“Note etimologiche su Τασκοδρουγῖται, Ascodrobi, Πασσαλορυγχῖται, Ἀρτοτυρῖται. Eresie galatiche o qualcos’altro?”

In Late Antiquity Galatia are apparently attested some heretical groups such as Ascodrugitae/Τασκοδρουγῖται, Artotyrites etc., which are mentioned by Hieronymus (Comm. in ep. ad Gal. 2.3 praef.) and others (Epiphanius, Panarion; Philastrius, haereseon liber; Augustine; Theodoret etc.). Information about these heresies is scarce and confused, and what we actually seem to know is barely their names (see, e.g., Raspanti 2010; Hort 1877). The focus of this paper is therefore on the etymological analysis of these forms, which appear to be onomastic dithematic compounds, a lexical structure that has a long history within Indo-European languages. The analysis will include a discussion of the linguistic strata these names may plausibly be ascribed to (i.e., Greek, Galatian/Celtic, Anatolian etc.; see Katz 1998; 2002) and the connection with (possibly Galatian) lexical items such as, e.g., δροῦγγος (Epiph. 48.14; cf. Late Latin drungus ‘globus hostium’, Old Irish drong ‘band’ etc.; see LEIA D-201; Delamarre 2003 s.v.; Rance 2004). We will thus consider the case for keeping apart historical aspects – i.e., concerning the rather uncertain and heterogeneous religious features of these alleged heresies (see, e.g., Trevett 1995; Pilch 2002), as well as their very existence – and the linguistic datum. I finally advance the hypothesis that at the origin of at least one of these names is a long-time standing tradition of Namengebung related to social groupings of various kind and, for us, of ill-defined status, not necessarily religious in nature.