They are mentioned as MedullorumbyVitruvius (late 1st c. BC),[1]Méd(o)ulloi (Μέδ<ο>υλλοι) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD),[2]MedullibyPliny (1st c. AD),[3] and as Medoúllous (Μεδούλλους) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).[4][5]
The ethnonymMedulli is a latinized form of GaulishMedulloi. It is generally derived from the Celtic root medu-, meaning 'mead, alcoholic drink' (cf. Olr.mid, MW. medd, OBret.medot), and thus may be translated as 'those who drink mead'. This interpretation is encouraged by the mention, in Vitruvius' De architetura, of a "kind of water" (genus aquae) drunk by the Medulli.[6][5] Alternatively, Javier de Hoz has proposed to glose the name as 'those who lived in the middle', or 'in the border woods', by connecting it to the root *medhi/u- ('middle').[7]
They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium.[10][3] They also appear on the Arch of Susa, erected by Cottius in 9–8 BC.[12]
According to Vitruvius, they were particularly prone to suffer from goitre.[10]
Among the Aquiculi in Italy and among the tribe of the Medulli in the Alps, there is a kind of water which causes goitre among those who drink it.
Barruol, Guy (1969). Les Peuples préromains du Sud-Est de la Gaule: étude de géographie historique. E. de Boccard. OCLC3279201.
Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN9782877723695.
de Hoz, Javier (2005). "Ptolemy and the linguistic history of the Narbonensis". In de Hoz, Javier; Luján, Eugenio R.; Sims-Williams, Patrick (eds.). New approaches to Celtic place-names in Ptolemy's Geography. Ediciones Clásicas. pp. 173–188. ISBN978-8478825721.
Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN978-0955718236.
Prieur, Jean (1968). La province romaine des Alpes Cottiennes. Impr. R. Gauthier. OCLC834310867.
