chiefdom · France and the Low Countries

Unelli

300 BCE – 56 BCE (approx.)

Gallic people of the Cotentin peninsula whose leader Viridovix headed a coalition against Caesar in 56 BCE.

Origins

The Unelli held the Cotentin in western Normandy. Caesar lists them among the Armorican peoples who submitted to Publius Crassus in 57 BCE.

Rule and society

In 56 BCE their chief Viridovix commanded a large army of the Unelli, Lexovii, Aulerci Eburovices and others, showing how a war leader could unite several peoples.

Decline and legacy

Quintus Titurius Sabinus lured the coalition into attacking his fortified camp uphill and routed it, and the Unelli submitted. Under Rome their chief town moved from Crociatonum to Cosedia, renamed Constantia in late antiquity, the origin of Coutances and of the name Cotentin.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