Aquitani

The Aquitani were a group of ancient tribes located in southwestern Gaul during the late Iron Age and into Roman times. In Roman sources, notably Julius Caesar, they are described as a people distinct from the Celts and the Iberians, living in the Atlantic-facing lands around the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, in what is now the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and adjacent areas.

Geography and society: The core area of the Aquitani lay along the western edge of Gaul, near the Atlantic coast and the Pyrenean foothills. Their territory included river basins and coastal settlements, with a mix of hill forts and towns. The exact social and political organization varied over time, and Roman authors treat the Aquitani as a plural of tribes rather than a single polity.

Language and culture: The Aquitanian language is known from a small corpus of inscriptions and personal names. It is generally regarded as non-Indo-European and is often linked to the Basque language, though the precise relationship remains debated. Archaeological evidence points to a local Iron Age culture with contacts across the western Mediterranean world, reflected in varying material styles and crafts across coastal and inland sites.

History under Rome: The region was incorporated into Roman Gaul as Gallia Aquitania in the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE. It experienced gradual Romanization and became a significant administrative and military area within the empire. After the collapse of Roman authority, the territory remained central to the later development of Frankish Gaul and the medieval area later known as Aquitaine.

Legacy: The term Aquitani survives in historical and linguistic contexts as a designation used by ancient authors for these southwestern Gaulish tribes. The name survives today in the region of Aquitaine (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) in modern France.