The Tectosages, also called the Tectosagii, were one of the three ancient Gallic tribes in Galatia, a region in central Asia Minor. Their Gaulish name, Textosagioi, means "Dwelling-Seekers" or "Possessions-Seekers." They lived along with the Tolistobogii and Trocmii tribes.

Name

The name Tectosagii is a Latin version of the Gaulish name Textosagioi (singular: Textosagios). In Latin, the sound ⟨x⟩, which was not used in Latin, was changed to ⟨k⟩. The name means "those who seek a dwelling" or "those who seek possessions." It comes from the Celtic word texto- meaning "goods, property, or possessions" (as seen in Old Irish techt meaning "possession") and sagi- meaning "who is seeking." This name is similar to the Old Irish legal term techtaigidir*, which means "to seek to establish or reestablish a legal claim to land."

History

According to Strabo, the Tectosages originally lived near Tolosa in Gaul, where they were part of the Volcae tribal group. During the Gallic invasion of the Balkans around 280 BC, a group of the Volcae Tectosages, who had returned from Delphi, separated from the main group and joined two other tribes, the Tolistobogii and the Trocmi. Around 278 BC, they were hired as soldiers for hire by Nicomedes I of Bithynia and crossed the Bosporus. After leaving Bithynia, they raided areas in Asia Minor and eventually settled in eastern Phrygia, where they formed a new Celtic group known as the Galatians. The Tectosages lived in the central part of Galatian territory, near their capital city, Ancyra, with the Tolistobogii to the west and the Trocmi to the east.