| Provincia Gallia Aquitania Province des Gaules, Aquitaine | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of theRoman Empire | |||||||||||
| 27 BC–5th century | |||||||||||
.svg) The province of Gallia Aquitania within the Roman Empire, c. 125 AD | |||||||||||
| Capital | Mediolanum Santonum (later moved toBurdigala) | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||||
• Established after theGallic Wars | 27 BC | ||||||||||
• Visigoth conquest | 5th century | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | France Spain | ||||||||||
Gallia Aquitania (/ˈɡæliəˌækwɪˈteɪniə/,Latin:[ˈɡalːi.aakᶣiːˈtaːni.a]),[1] also known asAquitaine orAquitaine Gaul, was aprovince of theRoman Empire. It lies in present-day southwestFrance and thecomarca ofVal d'Aran in northeastSpain, where it gives its name to the modernregion ofAquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces ofGallia Lugdunensis,Gallia Narbonensis, andHispania Tarraconensis.[2]
FourteenCeltic tribes and over twentyAquitanian tribes occupied the area from the northern slopes of thePyrenees in the south to theLiger (Loire) river in the north. The major tribes are listed at the end of this section.[3][4] There were more than twenty tribes of Aquitani, but they were small and lacking in repute; the majority of the tribes lived along the ocean, while the others reached up into the interior and to the summits of the Cemmenus Mountains, as far as theTectosages.
The nameGallia Comata was often used to designate the three provinces of Farther Gaul, viz. Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Belgica, and Aquitania, literally meaning "long-haired Gaul", as opposed toGallia Bracata "trousered Gaul", a term derived frombracae ("breeches", the native costume of the northern "barbarians") for Gallia Narbonensis.
Most of the Atlantic coast of the Aquitani was sandy and thin-soiled; it grewmillet, but was unproductive with respect to other products. Along this coast was also the gulf held by the Tarbelli; in their land, gold mines were abundant. Large quantities of gold could be mined with a minimum of refinement. The interior and mountainous country in this region had better soil. The Petrocorii and the Bituriges Cubi had fine ironworks; the Cadurci had linen factories; the Ruteni and the Gabales had silver mines.[citation needed]
According to Strabo, the Aquitani were a wealthy people. Luerius, the King of the Arverni and the father of Bituitus who warred against Maximus Aemilianus and Dometius, is said to have been so exceptionally rich and extravagant that he once rode on a carriage through a plain, scattering gold and silver coins here and there.[3]
The Romans called the tribal groupspagi. These were organized into larger super-tribal groups that the Romans calledcivitates. These administrative groupings were later taken over by the Romans in their system of local control.
Aquitania was inhabited by the following tribes: Ambilatri, Anagnutes,Arverni,Ausci, Basabocates, Belendi, Bercorates,Bergerri,Bituriges Cubi,Bituriges Vivisci,Cadurci, Cambolectri Agesinates, Camponi,Convenae, Cocossati, Consoranni,Elusates,Gabali, Lassunni / Sassumini, Latusates / Tarusates,Lemovices, Monesi,Nitiobroges / Antobroges, Onobrisates, Oscidates montani, Oscidiates campestres,Petrocorii,Pictones, Pindedunni / Pinpedunni,Ruteni,Santones, Sediboniates, Sennates, Sibyllates, Sottiates, Succasses,Tarbelli, Tornates / Toruates, Vassei, Vellates,Vellavi, Venami.
Gaul as a nation was not a natural unit (Caesar differentiated between proper Gauls (Celtae), Belgae andAquitani).[5] In order to protect the route to Spain, Rome helped Massalia (Marseille) against bordering tribes. Following this intervention, the Romans conquered what they calledProvincia, or the "Province" in 121 BC.Provincia extended from theMediterranean toLake Geneva, and was later known as Narbonensis with its capital atNarbo.[2] Some of the region is now a part of modernProvence, named after the Roman district.
