Alpes Cottiae in the context of Embrun, Hautes-Alpes

Marcus Julius Cottius was King of the Celtic and Ligurian inhabitants of the mountainous Roman province then known as Alpes Taurinae and now as the Cottian Alps early in the 1st century BC. Son and successor to King Donnus, he negotiated a dependent status with Emperor Augustus that preserved considerable autonomy for his country, making him a Roman governor, and adopted Roman citizenship.

The Alpes Graiae et Poeninae, also known by the 2nd century AD as Alpes Atrectianae et Poeninae, was a small Alpine province of the Roman Empire created after the merging of the Alpes Poeninae (or Vallis Poenina) and the Alpes Graiae (or Alpes Atrectianae). Comprising the modern Canton of Valais (Switzerland), the Tarantaise Valley, Beaufortain, Haut-Faucigny (France) and the Aosta Valley (Italy), it was one of the three provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy, along with the Alpes Maritimae and Alpes Cottiae.

The Procurator of the province resided in the capital of this province: Axima, which became Forum Claudii Ceutronum (Aime-la-Plagne), former capital of the Alpes Graiae. He was seconded by a Praefectus in Octodorum, which became Forum Claudii Vallensium (Martigny) for the Alpes Poeninae.

The chieftain called by Latins Donnus was the ruler of the Ligurian tribes inhabiting the mountainous region now known as the Cottian Alps during the 1st century BC. Although initially an opponent of Julius Caesar during the latter's conquest of Gaul, Donnus later made peace with him.Donnus' son and successor, Cottius, initially maintained his independence in the face of Augustus' effort to subdue the various Alpine tribes, but afterwards agreed to an alliance, and the family continued to rule the region as prefects of Rome, until Nero annexed the dominion as the province of Alpes Cottiae.His name was first cited in the Arch of Augustus of Susa engraving.