Insubres

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The Insubres or Insubri were a population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy. They were the founders of Milan (Medhelan). Though Celtic at the time of Roman conquest, they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian and Italic population strata with Gaulish tribes come from what is now southern France.

Together with the Boii, Lingones, Taurini, Gesati and other Gaulish groups, the Insubres were defeated in 224 or 225 BCE by the Roman army led by consul Lucius Aemilius Papus at the Battle of Telamon. Two years later the Romans, backed by their Gaulish allies the Cenomani, defeated the Insubres again at the Battle of Clastidium. After the defeat of the Gesati, they were compelled to accept the Roman occupation of Milan in 221 and forcible alliance with Rome, while the victors annexed much of their territory.

During the invasion of Hannibal of 218-217 BCE, the Insubres rebelled in support of the Carthaginians. They supported the Carthaginians again in 200 BCE, this time under Hamilcar. After several other clashes, they definitively allied with Rome in 194, mantaining some autonomy for their capital. In 89 BCE they obtained Latin citizenship and, in 49 BCE, Roman citizenship.

Romanization of the Insubres was probably quick, also due to the reported similarities of the Celtic and Latin languages; in a short span of time after the Roman conquest several literary figures emerged, like that of Caecilius Statius.