Viromandui

The Viromandui or Veromandui (French: Viromanduens, Viromand(ue)s, Vermandois) were a tribe of the Belgae, occupying a small region in northern Gaul. We know about them primarily from Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico, a book chronicling Caesar's early conquests against the Gauls.

The boundaries of their domain, before Roman conquest, remain partly uncertain, but it is known that the Viromandui lived around modern-day Aisne, Somme and Oise in Picardy, France. These areas are known to have belonged to the Viromandui due to direct historical evidence: the limits of civitas Viromanduorum are kept by the diocese of Noyon.

However historical records of their military movements and military strength suggests that they were a much larger tribe than could be supported in this area and it is predicted by some scholars that, “…Although their lands included at least the diocese of Noyon, they almost certainly extended into Laon and parts of northern Oise”.

Their main stronghold at the conquest period, is modern day Vermand. It was a small oppidum (only 14 hectares). There is no demonstration that this stronghold was a town at this time (as elsewhere in Northern Gaul).

The Viromandui are perhaps most famous for being a part of a Belgic alliance against the expansion of Julius Caesar. Alongside the Nervii and the Atrebates, they fought against Julius Caesar in the Battle of the Sabis, around 57 BC, named for the river that split the battlefield. We know about this battle because it is described extensively in Julius Caesar’s De Bello Gallico. He tells how the Belgae surprised the Romans by charging out of the woods while the legions were still constructing the Roman camp. In the initial part of the battle, the Romans lost their camp and took heavy losses, prompting their Gallic allies to desert them. However, they reformed their lines and were finally able to rout the Viromandui and Atrebates, wiping out the Nervii, who reportedly “fought to the last, fighting on top of the corpses of their brethren.” After this battle Caesar went on to destroy all the strongholds of all the Belgic tribes, breaking their power and making them part of the Roman Empire.

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