View source for Gallia Aquitania

{{Short description|Roman province from 27 BC until the 5th century}}
{{Redirect|Aquitania}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
| native_name            = {{aut|''Provincia Gallia Aquitania''}}<br>Province des Gaules, Aquitaine
| conventional_long_name = 
| common_name            = Gallia Aquitania
| subdivision            = [[Roman province|Province]]
| nation                 = the [[Roman Empire]]
| era                    = [[ancient history|Antiquity]]
| capital                = [[Mediolanum Santonum]] (later moved to [[Burdigala]])
| title_leader           = 
| image_map              = Roman Empire - Aquitania (125 AD).svg
| image_map_caption      = The province of Gallia Aquitania within the Roman Empire, c. 125 AD
| life_span              = 
| year_start             = 27 BC
| event_start            = Established after the [[Gallic Wars]]
| year_end               = 5th century
| event_end              = Visigoth conquest
| today                  = [[France]]<br>[[Spain]]
| s1                     = Aquitania Prima
| s2                     = Aquitania Secunda
| s3                     = Novempopulania
}}
[[File:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|400px|The Roman empire in the time of [[Hadrian]] (ruled 117–138 AD), showing, in southwestern [[Gaul]], the [[imperial province]] of '''Gallia Aquitania''' ([[Aquitaine]], Fr.)]]
'''Gallia Aquitania''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|æ|l|i|ə|_|ˌ|æ|k|w|ɪ|ˈ|t|eɪ|n|i|ə}}, {{IPA|la|ˈɡalːi.a akᶣiːˈtaːni.a|lang}}),<ref>Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879). "Aquitania". ''A Latin Dictionary.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=A%5Equi_ta_ni%5Ea Perseus Digital Library], Tufts University.</ref> also known as '''[[Aquitaine]]''' or '''Aquitaine Gaul''', was a [[list of Roman provinces|province]] of the [[Roman Empire]]. It lies in present-day southwest [[France]] and the [[Comarques of Catalonia|comarca]] of [[Val d'Aran]] in northeast [[Spain]], where it gives its name to the modern [[Regions of France|region]] of [[Aquitaine]]. It was bordered by the provinces of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]], [[Gallia Narbonensis]], and [[Hispania Tarraconensis]].<ref name="Drinkwater">John Frederick Drinkwater (1998). "Gaul (Transalpine)". ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization.'' Ed. Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth. Oxford University Press. [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t133.e282 Oxford Reference Online].</ref>

==Tribes of Aquitania==
Fourteen [[Celt]]ic tribes and over twenty [[Aquitani]]an tribes occupied the area from the northern slopes of the [[Pyrenees]] in the south to the ''Liger'' ([[Loire]]) river in the north. The major tribes are listed at the end of this section.<ref name="Strabo">''Strabo: The Geography'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4B*.html The Aquitani].</ref><ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/holland/pliny4.html ''Natural History'', Bk. 4].</ref> 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 the [[Volcae#Volcae Tectosages|Tectosages]].

The name ''Gallia 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 to ''Gallia Bracata'' "trousered Gaul", a term derived from ''bracae'' ("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 grew [[millet]], 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|date=July 2007}}

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.<ref name="Strabo"/>

The Romans called the tribal groups ''[[Pagus|pagi]]''. These were organized into larger super-tribal groups that the Romans called ''[[civitates]]''. 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, [[Bigorre|Bergerri]], [[Bituriges Cubi]], [[Bituriges Vivisci]], [[Cadurci]], Cambolectri Agesinates, Camponi, [[Comminges|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.

==Gallia Aquitania and Rome==
[[Gaul]] as a nation was not a natural unit (Caesar differentiated between proper Gauls (Celtae), Belgae and [[Aquitani]]).<ref>Caesar, Commentaria de bello gallico, I 1. See C.B. Krebs (2006), [https://www.academia.edu/2434122/Imaginary%20Geography%20in%20Caesars%20Bellum%20Gallicum "Imaginary Geography in Caesar's Bellum Gallicum,"] AJP 127: 111-36.</ref> In order to protect the route to Spain, Rome helped Massalia ([[Marseille]]) against bordering tribes. Following this intervention, the Romans conquered what they called ''Provincia'', or the "Province" in 121 BC. ''Provincia'' extended from the [[Mediterranean]] to [[Lake Geneva]], and was later known as Narbonensis with its capital at [[Narbo]].<ref name="Drinkwater"/> Some of the region is now a part of modern [[Provence]], named after the Roman district.

The main struggle against the Romans occurred from 58 to 50 BC when [[Vercingetorix]] fought against [[Julius Caesar]] at the [[Battle of Gergovia]] (a city of the Arverni) and at the [[Battle 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.<ref name="Strabo"/>

