most important early Celtic centres in Europe....
, Germany
Iruña-Veleia
Iruña-Veleia

Veleia was a Roman Empire town in Hispania, currently located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. The site is located in the municipality of Iru?a de Oca, 10 kilometers west of Vitoria ....
, Spain
Alcimoennis
Alcimoennis

Alcimoennis was a Celtic Oppidum, or hill fort, located on the Michelsberg hill, dominating the peninsula between the Danube and Altm?hl rivers in northern Bavaria, Germany, above the modern city of Kelheim....
, Germany
Stradonice, Bohemia
Óbidos, Portugal
Basel-Münsterhügel, Switzerland
Mesa de Miranda, Spain
Traprain Law
Traprain Law

Traprain Law is a hill about 221m in elevation, located 6km east of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the site of an oppidum or hill fort, which covered at its maximum extent about 16 ha and must have been a veritable town....
, Scotland
Maiden Castle
Maiden Castle

A maiden castle is a fort or castle that has never been taken in war. It is the name of many hill forts and castles in England, including:*Maiden Castle, Cheshire...
, England
Verlamion
Verlamion

Verlamion, or Verlamio , was the tribal capital of the Catuvellauni tribe in Iron Age Britain from approximately 20 BC until shortly after the Roman Empire invasion of 43 AD....
, England
Nanstallon
Nanstallon

Nanstallon is a small village in North Cornwall, United Kingdom, two kilometres west of Bodmin. The village overlooks the River Camel and has two routes onto the Camel Trail, one at Boscarne, the other at Nanstallon Halt railway station on the old railway line....
, Cornwall, England
Oppidum Atnaticorum/Atuatucorum (Namur)
Namur (city)

Namur is a city and Municipalities in Belgium in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the Provinces of Belgium of Namur and of the Walloon Region ....
, Wallonia, Belgium
Titelberg
Titelberg

Titelberg is the site of a large Celts settlement or oppidum in the extreme south west of Luxembourg. In the 1st century BC, this thriving community was probably the capital of the Treveri people....
, Luxembourg

In the mediaeval Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary , which existed from 1000 to 1918, and then from 1920 to 1946, was a considerable state in Central Europe....
, oppidum was the legal Latin term for market town

Market town

Market town or market right is a law term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host Market, distinguishing them from villages and city....
s (mezováros in Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic languages unrelated to most other languages in Europe. It is mainly spoken in Hungary and by the Hungarian minorities in the seven neighbouring countries....
), which were of lesser status than free royal towns but more important than villages.

Oppidum

Examples

Further reading