tribal confederation · Italy

Boii

400 BCE – 191 BCE (approx.) · capital Bononia

Celtic people who settled the plain around Bologna around 400 BCE and fought Rome for two centuries before being defeated in 191 BCE.

Origins

The Boii crossed the Alps into the Po valley around 400 BCE, part of the great Celtic migration into Italy. They settled the plain south of the Po in modern Emilia, taking over the Etruscan city of Felsina, which became Bononia. Other Boii lived north of the Alps in Bohemia, which bears their name.

Rule and society

The Cisalpine Boii were organised in many clans under chiefs, living in villages and small towns and farming the rich plain; they raised pigs and grain. Polybius describes their warrior elites, whose wealth lay in cattle and gold. Together with the Insubres they were the main Gaulish power in Italy, fighting Rome at Telamon in 225 BCE.

Decline and legacy

In 218 BCE they attacked Rome's new colonies at Placentia and Cremona and supported Hannibal; in 216 BCE they ambushed and killed the consul-elect Postumius. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica defeated them in 191 BCE and confiscated half their land, and Rome founded Bononia in 189 BCE.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Boii. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/boii-400
MLA
“Boii.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/boii-400. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Boii.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/boii-400.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Boii’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/boii-400 (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