Caesar named Aquitania the triangle shaped territory between the Ocean, the Pyrenees and the [[Garonne]] river. He fought and almost completely subdued them in 56 BC after [[Publius Licinius Crassus (son of triumvir)|Publius Crassus]]'s military exploits assisted by Celtic allies. New rebellions ensued anyway up to 28–27 BC, with [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] 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 by [[Augustus]],<ref>{{cite book | author = Caro Baroja, Julio | year = 1985 | title = ''Los vascones y sus vecinos'' | publisher = Editorial Txertoa | location= San Sebastian | isbn = 84-7148-136-7 | page = 129}}</ref> following the census conducted in 27 BC, based on Agrippa's observations of language, race and community according to some sources.<ref>Matthew Bunson (1994). ''[[Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire]]''. Facts on File, New York. p. 169.</ref> At that point, Aquitania became an imperial province and it, along with Narbonensis, Lugdunensis and Belgica, made up [[Gallia]].<ref>''The Histories of Appian'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/5*.html The Civil Wars]</ref> Aquitania lay under the command of a former [[Praetor]], and hosted no legions.<ref>Livius.org, [https://www.livius.org/gi-gr/governor/provinces.html ''Provinces (Roman)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226144146/http://www.livius.org/gi-gr/governor/provinces.html |date=2016-12-26 }}.</ref>
[[File:Sestertius Hadrianus Roma Victory Cornucopia.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sestertius]] of [[Hadrian]] found in the Garonne near [[Bordeaux|Burdigala]], from a shipwreck of 155/56 AD]]
More so than Caesar, [[Strabo]] insists that the [[Aquitani|primeval Aquitani]] differ from the other Gauls not just in [[Aquitanian language|language]], institutions and laws ("''lingua institutis legibusque discrepantes''") but in body make-up too, deeming them closer to the [[Iberians]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Caro Baroja, Julio | year = 1985 | title = ''Los vascones y sus vecinos'' | publisher = Editorial Txertoa | location= San Sebastian | isbn = 84-7148-136-7 | page = 127}}</ref> The administrative boundaries set up by Augustus comprising both proper Celtic tribes and primeval Aquitani remained unaltered until [[Diocletian]]'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 against [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus]] and against [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 122 BC)|Gnaeus 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 the ''Rhenus'' ([[Rhine]]).
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==Late Roman Empire and the Visigoths==
{{Main|Aquitaine#History|l1=History of Aquitaine}}

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 with [[Postumus]]). 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 the ''Diocesis Viennensis'' in the south of Gaul, comprising the former Gallia Aquitania and Gallia Narbonensis. At the same time, Aquitania was divided into ''[[Aquitania Prima]]'', with its [[Episcopal see|see]] (capital) in ''[[Bourges|Avaricum Biturigum]]'' (Bourges), ''[[Aquitania Secunda]]'' (see – ''[[Bordeaux|Burdigala]]''; the later Bordeaux) and ''Aquitania Tertia'', better known as ''[[Novempopulania]]'' ("land of the nine peoples"), with its see in ''[[Eauze|Elusa]]'' (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.<ref name="Drinkwater"/> 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 Germanic [[Visigoths]]. The Emperor [[Flavius Honorius]] conceded land in Aquitania to the Visigoths . According to some sources the Visigoths were Roman ''[[foederati]]'' and Flavius acted to reward them under the principle of ''[[hospitalitas]]'' (i.e. the Roman legal framework under which civilians were required to provide quarters to soldiers).<ref>P. Heather. (1996). ''The Goths'', Blackwell Publishers, Oxford.</ref><ref>H. Sivan. (1987). "On ''Foederati'', ''Hospitalitas'', and the Settlement of the Goths in AD 418", ''American Journal of Philology'' ''108'' (4), 759–772.</ref> However, in 418, an independent [[Visigothic Kingdom]] was formed from parts of ''Novempopulania'' and ''Aquitania Secunda''. The death of the general [[Flavius Aetius|Aëtius]] (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 the [[Iberian Peninsula]].

From 602, an independent [[Duchy of Vasconia]] (or ''Wasconia'') was formed, under a [[Franks|Frankish]]-Roman elite, in the former Visigothic stronghold of south-west Aquitania (i.e. the region known later as [[Gascony]]).

==Known governors ==
* [[Quintus Julius Cordus]]<ref>Unless otherwise stated, the names of the governors from 69 to 138 are taken from [[Werner Eck]], "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''[[Chiron (journal)|Chiron]]'', 12 (1982), pp.&nbsp;281–362; 13 (1983), pp.&nbsp;147–237</ref> AD 69
* [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]] 74–76
* [[Marcus Cornelius Nigrinus Curiatius Maternus]] 80–83
* [[Senecio Memmius Afer]] 94–96
* [Lucius Valerius Propinquus?] Grani[us ...?] Grattius [Cerealis?] Geminius R[estitutus?] 123–125
* Salvius Valens<ref name=Syme>Ronald Syme, [http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1989/079pdf/079181.pdf "A Lost Legate of Aquitania"], ''[[Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik]]'', 79 (1988), pp.&nbsp;181–187</ref>
* [[Quintus Caecilius Marcellus Dentilianus]] c. 138
* [[Titus Prifernius Paetus Rosianus Geminus]]<ref>Unless otherwise stated, the names of the proconsular governors from 141 to 177 are taken from Géza Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen'' (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1977), pp. 252f</ref> 142–145
* [[Quintus Cecilius Marcellus Dentillianus]] 146–149
* [...] Licianus
* Fidus 150s<ref name=Syme/>
* [[Marcus Censorius Paullus]] ?157–?160
* [[Publius Flavius Pudens Pomponianus]] second half second century<ref>Paul Leunissen, ''Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander'' (Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1989), pp.&nbsp;204f</ref>
* [[Lucius Julius Julianus]] during the reign of Caracalla<ref name=Leunissen-283>Leunissen, ''Konsuln und Konsulare'', p.&nbsp;283</ref>
* [[Marcus Juventius Secundus Rixa Postumius Pansa Valerianus Severus]] early third century<ref name=Leunissen-283/>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Roman provinces AD 117}}
{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gallia Aquitania| ]]
[[Category:Provinces of Roman Gaul]]
[[Category:History of Aquitaine]]
[[Category:Former countries in French history]]
[[Category:27 BC establishments]]
[[Category:1st-century BC establishments in Roman Gaul]]
[[Category:20s BC establishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:5th-century disestablishments]]
[[Category:5th-century disestablishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 5th century]]