Tigurini

History

The name of the Tigurini is first recorded in the context of their alliance with the Cimbri in the Cimbrian War of 113–101 BCE. They crossed the Rhine to invade Gaul in 109 BCE, moved south to the Roman region of Provence in 107 BCE and defeated a Roman army under Lucius Cassius Longinus near Agen. The Tigurini followed the Cimbri in their campaign across the Alps, but they did not enter Italy, instead remaining at the Brenner Pass. After the end of the war, they returned to their earlier homes, settling in the western Swiss plateau and the Jura mountains north of Lake Leman.

The names of the Tigurini and the Helvetii had retained a connotation of a "barbarian" threat from the north for the Romans, employed by Julius Caesar as a motivation for his expedition to Gaul by suggesting that these tribes were "on the move again". In 58 BCE the Helvetii encountered the armies of Caesar, and were defeated and massacred in the battles of the Arar and the Bibracte, allegedly leaving 228,000 dead. These battles were the initial events in the Gallic Wars, fought between 58 and 49 BCE.

After the Roman conquest, the Helvetii participated in the uprising of Vercingetorix in 52 BC, losing their status as foederati. As a means of asserting control over the military access routes to Gaul, the Romans established the Colonia Iulia Equestris at the site of the Helvetian settlement of Noviodunum (Nyon). There was still a fortified oppidum in Bois de Châtel in the later 1st century BC, but it was destroyed in the early 1st century AD, its population presumably moving to the newly established Helvetian capital of Aventicum.

The Helvetii seem to have retained their division into four pagi, and a certain autonomy, until the 60s AD. They supported Galba in the civil war following the death of Nero in AD 68. Their forces were routed at Bözberg Pass (Mount Vocetius) in AD 69. After this, the population was quickly romanized, losing its former tribal identity.

''Tigurum'': Zurich's Neo-Latin name

In the early 16th century, humanist scholars associated the name of the Tigurini with the city of Zurich (called Turicum in Roman times). Therefore, the city was referred to as Tigurum in Neo-Latin texts (eg the legends on coins minted in the city), and the adjective Tigurinus became common. Huldrych Zwingli always used the name Tigurum for the city in his writings, and either the adjective Tigurinus or Tigurensis. The territory belonging to Zurich was called pagus Tigurinus.

After the discovery of a Roman tombstone on Lindenhof hill in 1747, which proved that the original Roman name was Turicum and the adjective Turicensis, Tigurum and Tigurinus were used less frequently and finally discarded towards the end of the 18th century.

Zürich, ½ Taler 1721 (CH-2088-6-ID734) av.jpg|Moneta reipublicae Tigurinae: "coin of the Republic of Zurich" Justus Jonas, Adversus Ioannem Fabrum, Tiguri 1523.jpg|Tiguri: "Printed in Zurich" (work by Justus Jonas, 1523)

Notes

References

1. Harry Mountain. (1998). "The Celtic Encyclopedia". Universal-Publishers.
2. Harry Mountain. (1998). "The Celtic Encyclopedia". Universal-Publishers.
3. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin. (2003). "The Celts: A History". Boydell Press.
4. One of the earliest examples is MONETA NOVA REIPVBLICAE TIGVRINAE on a [https://ikmk-win.ch/object?lang=de&id=ID2929 2-''thaler'' coin from 1651]. In the 16th century, the original Latin adjective ''T(h)uricensis'' had been used, eg MON(eta) NO(va) TVRICENSIS CIVIT(atis) IMPER(ialis) on a [https://ikmk-win.ch/object?lang=de&id=ID1682 ''thaler'' coin from 1560].
5. Search for [https://www.e-rara.ch/zuz/search?operation=searchRetrieve&query=%28bib.originPlace%3DTiguri%29+sortBy+dc.date%2Fasc "Tiguri"] (as place of printing, "in Zurich") and [https://www.e-rara.ch/search/quick?query=Tigurinus&s=date "Tigurinus"] in ''e-rara.ch''. The earliest examples found date from [https://www.e-rara.ch/zuz/content/zoom/9187116 1523] and [https://www.e-rara.ch/zuz/content/zoom/18878000 1518] respectively.
6. Vögelin, Friedrich Salomon (1890). ''Zürich in römischer Zeit.'' p. 92 ([https://www.e-rara.ch/zuz/content/zoom/25367469 online]).
7. For example on a map printed in Paris in 1660: ''Tigurini sive'' ("or") ''Tigurinus Pagus in Helvetiis – le Zurichgow en Suisse…'' (see [[:File:Les Cantons de Zurich, Schaffhouse et Appenzel... - par le Sr Sanson d'Abbeville - btv1b53042925m.jpg. picture]] in Wikimedia Commons). The caption of an etching of the city dating from 1581 reads: ''TIGVRUM, sive Turegum, Caesari, ut plerique existimant, Tigurinus pagus, vulgo Zürÿch; urbs in Helvetijs ut vetustissima, ita maxima, et omnium celeberrima.'' "TIGVRUM, or Turegum, called by Caesar, as most people believe, ''Tigurinus pagus'', commonly Zürÿch; the oldest as well as largest city in Switzerland, and the most famous of all." (See [[:File:CH-NB - Grafiken Orts- und Landschaftsansichten - GS-GRAF-ANSI-ZH-1003.tif. picture]].)
8. In coin legends, the switch back from ''Tigurinae'' to ''Turicensis'' took place around 1770, eg [https://ikmk-win.ch/object?lang=de&id=ID554 DUCATUS REIPUBLICAE TIGURINAE, 1767]; [https://ikmk-win.ch/object?lang=de&id=ID1683 MONETA REIPUBLICAE TURICENSIS, 1773]. One of the last examples of books printed ''Tiguri'' ("in Zurich") dates from 1796: [[doi:10.3931/e-rara-86762]].