Map of Gaul circa 58 BC.

Gaul (Latin: Gallia) was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge In English, the word Gaul (French: Gaulois) may also refer to an inhabitant of that region, although the expression may be used more generally for all ancient speakers of the Gaulish language (a derivative of early Celtic) who were widespread in Europe and extended even into central Anatolia by Roman times. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Gaulish or Gallic is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black

Gauls under Brennus sacked Rome circa 390 BC. Brennus (or Brennos) was a chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne The Battle of the Allia was a battle of the first Gallic invasion of Italy Events By place Roman Republic July 18 - Brennus, a chieftain of the Senones of the Adriatic coast of In the Aegean world, a huge migration of Eastern Gauls appeared in Thrace, north of Greece, in 281 BC. Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age Civilizations of Greece and the Aegean. Thrace (Тракия Trakiya or "Trakija" or Trakia, Θράκη Thráki, Trakya is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Events By place Asia Minor The Battle of Corupedium in Lydia is the last battle of the Diadochi, the rival successors Another Gaulish chieftain also named Brennus, at the head of a large army, was only turned back from desecrating the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece at the last minute — he was alarmed, it was said, by portents of thunder and lightning. Brennus (or Brennos) (d 279 BC was one of the leaders of the army of Gallic invasion of the Balkans, defeated the assembled Greeks at Thermopylae, and Delphi ( Greek,) ( pronounce and dialectal forms) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western ^[1] At the same time a migrating band of Celts, some 10,000 warriors, with their women and children and slaves, were moving through Thrace. Human migration denotes any movement by Humans from one locality to another sometimes over long distances or Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts According to the Random House Dictionary, the term warrior has two meanings The history of slavery uncovers many different forms of human exploitation across many cultures throughout history Three tribes of Gauls crossed over from Thrace to Asia Minor at the express invitation of Nicomedes I, king of Bithynia (which was a small geographical location just south of the Bosphorus and the Euxine (Black Sea) in the northern area of modern-day Turkey, i. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Nicomedes I (in Greek Nικoμηδης 278&ndashc 255 BC second king of Bithynia, was the eldest son of Zipoites, whom he succeeded on the Description Several major cities sat on the fertile shores of the Propontis (which is now known as Sea of Marmara) Nicomedia, Chalcedon, Cius The Bosporus or Bosphorus, also known as the Istanbul Strait, (İstanbul Boğazı (Βόσπορος is a Strait that forms the boundary between the The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches e just south and southeast of the latter-day city of Constantinople, or modern-day Istanbul), who required help in a dynastic struggle against his brother. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey Eventually they settled down in eastern Phrygia and Cappadocia in central Anatolia, a region henceforth known as Galatia. In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Cappadocia (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía which in turn is from the Persian: Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey.

Name

Soldiers of Gaul, as imagined by a late 19th century illustrator for the Larousse dictionary, 1898. The Grand Dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle (Great Universal Dictionary of the 19th Century often called the Larousse du dix-neuvième is an Encyclopedic dictionary

The names Gallia and Galatia sometimes are compared to Gael, which is, however, from Goidhel or Gwyddel, and cannot be directly related. It is uncertain whether the Gal- names are from a native name of a tribe, or if they are exonyms. An exonym (from Greek el ἔξω exo = out el ὄνομα onoma = name is a name for a place that is not used within that place by the local Birkhan (1997) considers a root * g(h)al- "powerful" (PIE * gelh, well-attested in Celtic, and with cognates in Balto-Slavic), but speculates that the name also could be taken from a Gallos River, comparable to the names of the Volcae and the Sequani which are likely derived from hydronyms. The Volcae were a Celtic tribal confederation constituted sometime before the Gallic raid of combined Gauls that invaded Macedon in the 270s and defeated the assembled Sequani, in ancient geography were a Gallic people who occupied the upper basin of the Arar ( Saone) their territory corresponding to Franche-Comté A hydronym (from Greek hudor, "water" and onuma, "name" is a proper name of a body of water There also have been attempts to trace Keltoi and Galatai to a single origin. It is most likely that the terms originated as names of minor tribes * Kel-to and/or Gal(a)-to- which were the earliest to come into contact with the Roman world, but which have disappeared without leaving a historical record. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial ^[2]

