Their chief town was Carpentorate (modern
Carpentras), listed by
Pliny in the 1st century AD as
Carpentoracte Meminorum as an
oppidum Latinum. Its pre-Roman ancestor may have been the hill-fort of La Légue. In the early 2nd century,
Ptolemy, drawing on earlier sources, refers to the settlement as
Forum Neronis, a temporary designation intended to replace the indigenous name
Carpentorate and likely introduced during the colonial foundation by
Tiberius Claudius Nero around 46–45 BC. This designation did not endure, and the settlement later reverted to its native name. Epigraphic evidence further indicates that Carpentorate attained the status of a Latin colony under the name
Colonia Iulia Meminorum. The Memini were located east of the
Cavari, south of the
Vocontii, and west of the
Albici. The boundaries of their pre-Roman territory were later preserved in those of the
civitas Carpentoratensis, and later the
bishopric of Carpentras and
Comtat Venaissin. This area was enclosed by the
Dentelles de Montmirail and
Mont Ventoux to the north and the
Monts de Vaucluse to the east. To the west and south, the border followed marshland and low-lying terrain, with natural barriers such as wetlands and sterile hills marking the limits between their territory and neighbouring regions. In the pre-Roman era, the Memini were clients of the most powerful Cavari. == References ==