Atacini

Daniela Ugolini and Christian Olive argue that the Atacini were indigenous inhabitants of the Aude region. Although apparently active between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC at the time of the emergence of Narbo Martius, they do not bear any of the tribal names attested in the area through coin legends, such as Neroncen, Seloncen, Bineken, and Longostaletes. Instead, they are designated by a geographical name derived from the river Atax, first attested in Strabo (1st c. AD).^[4] They suggest that this reflects the integration of several local groups into the colony, which Rome did not regard as significant enough to record under a distinct ethnic designation. The Atacini may therefore be counted among the "obscure peoples" mentioned by Strabo and Pliny, small communities of limited political importance occupying restricted coastal territories, such as the Sordones, Longostaletes, and Piscenae.^[5]

Michel Gayraud, by contrast, proposed that the Atacini designated the first generation of civilian settlers, later joined in the Caesarian period by veterans of the Tenth Legion (Decimani).^[6] He argued that the site of Narbo was shaped by long-standing Italic commercial presence from the late 3rd century BC onward, leading to a mixed community of Romans and indigenous populations by the late 2nd century BC. Members of this composite group may have been called Atacini and constituted the earliest settlers of Narbo.^[6]

The existence of a vicus Atax (possibly a district of Narbo near the Aude) was later mentioned by Suetonius in the 2nd century AD, likely to explain the cognomen of the Roman poet Varro Atacinus (82 – c. 36 BC) at a time when the meaning of atacinus was no longer clearly understood.^[3] As Varro belonged the first generations of settlers following the foundation of Narbo in 118 BC, his cognomen must be early and would have been meaningful only at a time when the identity of the Atacini was still known.^[3]