The main struggle against the Romans occurred from 58 to 50 BC whenVercingetorix fought againstJulius Caesar at theBattle of Gergovia (a city of the Arverni) and at theBattle of Alesia (a city of the Mandubii). Vercingetorix was captured at the siege of Alesia after which the war ended. Caesar seized the remainder of Gaul, justifying his conquest by playing on Roman memories of savage attacks over the Alps by Celts and Germans. Roman policy henceforth called for Italy to be defended by guarding the distant Rhine River.[3]
Caesar named Aquitania the triangle shaped territory between the Ocean, the Pyrenees and theGaronne river. He fought and almost completely subdued them in 56 BC afterPublius Crassus's military exploits assisted by Celtic allies. New rebellions ensued anyway up to 28–27 BC, withAgrippa gaining a great victory over the Gauls of Aquitania in 38 BC. It was the smallest region of all three mentioned above. A land extension stretching to the Loire River was added byAugustus,[6] following the census conducted in 27 BC, based on Agrippa's observations of language, race and community according to some sources.[7] At that point, Aquitania became an imperial province and it, along with Narbonensis, Lugdunensis and Belgica, made upGallia.[8] Aquitania lay under the command of a formerPraetor, and hosted no legions.[9]
More so than Caesar,Strabo insists that theprimeval Aquitani differ from the other Gauls not just inlanguage, institutions and laws ("lingua institutis legibusque discrepantes") but in body make-up too, deeming them closer to theIberians.[10] The administrative boundaries set up by Augustus comprising both proper Celtic tribes and primeval Aquitani remained unaltered untilDiocletian's new administrative reorganization (see below).
The Arverni often warred against the Romans with as many as two to four hundred thousand men. Two hundred thousand fought againstQuintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus and againstGnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. The Arverni not only had extended their empire as far as Narbo and the boundaries of Massiliotis, but they were also masters of the tribes as far as the Pyrenees, and as far as the ocean and theRhenus (Rhine).
Early Roman Gaul came to an end late in the 3rd century. External pressures exacerbated internal weaknesses, and neglect of the Rhine frontier resulted in barbarian invasions and civil war. For a while Gaul, including Spain and Britain, was governed by a separate line of emperors (beginning withPostumus). However, there had still been no move to gain independence. In an attempt to save the Empire,Diocletian reorganized the provinces in 293, with the establishment of theDiocesis Viennensis in the south of Gaul, comprising the former Gallia Aquitania and Gallia Narbonensis. At the same time, Aquitania was divided intoAquitania Prima, with itssee (capital) inAvaricum Biturigum (Bourges),Aquitania Secunda (see –Burdigala; the later Bordeaux) andAquitania Tertia, better known asNovempopulania ("land of the nine peoples"), with its see inElusa (Eauze).Novempopulania originated in boundaries set up by Caesar for the original Aquitania, who had kept some kind of separate sense of identity (Verus' mission to Rome aimed at demanding a separate province). After this restructuring, Gaul enjoyed stability and enhanced prestige.[2] After the trans-Rhine invasion December 31 406 by 4 tribes (Alans, Sueves, Asding and Siling Vandals), the offices of the Gallic prefecture were moved from Trier to Arles even though the Rhine frontier was subsequently restored and under Roman control till 459 when Cologne was taken by the Franks. Roman attention had been shifted to the south to try to control the invaders and keep them from the Mediterranean, a policy which failed after the Vandals started to harass the coasts from their bases in southern Spain from the early 420s.
In the early 5th century, Aquitania was invaded by the GermanicVisigoths. The EmperorFlavius Honorius conceded land in Aquitania to the Visigoths . According to some sources the Visigoths were Romanfoederati and Flavius acted to reward them under the principle ofhospitalitas (i.e. the Roman legal framework under which civilians were required to provide quarters to soldiers).[11][12] However, in 418, an independentVisigothic Kingdom was formed from parts ofNovempopulania andAquitania Secunda. The death of the generalAëtius (454) and a worsening debility on the part of the western government created a power vacuum. During the 460s and 470s, Visigoths encroached on Roman territory to the east, and in 476, the last imperial possessions in the south of Aquitania were ceded to the Visigoths. The Visigothic Kingdom later expanded over the Pyrenees and into theIberian Peninsula.
From 602, an independentDuchy of Vasconia (orWasconia) was formed, under aFrankish-Roman elite, in the former Visigothic stronghold of south-west Aquitania (i.e. the region known later asGascony).
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