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Nervii
The Nervii or Nervians were one of the most powerful tribes of the Belgae in northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their core of their territory corresponded to the medieval County of Hainaut and contained a significant part of modern central Belgium, including Brussels and Mons, as well as stretching southwards to Cambrai in what is now France. During his first century BC Roman military campaign, Julius Caesar's contacts among the Remi reported that the Nervii were the most warlike of the Belgae, trekking long distances to take part in battles. Like the other tribes of northern Gaul, including the Menapii to the west, and the Eburones to the east, the Nervii were considered by Caesar to be relatively uncorrupted by civilization.
They are referred to as Nervii by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Orosius (early fifth c. AD), Neroúioi (Νερούιοι) by Strabo (early first c. AD), Nerui by Pliny (1st c. AD) and the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD), Nervios by Tacitus (early second c. AD), and as Neroúsioi (Νερούσιοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).
The ethnonym Nervii probably stems from the Western Indo-European root *ner-, meaning 'man' (cf. Middle Welsh ner 'lord, chief'). It appears to be cognate with the Latin cognomen Nerva.
Although it is often assumed that the Nervii spoke a Celtic language, the evidence regarding their linguistic affiliation is inconclusive. The same applies to other Belgian tribes, like the Menapii and Morini, to the west of the Nervii on the English Channel, and the Germani cisrhenani to the east of the Nervii, stretching to the Rhine.
Caesar writes that the Belgae generally had received immigration from Germanic people from east of the Rhine. The Romanized Greek Strabo wrote that the Nervii were of Germanic origin. Tacitus, in his book Germania, says that in his time the Nervii and Treveri both claimed Germanic ancestry, similar to that of their mutual neighbours the Tungri, in order to distinguish them from the weaknesses of the Gauls.
The Romans were not precise in their ethnography of northern barbarians: by "Germanic" Caesar may simply have meant "originating east of the Rhine" with no distinction of language intended. During Caesar's lifetime, Germanic languages east of the Rhine may have been no closer than the river Elbe. It has instead been argued based on place name studies that the older language of the area, though apparently Indo-European, was also not Celtic (see Nordwestblock) and that Celtic, though influential amongst the elite, might never have been the main language of the part of the Belgic area north of the Ardennes. On the other hand, these same studies of placenames such as those of Maurits Gysseling, have also shown evidence of Germanic languages entering the Belgic area north of the Ardennes, before the Roman conquest, while strong evidence for old Celtic place names is found in the Ardennes and to the south of them. Luc van Durme summarizes competing evidence of Celtic and Germanic influence at the time of Caesar by saying that "one has to accept the rather remarkable conclusion that Caesar must have witnessed a situation opposing Celtic and Germanic in Belgium, in a territory slightly more to the south than the early medieval Romance–Germanic language border", but van Durme also accepts that "second century BC Germanisation did not block the celtisation coming from the south . . . but that both phenomena were simultaneous and interfering instead".
According to Xavier Deru, the core region of the Nervii was equivalent to the medieval pagus of Hainaut, the region of the Haine river, the upper Sambre, and greater and lesser Helpe rivers. To the north of the Haine, it also included what would become the medieval pagus of Brabant, making its northwestern border on the Scheldt (French Escaut, Dutch Schelde) river. A large population occupied the southern territories, near the river Sambre with the biggest being at Avesnelles, near Avesnes-sur-Helpe.
An oppidum found near Asse may have belonged to them but it was isolated and near to the territory of the Menapii. In the south the Nervians stretched no further than the forests of Arrouaise and Thiérache South of them were the Viromandui, south of Cambrai, and the Remi. Deru proposes that the region or pagus of Cambrai in the southwest was relatively undeveloped until Roman times.
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Nervii
The Nervii or Nervians were one of the most powerful tribes of the Belgae in northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their core of their territory corresponded to the medieval County of Hainaut and contained a significant part of modern central Belgium, including Brussels and Mons, as well as stretching southwards to Cambrai in what is now France. During his first century BC Roman military campaign, Julius Caesar's contacts among the Remi reported that the Nervii were the most warlike of the Belgae, trekking long distances to take part in battles. Like the other tribes of northern Gaul, including the Menapii to the west, and the Eburones to the east, the Nervii were considered by Caesar to be relatively uncorrupted by civilization.
They are referred to as Nervii by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Orosius (early fifth c. AD), Neroúioi (Νερούιοι) by Strabo (early first c. AD), Nerui by Pliny (1st c. AD) and the Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD), Nervios by Tacitus (early second c. AD), and as Neroúsioi (Νερούσιοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).
The ethnonym Nervii probably stems from the Western Indo-European root *ner-, meaning 'man' (cf. Middle Welsh ner 'lord, chief'). It appears to be cognate with the Latin cognomen Nerva.
Although it is often assumed that the Nervii spoke a Celtic language, the evidence regarding their linguistic affiliation is inconclusive. The same applies to other Belgian tribes, like the Menapii and Morini, to the west of the Nervii on the English Channel, and the Germani cisrhenani to the east of the Nervii, stretching to the Rhine.
Caesar writes that the Belgae generally had received immigration from Germanic people from east of the Rhine. The Romanized Greek Strabo wrote that the Nervii were of Germanic origin. Tacitus, in his book Germania, says that in his time the Nervii and Treveri both claimed Germanic ancestry, similar to that of their mutual neighbours the Tungri, in order to distinguish them from the weaknesses of the Gauls.
The Romans were not precise in their ethnography of northern barbarians: by "Germanic" Caesar may simply have meant "originating east of the Rhine" with no distinction of language intended. During Caesar's lifetime, Germanic languages east of the Rhine may have been no closer than the river Elbe. It has instead been argued based on place name studies that the older language of the area, though apparently Indo-European, was also not Celtic (see Nordwestblock) and that Celtic, though influential amongst the elite, might never have been the main language of the part of the Belgic area north of the Ardennes. On the other hand, these same studies of placenames such as those of Maurits Gysseling, have also shown evidence of Germanic languages entering the Belgic area north of the Ardennes, before the Roman conquest, while strong evidence for old Celtic place names is found in the Ardennes and to the south of them. Luc van Durme summarizes competing evidence of Celtic and Germanic influence at the time of Caesar by saying that "one has to accept the rather remarkable conclusion that Caesar must have witnessed a situation opposing Celtic and Germanic in Belgium, in a territory slightly more to the south than the early medieval Romance–Germanic language border", but van Durme also accepts that "second century BC Germanisation did not block the celtisation coming from the south . . . but that both phenomena were simultaneous and interfering instead".
According to Xavier Deru, the core region of the Nervii was equivalent to the medieval pagus of Hainaut, the region of the Haine river, the upper Sambre, and greater and lesser Helpe rivers. To the north of the Haine, it also included what would become the medieval pagus of Brabant, making its northwestern border on the Scheldt (French Escaut, Dutch Schelde) river. A large population occupied the southern territories, near the river Sambre with the biggest being at Avesnelles, near Avesnes-sur-Helpe.
An oppidum found near Asse may have belonged to them but it was isolated and near to the territory of the Menapii. In the south the Nervians stretched no further than the forests of Arrouaise and Thiérache South of them were the Viromandui, south of Cambrai, and the Remi. Deru proposes that the region or pagus of Cambrai in the southwest was relatively undeveloped until Roman times.