Editing Aedui (section)

=== Roman period ===
Outside of the Roman province and prior to Roman rule, [[Gaul]] was occupied by self-governing tribes divided into cantons, and each canton was further divided into communes. The Aedui, like other powerful tribes in the region, such as the [[Arverni]], [[Sequani]], and [[Helvetii]], had replaced their monarchy with a council of magistrates called grand-judges. The grand-judges were under the authority of a senate. This senate was made up of the descendants of ancient royal families. Free men in the tribes were [[vassals]] of the heads of these families, in an exchange of military, financial, and political interests.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Malleson|first1=G.B.|title=Vercingetorix|journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society|date=1889|volume=4|pages=1–40|doi=10.2307/3678158|jstor=3678158|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449763}}</ref>[[File:Eduens denier 1st century BCE 1940mg.jpg|thumb|[[Denarius]] of the Aedui, first century BC, 1.94 grams. [[Hotel de la Monnaie]].|300x300px]]

According to [[Livy]] (v. 34), the Aedui took part in the expedition of [[Bellovesus]] into Italy in the sixth century BC. Before [[Caesar]]'s time, they had attached themselves to the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and were honoured with the title of brothers and kinsmen of the Roman people.<ref>{{harvnb|Caesar|BG|loc=Book I, Section 33}}.</ref> When the Sequani, their traditional rivals, defeated and massacred the Aedui at the [[Battle of Magetobriga]] in 63 BC, with the assistance of the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] chieftain [[Ariovistus]], the Aedui sent the [[Druidry|druid]] [[Diviciacus (Aedui)|Diviciacus]] to Rome with an appeal to the [[Roman Senate|senate]] for help; but his mission was unsuccessful.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Aedui|volume=1|pages=244–245}} This cites:
* A. E. Desjardins, ''Géographie de la Gaule'', ii. (1876–1893)
* [[T. Rice Holmes|T. R. Holmes]], ''Caesar's Conquest of Gaul'' (1899).</ref>

After his arrival in Gaul in 58 BC, Caesar restored the independence of the Aedui. In spite of this, they subsequently joined the Gallic coalition against Caesar (''B. G.'' vii. 42), but after the surrender of [[Vercingetorix]] at the [[Battle of Alesia]], the Aedui gladly returned to their allegiance. [[Augustus]] dismantled their capital, [[Bibracte]], on [[Mont Beuvray]], and constructed a new town with a half-Roman, half-Gaulish name, [[Augustodunum]] (modern [[Autun]]).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alpheus--Bibracte: Last Center of Celtic Occultism|url=https://www.alpheus.org/html/articles/esoteric_history/Bibracte.htm|access-date=2021-06-04|website=www.alpheus.org}}</ref>

In AD 21, during the reign of [[Tiberius]], the Aedui [[Revolt of Sacrovir|revolted]] under [[Julius Sacrovir]], and seized Augustodunum, but they were soon put down by [[Gaius Silius]] ([[Gaius Cornelius Tacitus|Tacitus]] ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Ann.]]'' iii. 43–46). The Aedui were the first of the Gauls to receive from the emperor [[Claudius]] the distinction of ''[[jus honorum]]'', thus being the first Gauls permitted to become senators.<ref name="test">Peoples, Nations and Cultures. General Editor Prof John Mackenzie. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 2005.</ref>

Until [[Claudius]] (41–54 AD), the Aedui were the first northern Gallic people to send senators to Rome.{{Sfn|Drinkwater|2016|p=}}

The oration of [[Eumenius]], in which he pleaded for the restoration of the schools of his native Augustodunum, suggests that the district was then neglected. The chief magistrate of the Aedui in Caesar's time was called the [[Vergobret]]us (according to [[Theodor Mommsen|Mommsen]], "judgment-worker"). He was elected annually, and possessed powers of life and death, but was forbidden to go beyond the frontiers of his territory. Certain clientes, or small communities, were also dependent upon the Aedui.<ref name="EB1911"/>