View source for Alpes Graiae et Poeninae

{{Short description|Roman province}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|native_name  = {{aut|Provincia Alpes Graiae et vallis Poenina}}<br/>{{aut|Provincia Alpes Atrectianae et vallis Poenina}}
|conventional_long_name =
|common_name  = Alpes Graiae et Poeninae<br/> Alpes Atrectianae et Poenina
|subdivision  = [[Roman province|Province]]
|nation       = the [[Roman Empire]]
|era          = [[ancient history|Antiquity]]
|capital      = [[Aime-la-Plagne|Forum Claudii Ceutronum]] (Alpes Graiae/Atrectianae)<br/>[[Martigny|Forum Claudii Vallensium]] (Alpes Poeninae)
|title_leader =
|image_map    = Roman Empire - Alpes Poenninae et Graiae (125 AD).svg
|image_map_caption = The [[Roman Empire]] c. 125 AD, with the province of Alpes Graiae et Poeninae highlighted
|life_span    =
|year_start   = 41/54 AD
|event_start  = Created by [[Claudius]]
|event1       =
|date_event1  =
|year_end     = 476
|event_end    = Deposition of [[Romulus Augustulus]]
|today        = [[France]]<br>[[Italy]]<br>[[Switzerland]]
|p1           =
|flag_p1      =
|s1           = Kingdom of Italy (476-493)
|flag_s1      =
}}
The '''Alpes Graiae et Poeninae''', later known as '''Alpes Atrectianae et Poeninae''' (officially '''Alpes Atrectianae et Vallis Poenina'''), was a small Alpine [[province]] of the [[Roman Empire]] created after the merging of the ''Alpes Poeninae'' (or ''Vallis Poenina'') and the ''Alpes Graiae'' (or ''Alpes Atrectianae''), probably during the reign of [[Claudius]] (41–54 AD). Comprising the modern [[Canton of Valais]] (Switzerland), the [[Tarentaise Valley|Tarantaise Valley]] (France), and the [[Aosta Valley]] (Italy), it was one of the three provinces straddling the [[Alps]] between modern [[France]] and [[Italy]], along with the [[Alpes Maritimae]] and [[Alpes Cottiae]].
The province had two capitals, most likely since its creation: Forum Claudii Ceutronum (modern-day [[Aime-la-Plagne]]) for the Alpes Graiae, and Forum Claudii Vallensium (modern-day [[Martigny, Switzerland|Martigny]]) for the Alpes Poeninae.{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|p=|pp=186–188}}''<ref name="OssenkopWinkelmann" />'' The procurator of the province resided alternatively in one of the two chief towns.{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|p=|pp=186–188}}
== Name ==
The province was commonly called ''Alpes Graiae'', ''Alpes Atrectianae'', ''Alpes Graiae et Poeninae'', or ''Alpes Atrectianae et Poeninae'', as a shortened form of its full name. In some documents, the province is also named ''Alpes Poeninae et Graiae'', or ''Alpes Poeninae''.{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|pp=188–189}}
It may have been known as the ''Alpes Graiae et Vallis Poenina'' at the time of its creation,<ref name="OssenkopWinkelmann">{{Cite book|last1=Ossenkop|first1=Christina|title=Manuel des frontières linguistiques dans la Romania|last2=Winkelmann|first2=Otto|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2018|isbn=978-3-11-039485-6|page=127}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gottlieb |first=Gunther |title=Raumordnung im Römischen Reich: zur regionalen Gliederung in den gallischen Provinzen, in Rätien, Noricum und Pannonien |date=1989 |publisher=E. Vögel |isbn=978-3-925355-13-4 |pages=75}}</ref> which could have been the official form of the shortened name ''Alpes Graiae et Poeninae''.{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|pp=188–189}} From the 2nd century AD until the reign of [[Diocletian]] (284–305), it was officially known as ''Alpes Atrectianae et Vallis Poenina'', which is attested on an inscription from the [[Severan period|Severian period]] (193–235).{{Sfn|Bérard|1995|p=348}}{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|pp=188–189}}{{Sfn|Graßl|2006}}
According to [[Livy]], the name ''Alpes Poeninae'' derives from an indigenous deity named ''Poeninus'',<ref>Livius, [[Ab urbe condita (Livy)|''Ab urbe condita'']], 21:38.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Appolonia |first=Lorenzo |title=Alpis Poenina - Grand Saint-Bernard: une voie à travers l'Europe |date=2008 |publisher=Projet Interreg IIIA |pages=24–25}}</ref> who is attested as ''Poininos'' on local inscriptions and in the name ''Jupiter Poeninus''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wooding |first=Jonathan |title=Prophecy, Fate and Memory in the Early Medieval Celtic World |date=2020 |publisher=Sydney University Press |isbn=978-1-74332-695-4 |pages=19–25}}</ref> It survives in the modern form ''[[Pennine Alps]]'', as does ''Vallis Poenina'' in the name ''[[Valais]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hunt |first=Patrick |date=1998 |title=Summus Poeninus on the Grand St Bernard Pass |journal=Journal of Roman Archaeology |volume=11 |pages=265–274 |doi=10.1017/S104775940001730X |issn=1047-7594}}</ref> [[Xavier Delamarre]] has proposed to similarly see a theonym *''Graios'' (found in ''Herculi''/''Herculeio Graio'') in the name ''Alpes Graiae''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Delamarre |first=Xavier |title=Dictionnaire des thèmes nominaux du gaulois. Ab-/Iχs(o)- |publisher=Les Cents Chemins |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-7980-5040-8 |volume=1 |pages=370}}</ref> The name ''Alpes Atrectianae'' may derive from a local kinglet called ''Atrectius'', just like the ''Alpes Cottiae'' are named after ''[[Cottius]]''. While his existence is not attested, the [[cognomen]] appears in the name of four governors of the province from the 2nd and 3nd centuries AD.{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|pp=188–189}}
