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The Petrocorii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
They are mentioned as PetrocoriisbyCaesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1] Petrokórioi (Πετροκόριοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD) and Ptolemy (2nd c. AD),[2] PetrocoribyPliny (1st c. AD),[3] and as PetrogoriibySidonius Apollinaris (5th c. AD).[4][5]
The Gaulish ethnonym Petrocorii means 'four armies', or 'four troops'. It derives from the Gaulish stem petru- ('four') attached to corios ('army'), after a Gallic custom of including numbers in tribal names (e.g. Vo-contii, Vo-corii, Tri-corii, Suess-iones).[6][7] Their name may indicate a relatively recent formation emerging from the union of fragmented small ethnic groups.[8]
The word corios derives from Proto-Celtic *koryos ('troop, tribe'; cf. Middle Welsh cordd 'tribe, clan'; Mid. Ir. cuire), itself from Proto-Indo-European *kóryos, meaning 'army, people under arms'. The root is also found in other Gaulish tribal names such as the Tri-corii or the Corio-solites.[9] The root petru- stems from Proto-Celtic *kʷetwór- ('four'; cf. OIr. cetheoir, OW. and OBret. petguar).[10]
The city of Périgueux, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Petrocoriorum ('civitas of the Petrocorii'; Petrecors in the 8th c., Periguhès in 1466), and the Périgord region, attested in the 7th c. AD as pagum Petrocorecum ('pagus of the Petrocorii'; Petragoricus in 781, Peiregore in the 12th c.), are named after the Gallic tribe.[11]
The Petrocorii lived in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers.[12][13] Their territory was located south of the Lemovices and Santones, east of the Bituriges Vivisci, west of the Arverni, and north of the Nitiobroges and Cadurci.[14][13]
During the Roman period, their chief town was Vesunna, corresponding to the modern town of Périgueux.[5]
In 52 BC, they supplied around 5,000 warriors to Vercingetorix, to aid him to fight the Roman legions of Julius Caesar. Strabo mentions their excellence working with iron.[12]