Arverni

decisive Roman victory in which Rome secures the conquest of Gaul

thumb|Arverni coin depicting a warrior, 5th-1st century BC.

right|thumb|Drawing of an altar to Mercury Arvernus found at :de:Haus Gripswald|Gripswald along with a group of votive altars and reliefs dedicated to the [[Matronae]] In Gallo-Roman religion, Arvernus was the tribal god of the Arverni and an epithet of the Gaulish Mercury. Although the name refers to the Arverni, whose territory Mercury had at important sanctuary at the Puy-de-Dôme in the Massif Central, all of the inscriptions to Mercury Arvernus are found further away along the Rhenish frontier. The similar name Mercury Arvernorix, ‘king of the Arverni’, is also recorded once. Compare also

early battle of the Gallic Wars

thumb|Bituit, roi des auvergnats, mis en prison, miniature médiévale issue du De casibus virorum illustrium|De casibus de [[Boccace. XVe siècle, BnF.]] Bituitus (fl. 2nd century BCE) was a king of the Arverni, a Gaulish tribe living in what is now the Auvergne region of France. The Arverni were a powerful opponent of the Roman Republic during the 3rd and 2nd centuries under the leadership of Luernius, the father of Bituitus. In 121 BCE, Bituitus was defeated by the Roman general Fabius Maximus, ending the power of the Arverni in Mediterranean Gaul, or present-day southern France. The defeat of