The Auscii or Ausci were an Aquitani tribe dwelling around present-day Auch during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. Alongside the

Tarbelli The Tarbelli were an Aquitani tribe dwelling in the present-day regions of Labourd and Chalosse, in the west of Aquitania, during the Iron Age. Alongside the Auscii, they were one of the most powerful peoples of Aquitania. They were subjugate ...

, they were one of the most powerful peoples of Aquitania.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Ausci'' by

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

(mid-1st c. BC),

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

(1st c. AD) and

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...

(mid-1st c. AD), and as ''Au̓skíois'' (Αὐσκίοις) by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

(early 1st c. AD)., s.v. ''Auscii''. The

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

''Auscii'' may be related to the prefix ''eusk''-, meaning 'Basque' in the Basque language ('' euskara''). The city of Auch, attested as ''civitas Auscius'' in the early 4th century AD, is named after the tribe.

Geography

Their territory was located north of the Onobrisates, west of the Cambolectri and

Volcae Tectosages The Volcae () were a Gallic tribal confederation constituted before the raid of combined Gauls that invaded Macedonia c. 270 BC and fought the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC. Tribes known by the name Volcae were found si ...

, south of the Lactorates, west of the Atures. The chief town of the Auscii was known as Elimberrum (modern Auch), whose name can be compared to the Basque ''ili-berri'' ('new town').

Culture

It is believed that the Auscii spoke a form or dialect of the Aquitanian language, a precursor of the Basque language.Jacques Lemoine, ''Toponymie du Pays Basque Français et des Pays de l'Adour'', Picard 1977,

References

Bibliography

* * * * Aquitani Basque history {{europe-ethno-group-stub

Name

Geography

Culture

See also

References

Bibliography