The
Oxybii were a
LigurianThe Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
tribe living on the Mediterranean coast of
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
near Massallia. The border with the Ligurian
DeciatesThe Deciates were a Ligurian tribe in the first few centuries BC. They lived in the Antibes area of what is now France, west of the river Var . The border with the Ligurian Oxybii being to the west of Antipolis and east of Forum Julii...
being to the west of
AntipolisAntibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...
and east of
Forum JuliiFréjus is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, effectively forming one town...
(Smith,
entry on Oxybii).
The Oxybii attacked Massallia in 155 BCE (
PolybiusPolybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
,
Histories, 33.7) and in consequence their allies the Romans sent a commission, consisting of Flaminius, Popilius Laenas, and Lucius Pupius. When these were attacked at the Oxybian coastal city of
Aegitna (
PolybiusPolybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
,
Histories, 33.10), the Romans dispatched an army under the consul Quintus Opimius, who defeated the Oxybii and the
DeciatesThe Deciates were a Ligurian tribe in the first few centuries BC. They lived in the Antibes area of what is now France, west of the river Var . The border with the Ligurian Oxybii being to the west of Antipolis and east of Forum Julii...
at the battle of Aegitna, three kilometres north of
AntipolisAntibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...
(Cosson, p.21;
PolybiusPolybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
,
Histories, 33.11).