An oppidum (pl.: oppida) is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. Oppida are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretching from Britain and Iberia in the west to the edge of the Hungarian plain in the east.[1][2][3][4][5][6] These settlements continued to be used until the Romans conquered Southern and Western Europe. Many subsequently became Roman-era towns and cities, whilst others were abandoned.[7][8][9] In regions north of the rivers Danube and Rhine, such as most of Germania, where the populations remained independent from Rome, oppida continued to be used into the 1st century AD.
^"Oppida". oppida.org. 2000. Oppidum (plural oppida) was the name used by Caesar to describe the Celtic towns that he discovered during his conquest of Gaul. In archaeology, the term is now used to describe all fortified Celtic sites covering a minimum area of 15ha and dating back to the second half of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC (the late La Tène period). These towns were both economic and political centres.
^"Oppidum". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Oppidum: The term used by Julius Caesar to describe fortified tribal centres encountered by him in Gaul in 58–51 bc which did not merit categorization as cities (urbes). In archaeological usage it is applied more generally to fortified sites and large permanent settlements of the late pre‐Roman Iron Age in Europe. These served as centres for administration, trade, craft production, and religion.
^Shaw, Ian; Jameson, Robert, eds. (1999). A Dictionary of Archaeology. Blackwell Publishing. p. 448. ISBN 0631174230. Oppidum (pl. oppida; Latin: 'defended administrative centre or town'): During the later La Tene period in Gaul, from the 2nd century BC, there developed a series of large regional centres, some of which Julius Caesar in his reports of campaigns in the region, referred to as 'oppida' – a label that has stuck. Many of these oppida were defended, but unlike earlier hillforts of the 2nd and early 1st millennium BC, most seem to have been permanently and densely occupied. The more complex examples seem to have acted as tribal capitals, trade and distribution centres, and are often located near significant trade routes.
^Bahn, Paul, ed. (1993). Collins Dictionary of Archaeology. ABC-CLIO. p. 369. ISBN 0874367441. Oppidum: A term used by Caesar to denote the fortified native towns he encountered in his campaigns in Gaul in 58-51 BC, now by extension used for all fortified Celtic towns; they are distinguished from hillforts by their combination of residential, industrial, market and administrative functions.
^Collis, John (1995). "The first towns". In Green, Miranda (ed.). The Celtic World. Routledge. pp. 159–173. ISBN 9781135632434. By the time Caesar reached Gaul, the predecessors of Roman and modern towns were already in existence as administrative and trading centres ... Over a broad zone, Portugal, central Spain, southern Britain, France, southern and central Germany, the Alpine zone, Hungary and Czechoslovakia major settlements, often labelled by ancient authors and modern archaeologists alike as 'oppida', had come into existence.
^Fichtl, Stephan (March 2018). "Urbanization and Oppida". In Haslegrove, Colin; Rebay-Salisbury, Katharina; Wells, Peter (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age. pp. 717–740. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696826.013.13. ISBN 978-0-19-969682-6. The first examples of urbanization in Celtic Europe were the princely residences of the early Iron Age (Hallstatt culture), but it was not until the late third century BC that urban centres began to flourish across Europe. The first were open settlements, followed by fortified oppida. Characterized by very large surface areas (up to hundreds of hectares) and defended by ramparts with strong symbolic and ostentatious connotations, oppida are widely considered the first cities north of the Alps. ... These fortified sites appeared more or less simultaneously in Europe, from the Atlantic to central Europe. By the last third of the second century BC, this wide area was covered with large-scale fortified sites.
^Collis, John (1995). "The first towns". In Green, Miranda (ed.). The Celtic World. Routledge. pp. 159–173. ISBN 9781135632434. By the time Caesar reached Gaul, the predecessors of Roman and modern towns were already in existence as administrative and trading centres – Vesontio (Besancon), Durocororum (Reims), Lutetia (Paris), Avaricum (Bourges) and others. ... many major settlements were already well established by the time of the Roman conquest.
