The Oxybii or Oxubii (Ancient Greek: ) were a

Celto-Ligurian The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian language, Italian: liguri; English language, English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day Northern Italy, north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria cor ...

tribe dwelling on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast 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 ...

and the

Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

Name

They are mentioned as ''Oxubíōn'' (Ὀξυβίων) by

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

(2nd c. BC) and

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), and as ''Oxubi'' by Pliny (1st c. AD). Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel has proposed to interpret the ethnic name ''Oxubii'' as 'the inhabitants of a high place' or else as 'the ox-slayers', from the Celtic stem ''oxso''- ('ox') or ''uxso''- ('high'). According to her, such linguistically Celtic tribal names suggest that a Celto-Ligurian dialect played an important role among the languages spoken in ancient Ligury.

Geography

The Oxybii dwelled on the Mediterranean coast. Their territory was located east of the Suelteri and Verucini, and either east of the

Deciates The Deciates (Δεκιήταις) were a Ligurian tribe dwelling near on the Mediterranean coast, around present-day Antibes, during the Iron Age and the Roman era. According to historian Guy Barruol, they were part of the Saluvian confederat ...

(near the

Vediantii The Vediantii were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast, near present-day Nice, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Ou̓ediantíōn'' (Οὐεδιαντίων) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), and ...

) or west of them (near the river

Argens The Argens (; oc, Argens) is a 116 km long river of the French Riviera. Its drainage basin is fully included in the Var department.Massif de l'Esterel The Massif de l'Esterel (Occitan Provençal: ''Esterèu''; English: Esterel Massif) is a Mediterranean coastal mountain range in the departments of Var and Alpes-Maritimes on the French Riviera. Neighbouring cities are Mandelieu-la-Napoule and ...

)., Map 16: Col. Forum Iulii-Albingaunum. The exact location of the sea-port of the Oxybii, named Aegitna and located west of the river Apro, has been debated. The most popular propositions are Théoule (with the river Siagne), west of the Deciates, and

Cagnes Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; oc, Canha de Mar) is a French Riviera town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in south-eastern ...

(with the river

Cagne The Cagne is a river that flows through the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeastern France. Its source is near Coursegoules, and it flows into the Mediterranean Sea in Cagnes-sur-Mer. It is long. The Malvan Malvan (also written as Malwan ...

), east of the Deciates. According to historian

Guy Barruol Guy Barruol (born 10 June 1934) is a French historian and archaeologist. He is director of research emeritus at the CNRS. Biography Guy Barruol was born on 10 June 1934 in Mazan, Vaucluse, the son of Jean Barruol (1898–1982), a local histori ...

, the Oxybii were part of the Saluvian confederation.

History

In 155 BC, the Ligurians besieged the

Massaliote Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western An ...

colonies of Nicaea (

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

) and Antipolis (

Antibes Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of ...

), which caused the Romans to send the legates Flaminius, Popilius Laenas and Lucius Pupius to the region. The Oxybii tried to prevent them from landing in their territory at Aegitna, but finding that Flaminius had already done so, they wounded him, killed two of his servants and drove the rest back into the sea. The Roman Senate, on hearing of the incident, dispatched an army under the consul

Quintus Opimius Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus'', a common Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is an English masculine given name and a ...

. They first took Aegitna by assault, sold the inhabitants into slavery and sent the ringleaders to Rome. The Oxybii then collected a force to attack the Romans, and were eventually joined by the

. After the Ligurian defeat, Quintus Opimius granted a great part of their territory to Massalia.

References

;Primary sources * * ;Bibliography * * * * * *

Name

Geography

History

References

Further reading