Venonetes, Camunni, Trumpilini, and the Roman victory monument of the Alps

Tropaeum Alpium

The Tropaeum Alpium (Latin for "Victory Monument of the Alps", French: Trophée des Alpes), was built by the Romans for the emperor Augustus to celebrate his decisive victory over the ancient tribes who populated the Alps. The monument's remains are in the commune of La Turbie (France), a few kilometers from the Principality of Monaco (Latin: tropaeum from Greek: tropaion whence English: "trophy").

Just like a master hunter's trophy room, inscribed within the remaining remnant of this ancient monument are forty-five Alpine tribes who engaged in war with the Roman army. There were others; some too small to mention, others elected not to fight. The clan factions from the movie 'Braveheart' come to mind. These Alpine and Celto-Gaulish tribes were the primary combatants resisting the Roman invasion in this particular war. Three out of the first four tribes inscribed were from the Brescian Tri-Valley (Camunni and Trumpilini) and the Valtellina/Valchiavenna (Vennonetes). These three tribes where not specifically Celto-Gaulish, but of the original Alpine tribes of pre-history. The overall forty-fives tribes were a mixture of Alpine and the historically more recent Celto-Gaulish.

According to the e-book 'Republic of Augustus',"The Venonetes (modern spelling) were regarded as one of the most warlike populations of the Alps." I have also read, reciting now from memory, that the Camunni and Trumpilini--in particular--fiercely fought the Roman army in this war. I don't think that it's any random act that these three tribes were listed among the first four inscribed on the stone within the Tropaeum Alpium by Pliny the Elder. It is not known why the third Brescian Tri-Valley tribe, the Sabini, were not listed. It is known that the Celtic tribe from the nearby Po flatlands south of the Alps, the Cenomani, elected to surrender rather than go against the invading Romans.

The Greek historian Strabo (63/64 BC–ca. 24 AD) described the Camunni as part of the Rhaetian peoples and related to the Celtic Leponti, while the Roman historian Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD), citing the Origines of Cato the Elder (234–149 BC), spoke instead of the Camunni as one of several tribes of the Euganei. The Rhaeti were originally a regional Alpine language grouping north of the Venonetes and Camunni, in what later became German-speaking regions. The Euganei were also Alpine people of what later became Italian-speaking regions. Later Celtic and Etruscan influence has, at times, created some confusion as to specific origins. It seems clear to me that the Venonetes, Camunni, and Trumpilini were basically Alpine tribal groups who all spoke the ancient Camunic language.

The Roman conquest

Val Camonica was subjected to Rome during the campaigns of Augustus to conquer Raetia and the Alpine arc, conducted by his generals Nero Claudius Drusus and Tiberius (the future emperor) against the mountain peoples in 16–15 BC. Publius Silius Nerva, governor of Illyricum, was to complete the conquest of the eastern Alpine front, which reached from the valley of Como to Lake Garda (therefore including the Valcamonica), in addition to the Vennoneti of Vinschgau.


The Camunni and Vennoni, Alpine tribes, took up arms against the Romans, but were conquered and subdued by Publius Silius.

· GENTES ALPINAE DEVICTAE TRVMPILINI · CAMVNNI · VENOSTES ·

— Tropaeum Alpium, La Turbie

 
After the Roman conquest, the Camunni were annexed to the nearest cities in a condition of semi-subjection through the practice of adtributio, which allowed them to maintain their own tribal constitution while the dominant city became the administrative, judicial, and fiscal center. The city that the Camunni were assigned to was probably Brixia. At first they were assigned the status of peregrinus, and then they obtained Roman citizenship; in the Flavian Age they were assigned to the Quirina tribe, while they maintained a certain self-government; in fact, a Res Publica Camunnorum has been recorded.

Romanization proceeded from Civitas Camunnorum (Cividate Camuno), a city founded by the Romans around 23 BC, during the principate of Tiberius. Beginning in the 1st century, the Camunni were included in stable Roman political and social structures, as evidenced by the numerous legionaries, artisans, and even gladiators of Camunian origins in several areas of the Roman Empire. Camunian religion went through the process of interpretatio Romana, forming a syncretic combination with Roman religion.