== History ==
{{See also|Switzerland in the Roman era}}
The region of Vallis Poenina, corresponding to the modern [[Valais|Canton of Valais]] between the [[Lake Geneva]] and the [[Great St. Bernard Pass]], was inhabited at the time of the Roman conquest by Celtic tribes known as the ''Vallenses'', namely the [[Nantuates]], [[Veragri]], [[Seduni]], and [[Uberi]]. After the Roman invasion led by [[Augustus]] in 16–15 BC, the area was initially placed under military control ''(praefectus Raetis'', ''Vindolicis'', ''vallis Poeninae'') and incorporated into the province of [[Raetia et Vindelicia]], which stretched between the central Alps and the [[Danube]].{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|p=|pp=186–187}}{{Sfn|Frei-Stolba|2014}}
The Vallensian tribes were granted [[Latin Rights]] and grouped together into a single ''civitas Vallensium'' during the reign of [[Claudius]] (41–54 AD). According to most scholars, Vallis Poenina was separated from Raetia et Vindelicia and united with the newly created Alpes Graiae, located west of the [[Little St Bernard Pass]] and inhabited by the [[Ceutrones]], during the same period. They formed together the province of Alpes Graiae et Poeninae, with one chief town for each division: ''Forum Claudii Ceutronum'' or ''Axima'' (modern [[Aime-la-Plagne]]) for the Alpes Graiae, and ''Forum Claudii Vallensium'' or ''Octodorus'' (modern [[Martigny, Switzerland|Martigny]]) for the Alpes Poeninae.<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Frei-Stolba|2014|ps=: "Ebenfalls unter Claudius wurde die V. von der Provinz Raetia et Vindolicia getrennt und wohl gleichzeitig unter einem gemeinsamen Statthalter mit den Alpes Graiae (auch Alpes Atrectianae) zu den Alpes Graiae et Poeninae vereint."}}</ref>{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|pp=186–187}}{{Sfn|Graßl|2006}}
During the reign of Diocletian (284–305), the province was integrated into the ''[[praeses]]'' of the [[Diocese of Gaul]].{{Sfn|Graßl|2006}}{{Sfn|Frei-Stolba|2014}} Some scholars date the unification of the Alpes Graiae and Alpes Poeninae to this period rather than the reign of Claudius.{{Sfn|Wiblé|1998|p=|pp=186–188}} In 381, the first [[Bishop]] of the region, Theodul, was mentioned. After the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]], the region was invaded by the [[Burgundians]] and incorporated into their [[Kingdom of Burgundy|kingdom]]. After its fall, it was integrated into the Frankish Kingdom in 534, then briefly invaded by the [[Lombards]] in 574.{{Sfn|Frei-Stolba|2014}}
== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Martigny, ville romaine et moderne, amphithéâtre.jpg|Amphitheater in Martigny
File:Martigny roman street northbound 01.JPG|Roman road in Martigny
File:Semicolonne anfiteatro di aosta.jpg|Traces of the amphitheater in Aosta
File:Théâtre romain Aoste 2009 front.JPG|Aosta theater
File:Arco Augusto Aosta.jpg|Triumphal arch in Aosta
</gallery>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
===Primary sources===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last=Livy|title=History of Rome|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-0674992566|series=Loeb Classical Library|translator-last=Yardley|translator-first=J. C.|author-link=Livy}}
*{{Cite book|last=Tacitus|title=Histories|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1925|isbn=978-0674991231|series=Loeb Classical Library|translator-last=Moore|translator-first=Clifford H.|author-link=Tacitus}}
{{Refend}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Bérard|first=François|date=1995|title=Un nouveau procurateur à Aime en Tarentaise: Savoie|journal=Gallia|volume=52|pages=343–358|doi=10.3406/galia.1995.3157|issn=0016-4119|jstor=43599248|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01900725/file/Gallia_1995_343-358_BERARD.pdf}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Frei-Stolba|first=Regula|author-link=Regula Frei-Stolba|date=2014|title=Vallis Poenina|journal=[[Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz]]|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/008415/2014-01-14}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Graßl|first=Herbert|date=2006|title=Alpes Graiae|journal=Brill's New Pauly|doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e116380}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Wiblé|first=François|date=1998|title=Deux procurateurs du Valais et l'organisation des districts alpins|journal=Antiquité Tardive|volume=6|pages=181–191|doi=10.1484/J.AT.2.300882|issn=1250-7334}}
{{Refend}}
{{Coord missing|Italy|Switzerland}}
{{Roman provinces AD 117}}
{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Provinces of the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Tres Alpes]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Ancient Switzerland]]
[[Category:History of Aosta Valley]]
[[Category:Praetorian prefecture of Gaul]]
[[Category:476 disestablishments]]
[[Category:470s disestablishments in the Roman Empire]]