In English usage the words Gaul and Gaulish are used synonymously with Latin Gallia, Gallus and Gallicus. However the similarity of the names is probably accidental: the English words are borrowed from French Gaule and Gaulois, which appear to have been borrowed themselves from Germanic walha-, the usual word for the non-Germanic-speaking peoples (Celtic-speaking and Latin-speaking indiscriminately). Walh (singular or Walha (plural ( is an ancient Germanic word meaning "foreigner" or "stranger" ( Welsh) or "roman" Germanic w is regularly rendered with French gu / g (cf. guerre = war, garder = ward), and the diphthong au is the regular outcome of al before a following consonant (cf. cheval ~ chevaux). Gaule or Gaulle can hardly be derived from Latin Gallia, since g would become j before a (cf. gamba > jambe), and the diphthong au would be incomprehensible; the regular outcome of Latin Gallia would have been * Jaille in French. ^[3][4]

Hellenistic aitiology connects the name with Galatia (first attested by Timaeus of Tauromenion in the 4th c. Etiology (alternatively aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation. Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. BC), and it was suggested that the association was inspired by the "milk-white" skin (γάλα, gala, "milk") of the Gauls (Greek: Γαλάται, Galatai, Galatae). Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly

Pre-Roman Gaul Info.

Main article: Celt

Gold coins of the Gaul Parisii, 1st century BC, (Cabinet des Médailles, Paris). Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts This article is about the Parisii of Gaul For the Parisii in the north-east of Britain and its possible links to this tribe see Parisii (Britain. The Cabinet des Médailles, or Cabinet de France, more formally known as Le département des Monnaies Médailles et Antiquités de la Bibliothèque Nationale, is

The early history of the Gauls is predominantly a work in archeology — there being little written information (save perhaps what can be gleaned from coins) concerning the peoples that inhabited these regions — and the relationships between their material culture, genetic relationships (the study of which has been aided, in recent years, through the field of archaeogenetics), and linguistic divisions rarely coincide. In addition to its usual meaning in Social science, in Archaeology, the term culture is also used in reference to several related concepts unique to Archaeogenetics, a term coined by Colin Renfrew, refers to the application of the techniques of molecular Population genetics to the study of the Human

The major source of materials on the Celts of Gaul was Poseidonios of Apamea, whose writings were quoted by Timagenes, Julius Caesar, the Sicilian Greek Diodorus Siculus, and the Greek geographer Strabo. Posidonius ( Greek: Ποσειδώνιος / Poseidonios "of Apameia " (ὁ Απαμεύς or "of Rhodes " (ὁ Ρόδιος (ca Timagenes was a Greek writer historian and teacher of Rhetoric. Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. ^[5]

Gauls in Rome.

Many cultural traits of the early Celts seem to have been carried northwest up the Danube Valley, although this issue is contested. The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj It seems as if they derived many of their skills (like metal-working), as well as certain facets of their culture, from Balkan peoples. Some scholars think that the Bronze Age Urnfield culture represents an origin for the Celts as a distinct cultural branch of the Indo-European-speaking peoples (see Proto-Celtic). The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for The Urnfield culture (c 1300 BC - 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Phonological reconstruction Consonants The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Celtic Consonants may be summarised as follows The Urnfield culture was preeminent in central Europe during the late Bronze Age, from ca. 1200 BC until 700 BC. The spread of iron-working led to the development of the Hallstatt culture (ca. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. The Hallstatt culture was the predominant 700 to 500 BC) directly from the Urnfield. Proto-Celtic, the latest common ancestor of all known Celtic languages, is considered by some scholars to have been spoken at the time of the late Urnfield or early Hallstatt cultures. Phonological reconstruction Consonants The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Celtic Consonants may be summarised as follows

The Hallstatt culture was succeeded by the La Tène culture, which developed out of the Hallstatt culture without any definite cultural break, under the impetus of considerable Mediterranean influence from the Greek, and Etruscan civilisations. The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC) in France, Switzerland, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Hungary. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. The 1st century BC started the first day of 100 BC and ended the last day of 1 BC. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Bohemia (Čechy; Bohemia Czechy is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Moravia (Morava; Morawy Moravie Moravia is a historical region in central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Farther to the north extended the contemporary Pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe ( 5th / 4th century BC - 1st century BC) designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia Northern Germany is the geographic area in the north of Germany. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well

A map of Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the relative positions of the Celtic tribes.