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The "Aprica Pass" was an ancient mountain pass, now a road, which was the primary mountain trail connecting the Valtellina and the Val Camonica. In ancient times, the two regions once shared the same language, culture, and spiritual tradition apparently.





Le Trophée des Alpes (Trophée d'Auguste) La Turbie HD / Trophy of the Alps

jppkeyser
 

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The Last Holdouts in Italy: Venonetes and Camunni

I wanted to add one more clue from the free e-book 'Republic of Augustus' (Guglielmo Ferrero; 1909). An important fact to consider is that after Caesar conquered Gaul, they still had not even conquered all of what is now modern Italy. Cisalpine Gaul was still free and sovereign. From the Roman perspective, the mountainous, wooded, dark, and foreboding Alps was filled with fearsome tribal groups in a hostile and difficult to navigate environment. I guess you could compare it to tribes in the Amazon or the Congo... only instead of thick, humid jungle, this was an ominous highlands of stone and wood.

This was well over forty years since the conquest of Gaul; the Emperor now being Augustus who perhaps wanted his own "conquest of the Gauls" just as Caesar had before him. Apparently a new revolt had sprung up in Gaul. Presumably there was some contact between the Gauls in what is now France, and the free Gaulish and Alpine tribes of the southern Alps. Roman General Publius Silus was invading from the east....

In the plains of Gaul the revolt had quickly died away, but in the Alpine districts the movement spread and increased in intensity. Publius Silus drove the Pannonians and the Norici from Istria, went down the valley of the Po, and made his way to the Valtellina and the Val Camonica to oppose the Venonetes and the Camunni. The appearance of his army, however, in no way deterred the insurgents.

The sons of the Almother Mona fell with their faces to the enemy on that day.

Birth... Life... Death and to a New Arising.

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From skyscrapercity.com forum: "The Valcamonica appreciation thread!!!" - Part 1

Valcamonica appreciation thread

Ancient Camunni rock art

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An eagle upon a stag: The symbol of the Val Camonica

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Distinct traditional Subalpine architecture

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Ancient Camunian petroglyph standing stone - 3,000 BCE

I couldn't find much information about this standing stone. Apparently it was carved and erected by the ancient Camunni tribe somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE. Evidently it was relocated to a museum, which appears to be the Teglio Antiquarium Tellinum (Archaeological Museum). The location was said to be Cornal, Val Camonica; although it wasn't clear as to whether or not this was the original location, or the location of the museum itself. It may be a very small village or more of a type of place name in the old language. The flat square stone, resembling an Odinic runestone, was described as an "idol statue with graffiti."


I feel a bit cheated, since this a beautiful very ancient artifact, and I want to know more about it. The "graffiti" looks something like a labyrinth, which was an important symbol to the Camunni. It may be of something else, although it's not clear. It does look very interesting and meaningful. It's at least as thought provoking as one image of an ancient Camunnian warrior doing battle with a Spartan-like helmet, sword, and shield. Remember, the Camunni weren't afraid to do battle with the Romans.

[Petroglyph standing stone in case the above link doesn't hold]


1937 National Socialist expedition to Val Camonica

The Ahnenerbe was an institute in Nazi Germany purposed to research the archaeological and cultural history of the Aryan race. Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe later conducted experiments and launched expeditions in an attempt to prove that mythological Nordic populations had once ruled the world.

In 1937, the Ahnenerbe sent the archaeologist Franz Altheim and his wife, the photographer Erika Trautmann, to Val Camonica, to study prehistoric rock inscriptions. The two returned to Germany claiming that they had found traces of Nordic runes on the rocks, supposedly confirming that ancient Rome was originally founded by Nordic incomers.

Wikipedia displays the following image as an example of Camunic runes in Val Camonica. What is interesting is that--despite the fact that the Camunni were an Alpine/proto-European people, and not Teutonic--the ancient Camunic alphabet is made up of some symbols which appear to be of Teutonic origin. For example, the Life rune and the Death rune (see letter "Z"). Although some of the Norse runes actually have their origin in the Italian peninsula, those two particular runes are of Norse origin. Also, there's a type of "double-Life rune" as well (see letter "S).

