chiefdom · France and the Low Countries

Tarbelli

300 BCE – 56 BCE (approx.)

Aquitanian people of the Adour basin and the Landes coast, known for river gold and the hot springs of Dax.

Origins

The Tarbelli were one of the Aquitani, the peoples between the Garonne and the Pyrenees who spoke a language related to Basque. They held the lower Adour valley and the Atlantic shore around modern Dax and Bayonne. Known chiefly from Caesar, Strabo and Pliny.

Rule and society

Strabo describes rich gold deposits in their land, with nuggets found in shallow pits and river sands. Their hot springs at Aquae Tarbellicae (Dax) became famous under Rome. No central capital is recorded before the Roman period.

Decline and legacy

The Tarbelli submitted to Caesar's legate Publius Crassus in 56 BCE after his campaign in Aquitania. Under Augustus they formed a civitas with Aquae Tarbellicae as its chief town, which later became the seat of the bishops of Dax.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