The Tarbelli were an

Aquitani The Aquitani were a tribe that lived in the region between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic ocean, and the Garonne, in present-day southwestern France in the 1st century BCE. The Romans dubbed this region '' Gallia Aquitania''. Classical authors such ...

tribe dwelling in the present-day regions of

Labourd Labourd ( eu, Lapurdi; la, Lapurdum; Gascon: ''Labord'') is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial c ...

and Chalosse, in the west of Aquitania, 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 ...

. Alongside the

Auscii The Auscii or Ausci were an Aquitani tribe dwelling around present-day Auch during the Iron Age. Alongside the Tarbelli, they were one of the most powerful peoples of Aquitania. Name They are mentioned as ''Ausci'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ...

, they were one of the most powerful peoples of Aquitania. They were subjugated in 56 BC by the Roman forces of Caesar's legatus P. Licinius Crassus.

Name

They are mentioned as ''Tarbelli'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), as ''Tárbelloi'' (Τάρβελλοι) 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 s ...

(early 1st c. AD), as ''Tarbelli Quattuorsignani'' by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as ''Tarbellus'' on an inscription., s.v. ''Tarbelli (Quattuorsignani)''. Joaquín Gorrochategui proposed to see the name as the suffix ''tar''- attached to the adjective ''bel'' ('black'), which is common in Aquitanian onomastics.

Geography

The Tarbelli lived in the regions of

and Chalosse, on both sides of the

Adour The Adour (; eu, Aturri; oc, Ador) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre (Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean ( Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. ...

river. Their territory was located east of the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Vardulli, south of the

Cocosates The Cocosates or Cocosates Sexsignani were an Aquitani tribe dwelling in present-day Landes during the Iron Age. Name They are mentioned as ''Cocosates'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), and as ''Cocosates Sexsignani'' by Pliny (1st c. AD). The et ...

, west of the Tarusates, Atures and Venarni. Their chief town was known as ''Aquae Terebellicae'' or ''Aquae Tarbellicae'' (present-day Dax).

Culture

It is believed that the Tarbelli 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,

Political organization

The Tarbelli were a confederation of four tribes. The

and Tarusates were probably their clients.

Economy

Gold extraction and mineral springs brought them a certain wealth, although their main activities remained centred on field and meadow husbandry.

References

Bibliography

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