If you compare the runes from the Camunic alphabet above to the Teutonic/Odinic runes, clearly some are the same. For the record, the Camunic alphabet is from the first century BCE in the Val Camonica and the Valtellina. Although it can be confusing, some of these ancient symbols moved around; perhaps via the old trading routes. Although I believe that the National Socialists got the eastern Teutonic origins--including very ancient symbology--largely correct; the idea of "Teutonic Romans" was an embarrassing falsehood. 

The Romans would seem to have been primarily a shorter, heavy-boned Alpine type with true-Mediterranean admixture. This is why the old statues didn't particularly appear to be Mediterranean; for example, with Roman noses. I use the term "Alpine" loosely, since I'm referring to a more widespread stock 3,000 years ago.

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Replica of an ancient Camunni village

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Ancient Camunian Rock Art

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica

Valcamonica, situated in the Lombardy plain, has one of the world's greatest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs -- more than 140,000 symbols and figures carved in the rock over a period of 8,000 years and depicting themes connected with agriculture, navigation, war and magic.

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The Euganeian subrace and the "old religion"

Often I mix the perspectives of specifically "our culture" (Cisalpine, Lombardian, and Camunian) with larger concepts of which we are a part. I made that decision based on the types of issues covered here. This entry is no exception. Anyway, this intentionally open and slight double-speak can't always be helped. The Euganei were, I believe, an Alpine people who were akin to a much larger ancient proto-European stock. By ancient, I mean tens of thousands of years ago. So long ago... before the ancestors of what we know to be the Norse, Mediterranean, Celtic. Slavic, and perhaps other stocks--all of which were later to become Indo-Europeans--had even migrated westward into Europe.

Therefore, the ancient Camunni were a tribe of Euganei, who where themselves part of this Alpine-proto-European stock. The ancient Basques are another example of this stock. Modern survivals of what may have been the first Europeans. In the same way as there were various tribes--some Alpine, some Gaulish--in pre-Roman Cisalpine Gaul; there were also, in Gaul itself, the very same dynamic of Gaulish and Alpine tribes. This ancient social dynamic may have existed all over Europe between the proto-Europeans and the newcomers (Gauls, Norse, Mediterraneans, etc.). Little is known about this proto-European Alpine stock...... however...... they left us with one big reminder of their culture...... the "Old Religion."

Just to backtrack for a moment. The English author Margaret Baillie-Saunders had written about a type of Norse spirituality which existed even prior to the Norse clans arriving into Europe. She placed them approximately in the region now known as Iran, probably during the last ice age about 20,000 years ago. I am aware that I may step on a few toes here. A number of prominent Odinists make statements such as "Odinism was the religion of our Northern European ancestors going back 40,000 years." In reality, a number of sub-stocks--who later, collectively, were to become "Indo-Europeans"--lived all around Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Eurasia. This, of course, was a totally different world than what we know today. I think that the ancient world is far more exotic and beautiful than we can even imagine. It was also a very harsh world. I am just using this very ancient Norse item as just one example of this.

This "old religion" interacted, either in a positive or negative way, with the polytheistic spiritual traditions and mythologies of the incoming sub-races--mentioned above--in very ancient times. It appears that they were generally blended into these pagan traditions. I may be stepping out on a limb here, but sometimes I almost get the impression that some of these reconstructionists don't quite know what to do with these mildly out-of-place "old religion" spiritual traditions present within these various polytheistic religions. They seem marginally "out of place." I will avoid further controversy, for now, by not mentioning what those somewhat out-of-step traditions are.

So what is the "old religion?" Although there isn't a genuine folkish name for it that I know of, we can get clues by the spiritual elements which have survived: the Horned God or horned deity, the Triple Goddess or triple deity, the Witches Sabbath, European witchcraft, or witchcraft, the Wheel of the Year, the Mother goddess, or proto-Indo-European religion. Personally, I think that Stregheria from central and southern Italy is probably a good source of clues, as well as in some areas of Wicca, usually Celtic Wicca. I recall watching one woman of Stregheria on a YouTube video, which was actually from an older cable tv program, who was amazed as to the many similarities between Stregheria and Celtic Wicca. Well, these ancient traditions were very widespread. In fact, Stregheria is also known as "La Vecchia Religione"... the old religion. Modern Wicca should have been the reconstructionism of the "old religion," but it simply wasn't. It's a broken thing which cannot be fixed. It's hopelessly mixed with paganism from all over the world, and many have tried to prop it up as some sort of modern political front. If anything, a return to the old religion would be "radical traditionalism," as opposed to some universal aspiration. However, a sizable number of Wiccans could be led into the folkish/traditionalist camp. Who knows, perhaps even a few "Goths" as well.

