Celtic Toponyms in the Roman Provinces Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior

Abstract

The presence of toponyms belonging to Celtic populations in Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior can be connected to population movements in the first millennium BC, rather than to the Roman Empire’s colonization policies regarding the newly-formed provinces in the first century AD. The Celtic populations’ movement toward south-eastern Europe and the settlement of tribes of Celtic origin – such as the Britolagai, the Koralli and the Scoridisci –, their influence on local toponyms, as well as the influence of Roman colonization led to the creation of a heterogeneous population, a significantly large portion of which was made up of populations from Celto-Germanic provinces. Certainty regarding the origin of toponyms, as in the case of Noviodunum and Bononia, is a rare occurrence.