Suessiones

Gaulish suexsos 'sixth', Irish sé, Welsh chwech 'six'), after a Gallic custom of including numbers in tribal names (e.g. Vo-contii, Vo-corii, Tri-corii, Petru-corii).

[1][2] The oppidum of Villeneuve-Saint-Germain, founded on a plain near the Aisne river in the middle of the 1st century BC, was the main settlement of the Suessiones before the Roman conquest.

[16] According to archaeologist Jean-Louis Brunaux, large-scale migrations occurred in the northern part of Gaul in the late 4th–early 3rd century BC, which may correspond to the coming of the Belgae.

[18] Until the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), the Suessiones shared a common cultural identity with the neighbouring Remi, which with they were linked by the same law, the same magistrates and a unified commander-in-chief.

When Caesar entered Gallia Belgica in 57 BC, the Remi asked the protection of the Romans, thus gaining independence from a possibly asymmetrical relationship.

The dependency of the Suessiones upon the Remi appears to have lasted until the beginning of the 1st century AD, and a Roman military presence is attested in Suessionean territory at the camp of Arlaines (Ressons-le-Long) until the Flavian period.

[19] In Augusta Suessionum were found a votive stele dedicated to the native goddess Camuloriga (Camloriga), and a statuette of the Roman god Mercury.

[20] The divine name Camuloriga stems from the Gaulish term camulos, possibly translated as 'champion, servant' (denoting one who makes efforts) and attached to the suffix -riga- (< rigani 'queen'; compare with Old Irish rígain 'queen').

These finds lead scholars to suggest that the Suessiones had significant trade and migration into Britain during the 2nd and 1st centuries prior to Roman conquest.