The
Aquitani (
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
for
Aquitanians) were a people living in what is now
AquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, in the region between the
PyreneesThe Pyrenees are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain...
, the
Atlantic oceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
and the
GaronneThe Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of 575 km .-Origin of the name:...
.
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, who defeated them in his campaign in
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
, describes them as making up a distinct part of Gaul.
Despite apparent cultural connections to Iberia, the area of Aquitania, as a part of Gaul ended at the Pyrenees according to Caesar:
The presence of what seem to be names of deities or people in late Romano-Aquitanian funerary slabs similar to modern
BasqueBasque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is the mother tongue of approximately one fifth of Basques, 632,000 out of nearly 3,000,000...
have led many
philologistsPhilology considers both form and meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies.Classical philology is the philology of the Greek, Latin and Sanskrit languages...
and linguists to conclude that
AquitanianThe Aquitanian language was spoken in ancient Aquitaine before the Roman conquest and, probably much later, until the Early Middle Ages....
was closely related to an older form of Basque.
Discussion
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The
Aquitani (
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
for
Aquitanians) were a people living in what is now
AquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, in the region between the
PyreneesThe Pyrenees are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain...
, the
Atlantic oceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
and the
GaronneThe Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of 575 km .-Origin of the name:...
.
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, who defeated them in his campaign in
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
, describes them as making up a distinct part of Gaul.
Despite apparent cultural connections to Iberia, the area of Aquitania, as a part of Gaul ended at the Pyrenees according to Caesar:
The presence of what seem to be names of deities or people in late Romano-Aquitanian funerary slabs similar to modern
BasqueBasque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is the mother tongue of approximately one fifth of Basques, 632,000 out of nearly 3,000,000...
have led many
philologistsPhilology considers both form and meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies.Classical philology is the philology of the Greek, Latin and Sanskrit languages...
and linguists to conclude that
AquitanianThe Aquitanian language was spoken in ancient Aquitaine before the Roman conquest and, probably much later, until the Early Middle Ages....
was closely related to an older form of Basque. The fact that the region was known as
VasconiaThe Duchy of Vasconia was originally a Frankish march formed in the seventh century to protect the Aquitanian frontier from the Basques...
in the Early
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, a name that evolved into the better known form of
GasconyGascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
, along with other toponymic evidence, seems to corroborate that assumption.
Although the country was named
Novempopulania (nine peoples), the number of tribes varied (about 20 for Strabo); among them:
- Tarbelli in the coastal side of Landes, with Dax (Aquis Tarbellicis)
- Cocosates in the west of Landes departement
- Boiates probably around Arcachon Bay
Arcachon Bay, in French the Bassin d'Arcachon , is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest sea shore of France, situated as a landmark between the Côte d'Argent and the Côte des Landes, in the region of Aquitaine. The bay covers an area of 150 km² at high tide and 40 km² at low tide...
and norwest of Landes departement
- Vasates in the north around Bazas
Bazas is a town and commune of the Gironde department in south-western France.-Geography:Bazas stands on a narrow promontory above the Beuve valley 60 km/37 mi southeast of Bordeaux and 40 km/25 mi southwest of Marmande.-History:...
(south of GirondeGironde is a common name for the Gironde Estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
department)
- Sotiates in the north around Sos-en-Albret (south of Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers.-History:Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the provinces of Guyenne and Gascogne...
department)
- Elusates in the northeast around Eauze
Eauze is a commune in the Gers department in south-western France.-History:The ancient bishopric of Eauze in Gaul was united with the episcopal see of Auch probably in the 9th century...
(former Elusa)
- Ausci in the east around Auch
Auch is a commune in south-western France. Located in the region of Midi-Pyrénées, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony. At the 1999 census there were 24,725 inhabitants in the urban area of Auch.-The Ausci:Auch is a very ancient town...
(metropolis of Aquitaine)
- Convenae, a "groupement" in the southeast (high Garonne
The Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of 575 km .-Origin of the name:...
valley)
- Bigerriones or Begerri in the west of the french departement of High Pyrennees
Hautes-Pyrénées is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.-History:...
(medieval county of BigorreThe County of Bigorre was a small feudatory of the Duchy of Aquitaine in the ninth through fifteenth centuries. Its capital was Tarbes.The county was constituted out of the dowry of a Faquilène, an Aquitainian princess, for her husband Donatus Lupus I, the son of Lupus III of Gascony...
)
- Suburates
The Suburates or Sibulates, also named Sibusates by Julius Caesar, or Sybillates by Pliny the Elder, were the Aquitanian people who lived in the Basque province of Soule....
probably around SouleSoule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...
/Xüberoa; the same of CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's Sibuzates?
See also
- Aquitanian language
The Aquitanian language was spoken in ancient Aquitaine before the Roman conquest and, probably much later, until the Early Middle Ages....
- Novempopulania
Novempopulania was one of the provinces created by Diocletian out of Gallia Aquitania, being also called Aquitania Tertia. The area of Novempopulania was historically the first one to receive the name of Aquitania, as it was here where the original Aquitani dwelt primarily...
- Gallia Aquitania
Gallia Aquitania was a province of the Roman Empire, bordered by the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, and Hispania Tarraconensis...
- Duchy of Vasconia
The Duchy of Vasconia was originally a Frankish march formed in the seventh century to protect the Aquitanian frontier from the Basques...
- Vascones
- Cantabri
The Cantabri were an ancient confederacy of eleven tribes, perhaps Celtic, that inhabited the north coast of Hispania in the whole modern province of Cantabria, the eastern third of Asturias and the nearby mountainous regions of modern Castile-Leon....
- Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
- Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
This is a list of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian peninsula .-Non-Indo-European:*Aquitanians**Aquitani**Autrigones - some consider them Celtic .**Caristii - some consider them Celtic ....