Cocosates
The Cocosates or Cocosates Sexsignani were an Aquitani tribe dwelling in present-day Landes during the Iron Age.
Name
[edit]They are mentioned as Cocosates by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC),[1] and as Cocosates Sexsignani by Pliny (1st c. AD).[2][3]
The etymology of the name remains obscure. It can be derived from the Gaulish stem cocos- ('scarlet red') attached to the suffix -ates ('belonging to'). Red is a colour commonly used in personal names (Cocus, Cocca, Cocidius, etc.) and associated with warfare.[4][3]
Geography
[edit]The Cocosates lived in present-day Landes. Their territory was located east of the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Oscidates and Sotiates, north of the Tarbelli and Tarusates, and south of the Boii.[5]
Their chief town was known as Caequosa (modern Sescouze, near Castets).[6]
Political organization
[edit]The Cocosates were a confederation of six tribes. They were probably clients of the neighbouring Tarbelli.[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Caesar. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, 3:27:1.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia, 4:108.
- ^ a b Falileyev 2010, s.v. Cocosates (Sexsignani).
- ^ Delamarre 2003, pp. 120–121.
- ^ Talbert 2000, Map 25: Hispania Tarraconensis.
- ^ a b Duval 1989, p. 166.
Bibliography
[edit]- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
- Duval, Paul-Marie (1989). "Les peuples de l'Aquitaine d'après la liste de Pline". Travaux sur la Gaule (1946-1986). Vol. 116. École Française de Rome. pp. 721–737. ISBN 9782728301676.
- Falileyev, Alexander (2010). Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-names: A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. CMCS. ISBN 978-0955718236.
- Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691031699.
Further reading
[edit]- Jacques Lemoine, Toponymie du Pays Basque Français et des Pays de l'Adour, Picard, 1977, ISBN 2-7084-0003-7
- Jean-Pierre Bost, Dax et les Tarbelles, "L ’Adour maritime de Dax à Bayonne".