This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western For the political history of the brief "Gallic Empire" of the 3rd century, see Gallic Empire. The Gallic Empire (in Latin Imperium Galliarum) is the modern name for the independent realm that existed from 260 to 273, during the

Gallo-Roman figures, found in Ingelheim. Ingelheim am Rhein is the capital of the Mainz-Bingen district situated on the left bank of the Rhine within the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate,

The term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman mores and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context. ^[1] The well-studied meld of cultures^[2] in Gaul give historians a model against which to compare and contast parallel developments in other, less-stuidied Roman provinces.

After the barbarian invasions of the early fifth century, Gallo-Roman culture would persist particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into Occitania, Gallia Cisalpina and to a lesser degree, Aquitania. The Migration Period, also called Barbarian Invasions, or sometimes Völkerwanderung ( German for "wandering of peoples" is the English name Gallia Narbonensis ( Narbonese Gaul) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. Occitania ( Occitan: Occitània) refers to the lands where Occitan is the traditional language in use though more recently viewed as a minority language Cisalpine Gaul ( Latin: Gallia Cisalpina, meaning " Gaul on this side of the Alps " was the Roman name for a geographical area (later The formerly Romanized north of Gaul, once it had been occupied by the Franks, would develop into Merovingian culture instead. The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group The Merovingians (also Merovings) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin Roman life, centered on the public events and cultural responsibilities of urban life in the res publica and the sometimes luxurious life of the self-sufficient rural villa system, took longer to collapse in the Gallo-Roman regions, where the Visigoths largely inherited the status quo in the early fifth century. This article is about the Latin phrase For the historical state see Roman Republic; for the dialogue by Cicero see De re publica; for the former Estonian A Roman villa is a Villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Gallo-Roman language persisted in the northeast into the Silva Carbonaria that formed an effective cultural barrier with the Franks to the north and east, and in the northwest to the lower valley of the Loire, where Gallo-Roman culture interfaced with Frankish culture in a city like Tours and in the person of that Gallo-Roman bishop confronted with Merovingian royals, Gregory of Tours. Silva Carbonaria, the "charcoal forest" was the dense Old-growth forest of Beech and Oak that formed a natural boundary during the Late Iron Loire ( Arpitan: Lêre, Occitan: Léger) is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the Tours is a city in France the Préfecture (capital city of the Indre-et-Loire département, on the lower reaches of the river Saint Gregory of Tours ( November 30, c 538 &ndash November 17, 594) was a Gallo-Roman historian and bishop of Tours

Politics

Gaul was divided by Roman administration into a number of provinces, which tended to become sub-divided in the later third century reorganization under Diocletian, and divided between two dioceses, Galliae and Viennensis, under the Praetorian prefecture of Galliae. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate ^[3] On the local level, it was composed of civitates which preserved, broadly speaking, the boundaries of the formerly independent Gaulish tribes, which had been organised in large part on village structures that retained some features in the Roman civic formulas that overlay them.

Over the course of the Roman period, an ever-increasing proportion of Gauls gained Roman citizenship. Citizenship in the time of Ancient Rome was a privileged status afforded to certain individuals with respect to laws property and governance In 212 the Constitutio Antoniniana extended citizenship to all free-born men in the Roman Empire. Events By Place Roman Empire Emperor Caracalla decrees that freemen throughout the Roman Empire are to become Roman citizens The Constitutio Antoniniana ( Latin: "Constitution Edict of Antoninus" (aka Edict of Caracalla was an edict issued in 212, by the Roman Emperor

Gallic Empire

Main article: Gallic Empire

Statue of a Gallic warrior dressed in a Roman manner

During the Crisis of the Third Century, from 259 to 274, an independent Gallo-Roman realm, termed the Gallic Empire by modern historians, was temporarily established. The Gallic Empire (in Latin Imperium Galliarum) is the modern name for the independent realm that existed from 260 to 273, during the Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Crisis of the Third Century (or "Military Anarchy" or "Imperial Crisis" was the crumbling and near collapse of the Roman Empire between 235 It was formed of the break-away provinces of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania. Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 Hispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar The Gallic emperor Postumus set up the Empire's capital in Trier, in what is now the Rhineland-Palatinate of Germany. For the alleged son of this emperor also called Postumus see Postumus Junior; for the son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa see Agrippa Postumus Trier (Trèves Luxembourgish: Tréier; Augusta Treverorum is a City in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Religion

