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Aquitani

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The tribes confederated as the Aquitani and otherpre-Indo-Europeantribes are in black

TheAquitaniwere a tribe that lived in the region between thePyrenees,theAtlantic Ocean,and theGaronne,in present-day southwesternFrance[1]in the 1st century BC. TheRomansdubbed this regionGallia Aquitania.Classical authors such asJulius CaesarandStraboclearly distinguish the Aquitani from the other peoples ofGaul,and note their similarity to others in theIberian Peninsula.

Their old language, theAquitanian language,was a precursor of theBasque language[2]and thesubstratefor theGascon language(one of theRomance languages) spoken inGascony.Between the1st centuryand the13th century,the Aquitani gradually adopted the Gascon language while part of theRoman Empire,then theDuchy of Gasconyand theDuchy of Aquitaine.

History

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At the time of the Roman conquest,Julius Caesar,who defeated them in his campaign inGaul,describes them as making up a distinct part of Gaul:

All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which theBelgaeinhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are calledCelts,in oursGauls,the third. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The riverGaronneseparates the Gauls from the Aquitani[3]

Despite apparent cultural and linguistic connections to (Vascones), the region of Aquitania extended only to the Pyrenees according to Caesar:

Aquitania extends from the river Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains and to that part of the ocean which is near Hispania: it looks between the setting of the sun, and the north star.[4]

Relation to Basque people and language

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Late Romano-Aquitanian funerary slabs and altars contain what seem to be the names of deities or people similar to certain names in modernBasque,which has led manyphilologistsandlinguiststo conclude thatAquitanianwas closely related to an older form of Basque. Julius Caesar draws a clear line between the Aquitani, living in present-day south-western France and speaking Aquitanian, and their neighboring Celts living to the north.[5]The fact that the region was known as theVasconiain the EarlyMiddle Ages,a name that evolved into the better known form ofGascony,along with other toponymic evidence, seems to corroborate that assumption.

Tribes

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Tribes inAquitania(as was defined in the 1st century BC)
Late distribution of tribes inNovempopulaniaat the end of the 6th century AD, formerAquitaniaproper (as was defined in the 1st century BC)

Although the region where the original Aquitanians lived came to be namedNovempopulania(nine peoples) in the late years of the Roman Empire and Early Middle Ages (up to the 6th century), the number of tribes varied (about 20 forStrabo,but comparing with the information of other classical authors such asPliny,PtolemyandJulius Caesar,the total number were 32 or 33):[citation needed]

Aquitani tribes

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In the southern slopes of westernPyrenees Mountains,not inAquitaniabut in northernHispania Tarraconensis:

See also

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References

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  1. ^Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006).Encyclopedia of European Peoples.Infobase Publishing. p. 38.ISBN9781438129181.The Aquitani [...] lived in Gaul in the region between the Garonne River and the Pyrenees in present-day southwestern France [...].
  2. ^Trask, L.The History of BasqueRoutledge: 1997ISBN0-415-13116-2
  3. ^These are indeed the opening lines of Caesar’s account of his war in Gaul:Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt. Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen [...] dividit.Julius Caesar,De bello Gallico 1.1,edition ofT. Rice Holmes
  4. ^Aquitania a Garumna flumine ad Pyrenaeos montes et eam partem Oceani quae est ad Hispaniam pertinet; spectat inter occasum solis et septentriones.
  5. ^Trask, R.L. (1997).The History of Basque.New York, USA: Routledge. pp. 398–412.ISBN0-415-13116-2.
  6. ^abJudge, A. (2007-02-07).Linguistic Policies and the Survival of Regional Languages in France and Britain.Springer. p. 70.ISBN9780230286177.
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