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Gaul
Gaul (Latin Gallia, Greek Galatia) is the region of Western Europe
occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the
parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine
river.
In English the word Gaul also refers to a Celtic inhabitant of that
region in ancient times, but the Gauls were widespread in Europe by
Roman times, speaking the Gaulish language. Besides the Gauls living on
the territory of modern-day France, there were the Lepontii who had
settled in the plains of northern Italy (Gallia Cisalpina), and the
Helvetii who settled to the north of the alps, in Raetia.
Gauls under Brennus sacked Rome circa 390 BC. In the Aegean world, a
huge migration of Eastern Gauls appeared in Thrace, north of Greece, in
281 BC. Another Gaulish chieftain named Brennus, at the head of a large
army, was only turned back from desecrating the Temple of Apollo at
Delphi at the last minute, alarmed, it was said, by portents of thunder
and lightning. At the same time a migrating band of Celts, some 10,000
fighting men, with their women and children and slaves, were moving
through Thrace. Three tribes of Gauls crossed over from Thrace to Asia
Minor at express invitation of Nicomedes I, king of Bithynia, who
required help in a dynastic struggle against his brother. Eventually
they settled down in eastern Phrygia and Cappadocia in central
Anatolia, a region henceforth known as Galatia.
Name
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 people (Celts and
Romans indiscriminately), cf. Wales, Cornwall, Walloons and Vlachs.
Germanic w is regularly rendered with French gu / g (cf. guerre = war,
garde = ward), and the dipthong au is the regular outcome of al before
a following consonant (cf. cheval ~ chevaux). 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. Cf. The
Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (OUP 1966), p. 391; Nouveau
dictionnaire etymologique et historique (Larousse 1990), p. 336.
Roman Gaul
Roman rule in Gaul was established by Julius Caesar, who defeated the
Celtic tribes in Gaul 58-51 BC and described his experiences in De
Bello Gallico (About the Gallic War). The war cost the lives of more
than a million Gauls, and a million further were enslaved. The area
conquered by Caesar was called Gallia Comata: literally, "long-haired
Gaul." The area was subsequently governed as a number of provinces. On
December 31, 406 the Vandals, Alans and Suebians crossed the Rhine,
beginning an invasion of Gallia, and Roman rule in Gaul ended with the
defeat of the Roman governor Syagrius by the Franks in AD 486.
Gaulish tribes
Caesar divided the people of Gaul 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.
Julius Caesar's comments on these people from his book, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, are worth quoting;
"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 our Gauls, the third.
All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws.
The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae.
Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest
from the civilization 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 Germans, 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 valor, as
they contend with the Germans 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
river Garonne, the 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 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 river Garonne to the Pyrenaean mountains
and to that part of the ocean which is near Spain: it looks between the
setting of the sun, and the north star."
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