By the second century BC, France was called Gaul (Gallia Transalpina) by the Romans. In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar distinguishes among three ethnic groups in Gaul: the Belgae in the north (in what is present-day Belgium), the Celts in the centre, and the Aquitani in the southwest. The Gallic Wars were a series of Military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes, lasting from The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul in the 1st century BC and later also attested in Britain. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The Aquitani ( Latin for Aquitanians) were a people living in what is now southwestern France, between the Pyrenees and the Garonne While some scholars believe that the Belgae were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century. French historians adopted fully the explanation of Caesar who stated that Gaul stretched from the Pyrenees up to the Rhine in the north. The Pyrenees (Pirineos French: Pyrénées; Catalan: Pirineus; Occitan: Pirenèus; Aragonese: Perinés The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge This fitted the French expansionist aspirations of the time under Napoleon III of France. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President But Caesar wrote: "The Aquitani can give the Romans lessons in good Latin. " In the north of (modern) France, the Gaul-German language border was situated somewhere next to the River Somme. Northern Belgic tribes like the Nervians, Atrebates or Morini were without doubt Germanic languages speakers. The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes living east of the Scheldt in northern The Atrebates (singular Atrebas, meaning "settlers" were a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain before the Roman conquests The Morini were a Belgic tribe in the time of the Roman Empire. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. In addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia (present-day Marseille) along the Mediterranean coast. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture. The Ligures (singular Ligus or Ligur; English: Ligurians, Greek:) were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions

In the second century BC, Mediterranean Gaul had an extensive urban fabric and was prosperous, while the heavily forested northern Gaul had almost no cities outside of fortified compounds (or oppida) used in times of war. Oppidum (plural oppida) is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of Ancient Rome. The prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 125 BC, and by 121 BC they had conquered the Mediterranean region called Provincia (later named Gallia Narbonensis). Gallia Narbonensis ( Narbonese Gaul) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. This conquest upset the ascendancy of the Gaulish Arverni tribe. The Arverni were a Gallic tribe that inhabited the present-day region of Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Conquest by Rome

The Roman proconsul and general Julius Caesar pushed his army into Gaul in 58BC, on the pretext of assisting Rome's Gaullish allies against the migrating Helvetii. With the help of various Gallic tribes (for example, the Aeudi) he managed to conquer nearly all of Gaul. But the Arverni tribe, under Chieftain Vercingetorix, still defied Roman rule. Julius Caesar was checked by Vercingetorix at a siege of Gergorvia, a fortified town in the center of Gaul. Caesar's alliances with many Gallic tribes broke. Even the Aeudi, their most faithful supporters, threw in their lot with the Arverni. Caesar captured Vercingetorix in the Battle of Alesia, which ended Gallic resistance to Rome. The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September 52 BC around the Gallic Oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and

As many as a million people (probably 1 in 4 of the Gauls) died, another million were enslaved, 300 tribes were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed during the Gallic Wars. The institution of Slavery in ancient Rome increased those held to a condition of more than persons under their legal system. The Gallic Wars were a series of Military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes, lasting from The entire population of the city of Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) were slaughtered. Avaricum was an Oppidum in ancient Gaul, near what is now the city of Bourges. ^[6] During Julius Caesar's campaign against the Helvetii (present-day Switzerland) approximately 60% of the tribe was destroyed, and another 20% was taken into slavery. The Helvetii were a Celtic tribe and the main occupants of the Swiss plateau in the 1st century BC As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another The Gaulish culture then was massively submerged by Roman culture, Latin was adopted by the Gauls, Gaul was absorbed into the Roman Empire, all the administration changed and Gauls eventually became Roman citizens. ^[7]