The most incredible thing about the "old religion" is its historical resilience. It has survived the arrival of all of those polytheist faiths in ancient times; it has survived the literal assault of Christianity and the witch trials in the Early Modern period on both sides of the ocean; and it has survived history itself from our most remote roots. Now, the final hurdle. It must overcome Wiccan-style universalism and modern politics in order to return as a viable, folk-minded, non-political way of life. There is one positive unintended consequence to the promotion of Wicca/eclectic witchcraft by many in high places. They have, despite some unwarranted harm to the old religion's credibility, provided an opportunity by simply smashing the gates. Today, radical folk-traditionalists can also walk through those gates and establish themselves. Look at Hunter Yoder. One man can do a lot, even without help from people in high places. Right now is our chance. All we have to do as native believers is TAKE back our own folk tradition from the pretenders.

They can be overcome, not by antagonism, but simply by outwitting them. The most important step is to not be "anti-Christian." Christian aggression took place a long time ago. In fact, it may perhaps be more pragmatic to take somewhat of a pro-Christian stance. If a jerk does show themselves, use creative arguments. For example, if they make mention of "human sacrifice," which actually took place globally in every locale; then bring up the human sacrifices which were conducted by early Christian sects, and they did take place. However, that is only when confronted with an aggressive person. Personally, I don't even see any reason that a Christian couldn't still believe in a folk tradition from their own remote roots; in the same way that the Greeks or Gaels have done. Everything doesn't have to be a fight. Yes, you can be a Christian and still partake in folk traditions. In fact, you do not have to view this as a "religion" at all.

The most important thing is to establish our own ethics, and not always be influenced by the controversies and contrived drama of others. Something which is a "problem" or "issue" with them, does not have to be an issue at all for us. There are bad people in all religions, including pagan ones. I think I will just end it here, rather than go on about what I believe that we are and aren't. In a nutshell, I think it's pretty safe to say that what we would be aiming for would be something entirely non-political. It might be something which could, in some ways, resemble Asatru. In some ways, Asatru is like standing on top of a mountain under the sun, while the old religion is like standing in a forest clearing under the moonlight. Darker symbolism, but not a dark heart. Asatru is more like masculine spiritual energy; while the old religion is more like feminine spiritual energy. No malevolence. That was propaganda all along, from Christian supremacists and Satanists.


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"The Sorcerer" from 13,000 BC

3-31-12 ADDITION: I wanted to add a few more items to this. First, I had put some links to areas which served as clues to this ancient proto-European people and culture. I should have included "the Sorcerer," an antlered-man image found in a cavern called 'The Sanctuary' in France, which may be an early artifact reflecting a Cernic-type god; Cernunnos, which may have been adopted into Gaulish spirituality when the two sub-races came into contact; "Herne the Hunter," an English legend of an antlered-man spirit; and "the Green Man" legend and the "Jack in the green" celebration are a tie-in this this concept, but beyond that it becomes more merged into other spiritual traditions.

What we are looking at is something which goes very deep into the ancient world. Back to Cro-Magon hunter-gatherers who literally defeated another strong species, the Neanderthals, for primacy over Europe. There seems to be a direct link between the horned god legend and the tradition of the Witches Sabbath, over a very long period of time. The "Wiccan concept" should have been something designed to develop over time, rather than allow someone to step in and establish the terms from the get-go.

Although ignored by the American press, there is currently a dig in Bulgaria which hopes to unearth an utterly massive area of what appears to be five pyramids. These structures are so old that they appear as mere mountains at first glance. However, they are being exposed as man-made structures. These are not "mounds" or "carved hills." They could be tens of thousands of years old, and could change everything we know about ancient civilization. This would also tie right into what we are looking at here regarding a proto-European "Alpine race" and their spiritual traditions.

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