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{{Short description|Gallic tribe}}
[[File:Gallia
The '''Insubres''' or '''Insubri''' were
==Classical sources==
The Insubres are mentioned by [[Caecilius Statius]], [[Cicero]], [[Polybius]], [[Livy]], [[Pliny the Elder]],
==Ethnicity of the Insubres==
{{Further|Canegrate culture|Golasecca culture|Bellovesus}}
[[File:Iron Age Italy.svg|thumb|350px|
[[Polybius]] called the Insubres the most important Celtic tribe of the [[Italian peninsula]], while according to
The Insubres were part of the Golasecca culture, which takes its name from a town near [[Varese]], where Abbot Giovanni Battista Giani made the first findings of about fifty Celtic graves with pottery and metal objects. It is a culture that developed at the end of the Late Bronze Age, between the rivers [[Po (river)|Po]], [[Serio (river)|Serio]] and [[Sesia]], and which has its counterpart in the Central European [[Hallstatt culture]].
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==History==
The History of the Insubres, like that of other Gauls and of Italic peoples, was written by ancient Roman and Greek writers. Apart from Livy's section on the Gallic Invasion of northern Italy, their writings came in the context of their covering Roman history and concentrated on battles between the Romans and the Insubres and other Gallic tribes in northern Italy.
In 225 BC, the Insubres and the Boii, their Gallic neighbours to the south of the River Po, rebelled against Rome. This was prompted by developments that started in 283 BC, when unspecified Celts besieged Arretium ([[Arezzo]] in Tuscany) and defeated a Roman force that came to the aid of the city. The Romans sent envoys to negotiate the release of Roman prisoners, but the envoys were killed.<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.19-20</ref>
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What prompted the Insubres to join the Boii in another rebellion was a law passed in Rome that provided for the subdivision of the ager gallicus into Roman administrative units. This created fears among the Boii and Insubres that the Romans were now fighting wars to exterminate and expel the enemy and annex their territory<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.21.-9</ref>
In 225 BC, the Boii and Insubres paid large sums of money to [[Gaesatae]] mercenaries led by [[Aneroëstes]] and [[Concolitanus]]. The Gaesatae were Gauls from [[Gallia Narbonensis|Gallia Transalpina]], the Roman name for what is now southern France. A force of up to 70,000 men ravaged Etruria. The Gauls encountered Roman forces near Clusium ([[Chiusi]]); instead of engaging, they withdrew to Feasulae ([[Fiesole]]) at night. They then defeated the Romans at the [[Battle of Faesulae|Battle of Faesulae (225 BC)]]. They were routed by the combined forces of the two Roman consuls, [[Lucius Aemilius Papus]] and [[Gaius Atilius Regulus (consul 225 BC)|Gaius Atilius Regulus]], at the [[Battle of Telamon]].<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.22-27</ref>
After the Battle of Telamon, the Romans attacked and defeated the Boii and forced them to submit to Rome.<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.31.7</ref> In 224 BC, the Romans attacked Insubre territory. In 223 BC, the Insubres sued for peace, but the Romans turned this down and attacked them. The Romans were now determined to be in control of [[Cisalpine Gaul|Gallia Cisalpina]], the Roman name for the area where the Gallic tribes of northern Italy lived.<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.19-20</ref>
In 222 BC, the Romans besieged [[Acerrae (Cisalpine Gaul)|Acerrae]], an Insubre fortification on the right bank of the River [[Adda
Instead, the Romans split their forces. The consul [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus]] headed for Clastidium and his colleague [[Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus]] continued the siege of Acerrae. At the [[Battle of Clastidium]], Marcus Claudius defeated the Gallic forces and killed Viridomarus in single
The Insubres surrendered and were forced to become Roman allies. The Romans founded garrisoned colonies at [[Cremona]] and Placentia ([[Piacenza]]). The former was on the north bank of the River Po and the latter was close to its south bank (in Insubre and Boii territory respectively). This was done to secure the crossing of the river and the gateway to Liguria. They also established a garrison at Mutina ([[Modena]]), which was to become a colony in 182 BC.<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.19-20</ref>
In 218 BC, the Insubres and the Boii rebelled in anticipation of Hannibal's invasion of Italy in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). They attacked Cremona and Placentia, forcing the settlers to flee to Mutina, which was besieged. The praetor Lucius Manlius Vulso set off from Ariminum with 20,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry. He was ambushed twice on the way. He relieved the siege of Mutina, but was in turn besieged nearby. The consul [[
Hannibal wintered near Placentia and then moved on to central and southern Italy. Some Insubres joined him, among them [[Ducarius]] who killed Consul [[Gaius Flaminius (consul 223 BC)|Gaius Flaminius]] at the [[Battle of Trasimene]] (217 BC). We next hear of the Gauls during the Second Punic War in relation to the [[Battle of the Metaurus]] (207 BC). Hannibal's brother, [[Hasdrubal|Hasdrubal Barca]], was bringing reinforcements from Spain for his brother who was in southern Italy. He passed through northern Italy and recruited Gallic soldiers. Hasdrubal's forces, including his Gauls were routed at this battle in central Italy.<ref>Livy, The History of Rome, 27.48-49</ref><ref>Polybius, The Histories, 11.1-3</ref> At this point, Hannibal's campaign in Italy came to a dead end.
After several other clashes, the Insubres made an alliance with Rome in 194 BC, maintaining some autonomy. In 89 BC, they obtained Latin citizenship and, in 49 BC, Roman citizenship. The Romanisation of the Insubres was probably quick owing to the presence of Roman colonies and to Julius Caesar using Mediolanum as a staging post for his conquest of Gaul (58–50 BC). [[Caecilius Statius]] (c. 220 BC – c. 166 BC), a Roman comic poet, was born in Insubria, possibly in Mediolanum. He was originally a slave and was probably a war captive who was taken to Rome.
==References==
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==Bibliography==
* Ardovino, A.G., (2001)''Archeologi e storici sulla Lombardia preromana, tra equivoci e prospettive,
*
* Berresford Ellis, Peter,(1998) Celt and Roman, The Celts in Italy, New York, St Martin's Press, {{ISBN|978-0094758209}}
* De Marinis, Raffaele, (1991). "I Celti Golasecchiani". In Multiple Authors, ''I Celti'', Bompiani.
* De Marinis, Raffaele, (1990) ''Liguri e Celto-Liguri'', Officine grafiche Garzanti Milano, Garzanti-Scheiwiller
* Giangiulio, M., (1999)''Storiografie, ideologie, metodologie. Ancora sul transitus Gallorum in Italiam in Livio (V,34-35) e nella tradizione letteraria'', in Rassegna Studi del Civico Museo Archeologico di Milano
*
*
*
* Polybius, (2010) The Histories(Oxford World's Classics), Oxford, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199534708}}
* Tibiletti
* Tibiletti Bruno, M. G., (1981) "Le iscrizioni celtiche d'Italia". In ''I Celti d'Italia'', ed. E. Campanile, 157–207. [[Pisa]]: Giardini.
* Whatmough, J., (1933) ''The Prae-Italic Dialects of Italy'', vol. 2, "The Raetic, Lepontic, Gallic, East-Italic, Messapic and Sicel Inscriptions", Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press
{{Gallic peoples}}
[[Category:Historical Celtic peoples]]
[[Category:Gauls]]
[[Category:Tribes
[[Category:History of Lombardy]]
[[Category:Golasecca culture]]
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