Main article: Gallo-Roman religion

The pre-Christian religious practices of Roman Gaul were characterized by syncretism of Graeco-Roman deities with their native Celtic, Basque or Germanic counterparts, many of which were of strictly local cult. Gallo-Roman religion was a fusion of Roman religious forms and modes of worship with Gaulish deities from Celtic polytheism. Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought This article discusses cult in the original and typically ancient sense of "religious practice" (cultus Assimilation was eased by interpreting indigenous gods in Roman terms, such as with Lenus Mars or Apollo Grannus. Interpretatio graeca is a Latin term for the common tendency of Ancient Greek writers to equate foreign divinities to members of their own pantheon Trier Quelle am Irminenwingert632ajpg|right|thumb|300px|The spring sacred to Lenus Mars near the temple ‘Am Irminenwingert’ overlooking Trier In classical Celtic polytheism, Grannus (also Granus Mogounus Amarcolitanus) was a Deity associated with Otherwise, a Roman god might be paired with a native goddess, as with Mercury and Rosmerta. "Alipes" redirects here For the Centipede Genus, see Alipes (centipede. In Gallo-Roman religion, Rosmerta was a goddess of fertility and abundance her attributes being those of plenty such as the Cornucopia. In at least one case – that of the equine goddess Epona – a native Gallic goddess was also adopted by Rome. In Gallo-Roman religion Celtic mythology without citing a specific instance of Celtic mythology where Epona appears please --> Epona '''po''' nə

Eastern mystery religions penetrated Gaul early on. Mystery Religions, Sacred Mysteries or simply Mysteries, were "religious cults of the Graeco-Roman These included the cults of Orpheus, Mithras, Cybele, and Isis. Orpheus ( Greek: Ὀρφεύς ˈɔrfiəs ( OHR-fee-uhs) or /ˈɔrfjuːs/ ( OHR'-fews) in English is a figure from Greek mythology born in The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras (also Mithraism) was a Roman mystery religion which became popular among the military in the late Originally a Hittite and Phrygian Goddess, Cybele (Κυβέλη was a deification of the Earth Mother and was worshipped in Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners

The imperial cult, centred primarily on the numen of Augustus, came to play a prominent role in public religion in Gaul, most dramatically at the pan-Gaulish ceremony venerating Rome and Augustus at the Condate Altar near Lugdunum on 1 August. The Imperial cult in Ancient Rome was the worship of a few select emperors as gods once they were deceased the only emperor to Numen ("presence" plural numina) is a Latin term for the power of either a deity or a spirit that is present in places and objects in the Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was This article is about the city in Gaul for other uses of Lugdunum see Lugdunum (disambiguation Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (modern Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman

Christianity

In the fifth and sixth centuries, Gallo-Roman Christian communities consisted of independent churches in urban sites, each governed by a bishop; Christians experienced loyalties divided between the bishop and the civil prefect, who operated largely in harmony within the late-imperial administration. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight Some of the communities had origins that predated the third century persecutions. The personal charisma of the bishop set the tone, as fifth-century allegiances, for pagans as well as Christians, switched from institutions to individuals: most Gallo-Roman bishops were drawn from the highest levels of society as appropriate non-military civil roads to advancement dwindled, and they represented themselves as bulwarks of high literary standards and Roman traditions against the Vandal and Gothic interlopers; other bishops drew the faithful to radical asceticism. Miracles attributed to both kinds of bishops, as well as holy men and women, attracted cult veneration, sometimes very soon after their death; a great number of locally-venerated Gallo-Roman and Merovingian saints arose in the transitional centuries 400 – 750. This article discusses cult in the original and typically ancient sense of "religious practice" (cultus The identification of the diocesan administration with the secular community, which took place during the fifth century in Italy, can best be traced in the Gallo-Roman culture of Gaul in the career of Caesarius, bishop and Metropolitan of Arles from 503 to 543. For others with this name see Caesarius. Saint Caesarius of Arles (468/470&ndash 27 August 542) sometimes called "of In Hierarchical Christian churches the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the Diocesan bishop or Arles (aʁl̥ Provençal Occitan: Arles in both classical and Mistralian norms is a City in the south of France, (Wallace-Hadrill).