Religion

Main article: Celtic polytheism

Roman silver Denarius with the head of captive Gaul 48 BCE, following the campaigns of Caesar. Celtic polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Celts, prior to the Christianization of the Celtic-speaking lands The Roman Currency system included the denarius (plural denarii) after 211 BC a small Silver coin,

The Gauls practiced a form of animism, ascribing human characteristics to lakes, streams, mountains, and other natural features and granting them a quasi-divine status. Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals Also, worship of animals was not uncommon; the animal most sacred to the Gauls was the boar, which can be found on many Gallic military standards, much like the Roman eagle. The boar or wild boar ( Sus scrofa) is an Omnivorous, gregarious Mammal of the biological family Suidae.

Their system of gods and goddesses was loose, there being certain deities which virtually every Gallic person worshiped, as well as tribal and household gods. Many of the major gods were related to Greek gods; the primary god worshiped at the time of the arrival of Caesar was Teutates, the Gallic equivalent of Mercury. Toutatis or Teutates was a Celtic god worshipped in ancient Gaul and Britain. "Alipes" redirects here For the Centipede Genus, see Alipes (centipede. The "father god" in Gallic worship was "Dis Pater," who could be assigned the Roman name "Saturn. Saturn ( Latin: Saturnus) was a major Roman God of agriculture and harvest " However there was no real theology, just a set of related and evolving traditions of worship.

Perhaps the most intriguing facet of Gallic religion is the practice of the Druids. A druid was a member of the priestly and learned class in the ancient Celtic societies There is no certainty concerning their origin, but it is clear that they vehemently guarded the secrets of their order and held sway over the people of Gaul. Indeed they claimed the right to determine questions of war and peace, and thereby held an "international" status. In addition, the Druids monitored the religion of ordinary Gauls and were in charge of educating the aristocracy. They also practiced a form of excommunication from the assembly of worshippers, which in ancient Gaul meant a separation from secular society as well. Thus the Druids were an important part of Gallic society.

Social structure and tribes

The Dying Gaul, an ancient Roman marble copy of a lost ancient Greek statue, thought to have been executed in bronze, commissioned some time between 230 BC – 220 BC by Attalos I of Pergamon to honour his victory over the Galatians. The Dying Gaul (in Italian: Galata Morente) is an ancient Roman Marble copy of a lost Hellenistic sculpture that

The Druids were not the only political force in Gaul, however, and the early political system was complex, if ultimately fatal to the society as a whole. A druid was a member of the priestly and learned class in the ancient Celtic societies The fundamental unit of Gallic politics was the tribe, which itself consisted of one or more of what Caesar called "pagi. " Each tribe had a council of elders, and initially a king. Later, the executive was an annually-elected magistrate. Among the Aedui, a tribe of Gaul, the executive held the title of "Vergobret," a position much like a king, but its powers were held in check by rules laid down by the council.

The tribal groups, or pagi as the Romans called them (singular: pagus; the French word pays, "region", comes from this term) were organised into larger super-tribal groups that the Romans called civitates. In the history of the Roman empire, civitas (pl civitates mainly referred to the condition of Roman Citizenship It was also used to describe a type of settlement These administrative groupings would be taken over by the Romans in their system of local control, and these civitates would also be the basis of France's eventual division into ecclesiastical bishoprics and dioceses, which would remain in place — with slight changes — until the French Revolution. French Ancien Régime Roman Catholic Dioceses and ecclesiastical provinces were heirs of Late Roman Civitates (themselves created out of The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an

Although the tribes were moderately stable political entities, Gaul as a whole tended to be politically-divided, there being virtually no unity among the various tribes. Only during particularly trying times, such as the invasion of Caesar, could the Gauls unite under a single leader like Vercingetorix. An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all or large parts of the Armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory Vercingetorix (werkiŋˈɡetoriks in Latin) born around 82 BC died 46 BC was chieftain of the Arverni, originating from the Arvernian city of Even then, however, the faction lines were clear.

