3. _Aquitaine._[74] Aquitaine commenced on the left bank of the Garonne: it was inhabited by several small tribes, and contained none of those agglomerations which were found among the Celts and the Belgæ. The Aquitanians, who had originally occupied a vast territory to the north of the Pyrenees, having been pushed backward by the Celts, had but a rather limited portion of it in the time of Cæsar. The three regions which composed Gaul were not only, as already stated, divided into a great number of states, but each state (_civitas_) was farther subdivided into _pagi_,[75] representing, perhaps, the same thing as the tribe among the Arabs. The proof of the distinct character of these agglomerations is found in the fact that in the army each of them had its separate place, under the command of its own chieftains. The smallest subdivision was called _vicus_.[76] Such, at least, are the denominations employed in the “Commentaries,” but which were certainly not those of the Celtic language. In each state there existed principal towns, called indifferently by Cæsar _urbs_ or _oppidum_;[77] yet this last name was given by preference to considerable towns, difficult of access and carefully fortified, placed on heights or surrounded by marshes.[78] It was to these _oppida_ that, in case of attack, the Gauls transported their grain, their provisions, and their riches.[79] Their habitations, established often in the forests or on the bank of a river, were constructed of wood, and tolerably spacious.[80] [Sidenote: Manners.] III. The Gauls were tall in stature, their skin was white, their eyes blue, their hair fair or chestnut, which they dyed, in order to make the colour more brilliant.[81] They let their beard grow; the nobles alone shaved, and preserved long moustaches.[82] Trousers or breeches, very wide among the Belgæ, but narrower among the southern Gauls, and a shirt with sleeves, descending to the middle of the thighs, composed their principal dress.[83] They were clothed with a mantle or _saie_,[84] magnificently embroidered with gold or silver among the rich,[85] and held about the neck by means of a metal brooch. The lowest classes of the people used instead an animal’s skin. The Aquitanians covered themselves, probably according to the Iberic custom, with cloth of coarse wool unshorn.[86] The Gauls wore collars, earrings, bracelets, and rings for the arms, of gold or copper, according to their rank; necklaces of amber, and rings, which they placed on the third finger.[87]