"The Celtic aristocracy [of Gaul] … developed the system of retainers, that is, the privilege of the nobility to surround themselves with a number of hired mounted servants—the ambacti as they were called—and thereby to form a state within a state; and, resting on the support of these troops of their own, they defied the legal authorities and the common levy and practically broke up the commonwealth. … This remarkable word [ambacti] must have been in use as early as the sixth century of Rome among the Celts in the valley of the Po. … It is not merely Celtic, however, but also German, the root of our 'Amt,' as indeed the retainer-system itself is common to the Celts and the Germans. It would be of great historical importance to ascertain whether the word—and therefore the thing—came to the Celts from the Germans or to the Germans from the Celts. If, as is usually supposed, the word is originally German and primarily signified the servant standing in battle 'against the back' ('and '=against, 'bak'=back) of his master, this is not wholly irreconcilable with the singularly early occurrence of the word among the Celts. … It is … probable that the Celts, in Italy as in Gaul, employed Germans chiefly as those hired servants-at-arms. The 'Swiss guard' would therefore in that case be some thousands of years older than people suppose." _T. Mommsen, History of Rome, book 5, chapter 7, and foot-note._ AMBARRI, The. A small tribe in Gaul which occupied anciently a district between the Saone, the Rhone and the Ain. _Napoleon III., History of Cæsar, book 3, chapter 2, note._ AMBIANI, The. See BELGÆ. AMBITUS. Bribery at elections was termed ambitus among the Romans, and many unavailing laws were enacted to check it. _W. Ramsay, Manual of Roman Antiquity, chapter 9._ AMBIVARETI, The. A tribe in ancient Gaul which occupied the left bank of the Meuse, to the south of the marsh of Peel. _Napoleon III., History of Cæsar, book 3, chapter 2, note._ AMBLEVE, Battle of (716.) See FRANKS (MEROVINGIAN EMPIRE): A. D. 511-752. AMBOISE, Conspiracy or Tumult of. See FRANCE: A. D. 1559-1561. AMBOISE, Edict of. See FRANCE: A. D. 1560-1563. AMBOYNA, Massacre of. See INDIA: A. D. 1600-1702. AMBRACIA (Ambrakia). See KORKYRA. AMBRONES, The. See CIMBRI AND TEUTONES: B. C. 113-102. AMBROSIAN CHURCH. AMBROSIAN CHANT. See MILAN: A. D. 374-397. AMEIXAL, OR ESTREMOS, Battle of (1663). See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1637-1668. [Image: ETHNOLOGICAL MAP OF MODERN EUROPE (right)] {46} AMERICA, The Name. See below: A. D. 1500-1514. AMERICA, Prehistoric.