chiefdom · France and the Low Countries

Deciates

300 BCE – 154 BCE (approx.)

Ligurian people near Antibes whose attacks on Greek colonies brought the first Roman army into southern Gaul in 154 BCE.

Origins

The Deciates were a Ligurian people living in the hills behind Antipolis (Antibes), a colony of Massalia. Polybius is the main source.

Rule and society

Like other Ligurian peoples of the coast they lived in fortified hilltop settlements and combined farming and herding with raids on the Greek coastal towns.

Decline and legacy

In 154 BCE the Deciates and the Oxybii besieged Antipolis and Nikaia, and Massalia appealed to the Roman Republic. The consul Quintus Opimius defeated them and handed part of their land to Massalia. Their territory later lay within the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