The Romans divided Gaul broadly into Provincia (the conquered area around the Mediterranean), and the northern Gallia Comata ("free Gaul" or "long haired Gaul"). Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Caesar divided the people of Gaulia Comata into three broad groups: the Aquitani; Galli (who in their own language were called Celtae); and Belgae. In the modern sense, Gaulish tribes are defined linguistically, as speakers of dialects of the Gaulish language. While the Aquitani were probably Vascons, the Belgae would thus probably be counted among the Gaulish tribes, perhaps with Germanic elements. The Aquitani ( Latin for Aquitanians) were a people living in what is now southwestern France, between the Pyrenees and the Garonne The Vascones (Latin singular VASCO) were an ancient people who at the arrival of the Romans, inhabited the region of present day Navarre The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul in the 1st century BC and later also attested in Britain.

Julius Caesar, in his book, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, comments:

All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls, the third. Commentarii de Bello Gallico is Julius Caesar 's third-person account of his nine years of war in Gaul. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The Garonne River separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the River Marne and the River Seine separate them from the Belgae. The Garonne (Garonne in Occitan, Catalan and Spanish: Garona; Garumna is a River in southwest France and northern The Marne is a River in France, a right Tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. The Seine (sɛn in French) is a slow flowing major River and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest from the civilisation and refinement of (our) Province, and merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind; and they are the nearest to the Germani, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually waging war; for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valour, as they contend with the Germani in almost daily battles, when they either repel them from their own territories, or themselves wage war on their frontiers. One part of these, which it has been said that the Gauls occupy, takes its beginning at the River Rhone; it is bounded by the Garonne River, the Atlantic Ocean, and the territories of the Belgae; it borders, too, on the side of the Sequani and the Helvetii, upon the River Rhine, and stretches toward the north. The Rhone, or the Rhône is one of the major Rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France. The Garonne (Garonne in Occitan, Catalan and Spanish: Garona; Garumna is a River in southwest France and northern The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge The Belgae rises from the extreme frontier of Gaul, extend to the lower part of the River Rhine; and look toward the north and the rising sun. Aquitania extends from the Garonne to the Pyrenees and to that part of the Atlantic (Bay of Biscay) which is near Spain: it looks between the setting of the sun, and the north star. The Garonne (Garonne in Occitan, Catalan and Spanish: Garona; Garumna is a River in southwest France and northern The Pyrenees (Pirineos French: Pyrénées; Catalan: Pirineus; Occitan: Pirenèus; Aragonese: Perinés Cantabrian Sea redirects here Not to be confused with Biscay Bay Newfoundland and Labrador or Biscayne Bay. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

See also

• Galatia
• Roman Gaul
• Ambiorix
• Gallo-Roman culture
• Gaulish language
• List of peoples of Gaul
• Vercingetorix
• Cisalpine Gaul
• Transalpine Gaul
• Asterix--a French comic about Gaul and Rome set in 40s BC
• Bog burial
• Roman Republic
• Braccae--trousers, typical Gallic dress

References

• Birkhan, H. Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. For Gaul before the Roman conquest see Gaul. Roman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day Ambiorix was together with Catuvolcus, prince of the Eburones, leader of a Belgic tribe of north-eastern Gaul ( Gallia Belgica) where This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. For the political history of the brief "Gallic Empire" of the 3rd century see Gallic Empire Gaulish or Gallic is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became Vercingetorix (werkiŋˈɡetoriks in Latin) born around 82 BC died 46 BC was chieftain of the Arverni, originating from the Arvernian city of Cisalpine Gaul ( Latin: Gallia Cisalpina, meaning " Gaul on this side of the Alps " was the Roman name for a geographical area (later Gallia Narbonensis ( Narbonese Gaul) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. The Adventures of Asterix ( French: Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois) is a series of French Bog bodies, also known as bog people, are preserved Human bodies found in sphagnum bogs in Northern Europe, Great Britain and The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the Braccae is the Latin term for trousers, and in this context is today used to refer to a style of pants, made from Wool. (1997). Die Kelten.  

Footnotes

External links

• The Gallic Wars
• Dying Gladiator-Gaul Overview