chiefdom · France and the Low Countries

Cavares

300 BCE – 121 BCE (approx.)

Gallic people of the lower Rhône whose towns became Avignon, Cavaillon and Orange.

Origins

Strabo names the Cavares as the leading people between the Durance and the Isère, east of the Rhône. Their towns included Avennio (Avignon), Cabellio (Cavaillon) and Arausio (Orange), and they had close commercial ties with Massalia.

Rule and society

Strabo describes them as already largely Romanised in his day. Little is known of their earlier rulers.

Decline and legacy

They came under Rome after 121 BCE. In 105 BCE the Cimbri and Teutones destroyed two Roman armies at Arausio in their land, one of Rome's worst defeats. Arausio was refounded as a colony for veterans of the Second Legion, with its famous theatre and arch.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Cavares. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cavares
MLA
“Cavares.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cavares. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Cavares.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cavares.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Cavares’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cavares (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