Bigerriones Explained

The Bigerriones or Begerri were an Aquitani tribe dwelling in present-day Bigorre during the Iron Age.

They were subjugated in 56 BC by the Roman forces of Caesar's legatus P. Licinius Crassus.

Name

They are mentioned as Bigerriones by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),^[1] and as Begerri (var. Begerbi, Bebergi, Bergebi) by Pliny (1st c. AD).^[2]

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. Their territory was located north of the Onobrisates, south of the Atures, Elusates and Auscii, east of the Venarni, and west of the Volcae Tectosages.

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.^[3]

See also

• Aquitani
• Gallia Aquitania

References

Bibliography

• Book: Duval, Paul-Marie. 1989. Les peuples de l'Aquitaine d'après la liste de Pline. Travaux sur la Gaule (1946-1986). École Française de Rome. 116. 721–737. 9782728301676.
• Frezouls. Edmond. 2006. Bigerriones. Brill's New Pauly. 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e217060.
• Book: Nègre, Ernest. Toponymie générale de la France. 1990. Librairie Droz. 978-2-600-02883-7. Ernest Nègre.
• Book: Talbert, Richard J. A.. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. 2000. 978-0691031699. Richard Talbert.

Notes and References

1. [Julius Caesar|Caesar]
2. [Pliny the Elder|Pliny]
3. Jacques Lemoine, Toponymie du Pays Basque Français et des Pays de l'Adour, Picard 1977,