The Velaunii or Velauni (Gaulish: *Uelaunoi) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the western Alps during the Iron Age.
It may mean the 'chiefs, commandants',[4] or else be derived from the Indo-European root *wel- ('to see') attached to the suffix -auni (< *āmn-ī), also found in Ingauni and Ligauni.
Although no pre-Roman occupation has been found in archaeological records, the development of the Roman city suggests the presence of preexisting communities in the valley of the Estéron.
[7] They are mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Alpine tribes conquered by Rome in 16–15 BC, and whose name was engraved on the Tropaeum Alpium.
[6][1] A treaty of hospitality with a Greek city, possibly Massalia, was recorded by an inscription on a bronze hand dated to the 2nd–1st century BC.