Gallia Aquitania
gigatos | March 30, 2022
Summary
Gallia Aquitania was the (Latin) name of a Roman province in the Roman Empire. The capital of Gallia Aquitania was Burdigala (present-day Bordeaux).
Like the rest of Gaul, Aquitaine was conquered by Gaius Julius Caesar during the Gallic War. Caesar wrote in his book Commentarii de bello Gallico that Gaul was divided into three parts, one inhabited by the Belgae, one by the Aquitanians, and one by the actual Gauls. Most scholars do agree that the Belgae and actual Gauls spoke closely related Celtic languages. The Aquitani, however, who lived between the Garonne and the Pyrenees, spoke a language akin to that of the ancestors of the Basques, and possibly to that of the ancient Iberians.
Aquitaine was bounded by the Liger River (Loire) to the northeast, the Pyrenees to the south, and the Bay of Biscay to the west. Geographically, the precursors of the Pyrenees made the land south very uneven. Unlike the coastal region which was too sandy and produced only millet, the soils in the north and on the Garumna were very fertile. Agriculture was possible and it is also here that the land is unusually rich in minerals. Already in ancient times iron and marble were mined in the Cevennes. The Petrocorii were known as good iron workers and both the Ruteni and Gabales had silver mines. The Tarbelli, on the other hand, were engaged in the extraction of gold.
Aquitania takes its name from the Latin aqua, meaning “water.” With the name, the Romans referred to the numerous springs that spring up in the Pyrenees and make their way through the landscape. It is, incidentally, through this uncomplicated drainage system that the area forms a unity. This is more or less also true for the climate: the humidity and harsh winters that can vary greatly from year to year significantly increase the risks for agriculture.
In Aquitania there were a number of important cities of which Burdigala (present-day Bordeaux), Clermont, Saintes and Poitiers are some. Yet it is difficult to assign any of these the title of capital city. No document from the high period can help us in this regard. Burdigala comes to prominence rather late. Saintes was also important and is also a candidate because of its history. Poitiers is also a candidate, especially in the 2nd century. However, the question remains open. That the city had an important place is shown by the fact that craftsmanship in Aquitaine developed mainly in the cities, and weakly outside them. Several remains of Roman villas can still be found there. Furthermore, the Romans left behind characteristic structures, which the Aquitanians learned from without really imitating them. In the Romanesque period, the region would thus acquire its own face.
Important Roman roads that ran through the province were the via XXXIV that connected the Iberian peninsula with Burdigala. This ran to Pamplona. When Augustus made Lugdunum (today”s Lyon) the capital of Gaul, Agrippa also had several routes constructed to this city. One of them crossed Aquitaine and went in the direction of Saintes.
The Aquitanians, who were not Celtic but Iberian tribes, spoke a language related to Basque in the pre-Roman period. Aquitanian is known from names of gods and people that appear in Latin inscriptions, dating from about the beginning of our era. Several of these names have a meaning in Basque from which one can deduce that Aquitanian is an ancient form of Basque. The Bituriges living at the mouth of the Garonne, on the other hand, are considered Celtic. According to Pliny, most of the Aquitanians lived along the coast. As early as the Bronze Age there were frequent contacts between the Aquitanians and northern Spain. This would only increase later in opposition to the Roman oppressors. The resistance against Caesar for example was concentrated around Gergovia (a city of the Averni where Vercingetorix was born) and also around Alesia, where incidentally the war ended in favor of the Romans.
The Aquitani were first subdued by Pompey in 71 BC, then by Crassus under Julius Caesar in 56 BC, then by Agrippa under Augustus, and finally by Messalla. In 50 BC the area was conquered, after which it became part of the Roman Empire. This was part of a strategic plan to protect the routes to the Iberian Peninsula. From then on, Aquitania was surrounded by three other provinces: Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis and Hispania Tarraconensis.
Aquitaine in the narrower sense was subdued by Caesar”s legate Crassus. Aquitaine in the broader sense would later extend to the river Loire. Two more rebellions would break out thereafter, which would be put down by Agrippa in 38 and by Messalla Corvinus (battle of Actium).
However, the establishment of the four Gallic provinces, Narbonensis, Aquitania, Lugdunensis and Belgica, would take place under Emperor Augustus. In 27 BC he united fourteen Celtic tribes and added them to the Aquitani proper. These were the Averni, Bituriges, Cubi, Cadurci, Gabali, Lemovices, Ruteni, Vellavii, Nitiobriges, Petrocorii, Pictones, Santoni and the Bituriges Vivisci. From now on the Loire formed the northern border of Aquitaine. Augustus reorganized all of Gaul and made Lugdunum its center.
Later, another reorganization of the empire followed. This took place in 293 under Emperor Diocletian. Aquitania was divided into a southern province Novempopulana – with Eauze as its capital – and two northern provinces: Aquitania prima, whose capital was Avaricum (Bourges), in the northeast and Aquitania secunda with Burdigala (Bordeaux) as its capital in the northwest. The following tribes belonged to the “first Aquitania”: civitates Biturigum, Avernorum, Rutenorum, Albiginsium, Codivicorum, Lemovicum, Gabalum and Vellavorum. The populations in Aquitania secunda were the civitates Burdegalensium, Agennensium, Enconinnensium, Santonum, Pictorum and Petrocoriorum. Finally, the province of Novempopulana also had the largest number of tribes: the civitates Ausciorum, Aquensium, Lactoratium, Convenorum, Consorannorum, Boratium, Benornensium, Aturensium, Vacatica, Turba, Iluronensium and Elosatium.
With the crossing of the frozen Rhine by the Alans, Vandals and Suebs on the last day of the year 406 a migration in a southerly direction was started. In 418 the Roman rulers under the emperorship of Flavius Honorius concluded a foederati with the Visigoths by which the latter were granted a part of Aquitaine. For some time already, attempts had been made to protect the borders of the empire by allowing groups of barbarians to settle in sparsely populated demilitarized zones. In exchange, they undertook to defend these areas as Roman allies. Henceforth, Toulouse would be the seat of the Visigothic kings. In 507, after the battle of Vouillé, they were driven out by the Franks under Clovis.
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