The Bigerriones or Begerri were an Aquitani tribe dwelling in present-day Bigorre 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 mostl ...

. They were subjugated in 56 BC by the Roman forces of

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a 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 a civil war, an ...

legatus A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...

P. Licinius Crassus.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Bigerriones'' by

(mid-1st c. BC), and as ''Begerri'' (var. ''Begerbi'', ''Bebergi'', ''Bergebi'') by

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). The Bigorre region, attested as ''Begorra'' ca. 400 AD, is named after the tribe.

Geography

The Bigerriones lived in the Bigorre region, in the northern foreland of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

. Their territory was located north of the Onobrisates, south of the Atures,

Elusates The Elusates were an Aquitani tribe dwelling in the modern Gers department, around present-day Eauze, France during the Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. ...

and Auscii, east of the Venarni, and west of the

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 ...

. Their chief town was known as Bigorra Castrum (modern Saint-Lézer).

Culture

It is believed the Bigerriones 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