The "Endymion sarcophagus", early 3rd c. , found in 1806 at Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans, in Roman Gallia Aquitania (Louvre)

Gallo-Roman sites

The two more Romanised of the three Gauls were bound together in a network of Roman roads that linked cities. Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France The Roman Roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire, by enabling the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news

At Périgueux, France, a luxurious Roman villa called the Domus of Vesunna, built round a garden courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded peristyle enriched with bold tectonic frescoing, has been handsomely protected in a modern glass-and-steel structure that is a fine example of archaeological museum-making (see external link). Périgueux ( (in Occitan: Peireguers or Periguers) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

Lyon, the capital of Roman Gaul, is now the site of a Museum of Gallo-Roman Civilization (rue Céberg), associated with the remains of the theater and odeon of Roman Lugdunum. ||-||} Lyon, also known as Lyons in English is a city in east-central France. This article is about the city in Gaul for other uses of Lugdunum see Lugdunum (disambiguation Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (modern Visitors are offered a clear picture of the daily life, economic conditions, institutions, beliefs, monuments and artistic achievements of the first four centuries of the Christian era. The "Claudius Tablet" in the Museum transcribes a speech given before the Senate by the Emperor Claudius in 48, in which he requests the right for the heads of the Gallic nations to participate in Roman magistracy. Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I ( August 1, 10 BC &ndash October 13, AD 54 ( Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to Year 48 was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. The request having been accepted, the Gauls decided to engrave the imperial speech on bronze.

In Martigny, Valais, Switzerland, at the Fondation Pierre Gianadda, a modern museum of art and sculpture shares space with Gallo-Roman Museum centered on the foundations of a Celtic temple. Martigny ( German Martinach, Latin Octodurum, sometimes also Octodure in French) is the capital of the French The Valais ( German:) is one of the 26 Cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Fondation Pierre Gianadda (inaugurated in 1978 runs Museums and exhibitions in Martigny Switzerland.

Other sites include:

Towns

• Arles - remains include the Alyscamps, a large Roman necropolis
• Autun
• Glanum, near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
• Narbonne
• Nîmes - remains include the Maison Carrée
• Orange
• Vaison-la-Romaine
• several Roman amphitheatres are still visible in France. Arles (aʁl̥ Provençal Occitan: Arles in both classical and Mistralian norms is a City in the south of France, The Alyscamps is a large Roman Necropolis, which is a short distance outside the walls of the old town of Arles, France. A necropolis (plural necropoleis or necropoles) is a large Cemetery or burial place (from Greek nekropolis "city of the dead" Autun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. Glanum was a Roman city in Gallia Narbonensis — Provence in southern France — sited on the flanks of the Alpilles, a range Saint-Rémy-de-Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Sant Romieg de Provença in classical and Sant Roumié de Prouvènço in Mistralian norms Narbonne ( Narbona in Catalan and in Occitan, the Roman Narbo) is a commune in southwestern France in the Nîmes ( Provençal Occitan: Nimes in both classical and Mistralian norms is a city in southern France. The Maison Carrée at Nîmes in southern France is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire. Orange ( Provençal Occitan: Aurenja in classical norm or Aurenjo in Mistralian norm norm is a town and commune in the Vaison-la-Romaine (Latin Vasio Vocontiorum) is a small town and former bishopric in Provence. An amphitheatre (alternatively amphitheater) is an open-air venue for spectator sports concerts rallies or theatrical performances (see List of Roman amphitheatres for a list)

The Gallo-Roman museum in the amphitheatre of Lugdunum

Amphitheatres

• Arelate (modern Arles)
• Grand
• Lugdunum (modern Lyon)
• Nemausus (modern Nîmes)
• Lutetia (modern Paris): Arènes de Lutèce
• Mediolanum Santonum (modern Saintes)

Aqueducts

• Pont du Gard
• Barbegal aqueduct

See also

• Culture of Ancient Rome
• Sidonius Apollinaris
• Syagrius
• Via Domitia, the first Roman road built in Gaul
• Pillar of the Boatmen
• Thraco-Roman
• Loupian Roman villa
• Gallo-Romance languages
• Gallo language

Notes

Sources

• Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. 1983. The Frankish Church (Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-826906-4, 1983

External links

• Gallo-Roman Museum, Lyon
• Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum by Jean Nouvel
• Gallo-Roman Museum Tongeren - Belgium