They are mentioned as
Nitiobroges (var.
nitiobriges,
iciobriges),
Nitiobrogum and
Nitiobrogibus (var.
nit[h]iobrigibus,
nithiobrogibus) by
Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),
Nitiobroges (var.
antobroges) by
Pliny (1st c. AD),
Nitióbriges (Νιτιόβριγες) by
Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), and as
Nisiobroges by
Sidonius Apollinaris (5th c. AD). The name is also attested as
Nitiobrogeis (νιτιοβρογεις) on an inscription written on a
torc with the Greek alphabet, found in
Mailly-le-Camp and dated to the mid-1st century BC. The
ethnonym Nitiobroges is a latinized form of the
Gaulish *
Nitiobrogis (sing.
Nitiobrox), which literally means 'those who have their own country/territory', that is to say the 'indigenous', presumably in opposition to their neighbours that were not. It stems from the Celtic prefix
nitio- ('from here, proper') attached to
brogi-s ('territory, region,
march'). The same stem is found in the personal name
Nitio-genus ('son of the country'). Their name can be contrasted with that of the
Allo-broges ('foreigners'), who lived further northeast between the
Rhône and the
Alps, and also be compared with the
Old Welsh *
Kom-brogi-s ('from the same country'), which is at the origin of the ethnonym
Cymro ('Welsh'). == Geography ==