Cavares


The Cavares were a Gallic confederation of tribes located in the lower Rhone valley during the Roman period. Their strongholds were Avignon, Orange and Cavaillon.

Name

They are mentioned as Kaouárōn by Strabo, as Cauarum by Pliny, as Avennio Cavarum and Cavaras by Pomponius Mela, as Kaúaroi by Ptolemy, and as Cavares on the Tabula Peutingeriana.
The name Cauares stems from Gaulish cauaros, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kawaro-.

Geography

Their closest neighbours were the Segallauni, the Tricastini, the Salyes, the Albici and the Vocontii.

Archaeology

The Tarasque de Noves anthropophagous statue, displayed in the Musée Calvet in Avignon, is attributed to the Cavares.