The Budenicenses were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the present-day Gard department, near Nemausos (modern Nîmes), during the Roman period.

Name

They are attested as Budenicenses on an inscription found in Collias (Gard). A dedication to the god Mars Budenicus was also discovered in the same town.^[1][2] The latter is probably a Celtic rendering of Mars Militaris.^[2][3]

The ethnonym Budenicenses derives from the Celtic term *budīnā, meaning 'troop, host', probably 'troop guarding the frontier' (cf. Old Irish buiden, Middle Welsh byddin 'troop, army'; Late Latin bodǐna 'boundary marker' > French borne, a loanword from Gaulish).^[4]

The town of Bezouce (Gard), attested as Biducia in 1146 CE, is named after the Gallic tribe.^[4]

References

Bibliography

• de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2008). "Linguistically Celtic ethnonyms: towards a classification". In García Alonso, Juan Luis (ed.). Celtic and Other Languages in Ancient Europe. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. ISBN 978-8478003358.
• Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
• Fleuriot, Léon (1982). "Notes sur le celtique antique". Études celtiques. 19 (1): 121–128. doi:10.3406/ecelt.1982.1705.