^Fernández-Götz, Manuel (December 2019). "A World of 200 Oppida: Pre-Roman Urbanism in Temperate Europe Oppida". In de Ligt, Luuk; Bintliff, John (eds.). Regional Urban Systems in the Roman World, 150 BCE – 250 CE. Brill. pp. 35–66. ISBN 978-90-04-41436-5. Oppida, particularly in Gaul, continued to exist during the Roman period and sometimes even in medieval and later times (e.g. Vesontio→Besançon, Avaricum→Bourges, Durocortorum →Reims).
^Collis, John (2004). "Oppida". In Bogucki, Peter; Crabtree, Pam (eds.). Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C.-A.D. 1000. Gale. p. 157. ISBN 0-684-80668-1. The oppida of Britain date to the late first century B.C. and early first century A.D. ... Several developed into major Roman towns.
An oppidum (pl.: oppida) is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. Oppida are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging...
The Oppidum of Manching (German: Oppidum von Manching) was a large Celtic proto-urban or city-like settlement at modern-day Manching, near Ingolstadt,...
Oppidum Novum is the name of several ancient towns: Oppidum Novum (Aquitania), city in Aquitaine, France Oppidum Novum (Caesariensis), city in Mauretania...
shows. The first urban settlement on the grounds of modern-day Cologne was Oppidum Ubiorum, founded in 38 BCE by the Ubii, a Cisrhenian Germanic tribe. In...
The Heidetränk Oppidum near Oberursel in the Taunus in Germany is one of Europe's most important Celtic oppida. The oppidum was surrounded by ramparts...
dominates the area. It was the site of a fortified Celtic settlement, or oppidum. To the southeast of the hill, there was a 42-hectare necropolis with graves...
was based on a pre-Roman oppidum which was within a surrounding wall including 21 towers. The Romans re-modelled the oppidum, so there is evidence of...
The Glauberg is a Celtic hillfort or oppidum in Hesse, Germany consisting of a fortified settlement and several burial mounds, "a princely seat of the...
city retained the Greek name, and was referred to in Latin sources as the oppidum Leontos, though the Egyptian name still lingered among primary speakers...
Bibracte, a Gallic oppidum (fortified settlement), was the capital of the Aedui and one of the most important hillforts in Gaul. It was located near modern...
inhabitants of the Rhine and Meuse (Maas) delta, revolted, a village called Oppidum Batavorum had formed near the Roman camp. This village was destroyed in...
The Oppidum de Verduron is an oppidum in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille, Southern France. It was built in the Iron Age. It was discovered in 1906...
Scientifically, Milseburg is most notable for the remains of a large Celtic oppidum. It also features several other structures on the peak, including a chapel...
Oppidum Uetliberg was a La Tène era oppidum located near the top of the hill Uetliberg in what is now the Swiss canton of Zurich (Stallikon municipality...
The Oppidum de Nages or Oppidum des Castels is on a hilltop overlooking the valley called the Vaunage, above the village of Nages-et-Solorgues, in Gard...
the Elder (NH, III, 25) stand out, while the final phase of the Iberian oppidum assigned to the regio oretana by Ptolemy (II, 6, 58) stands out. The excellent...
migrations, Bohemia became associated with the Boii. The Boii founded an oppidum near the site of modern Prague. Later in the 1st century, the Germanic...
existence in Luxembourg have been discovered, the most famous being the Oppidum of Titelberg. In around 58 to 51 BC, the Romans invaded the country when...
climactic military engagement of the Gallic Wars, fought around the Gallic oppidum (fortified settlement) of Alesia in modern France, a major centre of the...
Durocortōrum comes from the Celtic "Durocorteron" ("round fortress"). It was an oppidum of the tribe of the Remi founded circa 80 BC, and served as its capital...
to negotiate with the leaders of the Gallic tribes. He wrote that the oppidum which he visited was on an island. In his account of the war in Gaul Caesar...
including felt and its products". Julius Caesar first applied the Latin word oppidum to this type of settlement, and even called Avaricum (Bourges, France)...