Gaul
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Gaul (
Archaeologically, the Gauls were bearers of the La Tène culture during the 5th to 1st centuries BC.[3] This material culture was found not only in all of Gaul but also as far east as modern-day southern Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary.
While the Celtic Gauls lost their original identities and language during
Name
The Greek and Latin names Galatia (first attested by Timaeus of Tauromenium in the 4th century BC) and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal(a)-to-.[4] The Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic etymology connected the name of the Galatians (Γαλάται, Galátai) to the supposedly "milk-white" skin (γάλα, gála "milk") of the Gauls.[5] Modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu,[citation needed] Cornish: galloes,[6] "capacity, power",[7] thus meaning "powerful people".
Despite its superficial similarity, the normal
Also unrelated, in spite of superficial similarity, is the name
As adjectives, English has the two variants: Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as "pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls", although the Celtic language group once spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as
History
Pre-Roman Gaul
There is little written information concerning the peoples that inhabited the regions of Gaul, save what can be gleaned from coins. Therefore, the early history of the Gauls is predominantly a work in archaeology, 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.
Before the rapid spread of the La Tène culture in the 5th to 4th centuries BC, the territory of eastern and southern France already participated in the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture (c. 12th to 8th centuries BC) out of which the early iron-working Hallstatt culture (7th to 6th centuries BC) would develop. By 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France (except for the Alps and the extreme north-west).
Out of this Hallstatt background, during the 7th and 6th century BC presumably representing an early form of
A major archaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern Britain in the Bronze Age, during the 500-year period 1300–800 BC. The newcomers were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from Gaul. The authors describe this as a "plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain".[16]
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.[17]
In the 4th and early 3rd century BC, Gallic clan confederations expanded far beyond the territory of what would become Roman Gaul (which defines usage of the term "Gaul" today), into Pannonia, Illyria, northern Italy, Transylvania and even Asia Minor. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described
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.[18] Also, along the southeastern French Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture.
Initial contact with Rome
In the 2nd century BC Mediterranean Gaul had an extensive urban fabric and was prosperous. Archeologists know of cities in northern Gaul including the Biturigian capital of
Conquest by Rome
The Roman proconsul and general Julius Caesar pushed his army into Gaul in 58 BC, ostensibly to assist Rome's Gaullish allies against the migrating
As many as a million people (probably 1 in 5 of the Gauls) died, another million were enslaved,[24] 300 clans were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed during the Gallic Wars.[25] The entire population of the city of Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) were slaughtered.[26] Before Julius Caesar's campaign against the Helvetii (Switzerland), the Helvetians had numbered 263,000, but afterwards only 100,000 remained, most of whom Caesar took as slaves.[27]
Roman Gaul
After Gaul was absorbed as Gallia, a set of Roman provinces, its inhabitants gradually adopted aspects of Roman culture and assimilated, resulting in the distinct
The religious practices of inhabitants became a combination of Roman and Celtic practice, with Celtic deities such as
The Gaulish language is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture.[32] The last record of spoken Gaulish deemed to be plausibly credible[32] concerned the destruction by Christians of a pagan shrine in Auvergne "called Vasso Galatae in the Gallic tongue".[33] Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French.[34][35][36][37][38]
The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti,
Frankish Gaul
Following Frankish victories at
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Massalia (Marseille) silver coin with Greek legend, 5th–1st century BC.
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Gold coins of the GaulCabinet des Médailles, Paris).
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Roman silver Denarius with the head of captive Gaul 48 BC, following the campaigns of Julius Caesar.
Gauls
Social structure, indigenous nation and clans
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2011) |
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. The fundamental unit of Gallic politics was the clan, which itself consisted of one or more of what Caesar called pagi. Each clan had a council of elders, and initially a king. Later, the executive was an annually-elected magistrate. Among the Aedui, a clan of Gaul, the executive held the title of Vergobret, a position much like a king, but his powers were held in check by rules laid down by the council.
The regional ethnic groups, or pagi as the Romans called them (singular: pagus; the French word pays, "region" [a more accurate translation is 'country'], comes from this term), were organized into larger multi-clan groups, which the Romans called
Although the clans were moderately stable political entities, Gaul as a whole tended to be politically divided, there being virtually no unity among the various clans. Only during particularly trying times, such as the invasion of Caesar, could the Gauls unite under a single leader like Vercingetorix. 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"). Caesar divided the people of Gallia Comata into three broad groups: the Aquitani; Galli (who in their own language were called Celtae); and Belgae. In the modern sense,
Julius Caesar, in his book, The Gallic Wars wrote,
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.[39]
Religion
The Gauls practiced a form of
Their system of gods and goddesses was loose, there being certain deities which virtually every Gallic person worshipped, as well as clan and household gods. Many of the major gods were related to Greek gods; the primary god worshipped at the time of the arrival of Caesar was Teutates, the Gallic equivalent of Mercury. The "ancestor god" of the Gauls was identified by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico with the Roman god Dis Pater.[41]
Perhaps the most intriguing facet of Gallic religion is the practice of the
See also
- Ambiorix
- Asterix—a French comic about Gaul and Rome, mainly set in 50 BC
- Bog body
- Braccae—trousers, typical Gallic dress
- Cisalpine Gaul
- Galatia
- Lugdunum
- Roman Republic
- Roman villas in northwestern Gaul
References
- ^ English: /ˈɡæliə/
- ^ Arrowsmith, Aaron (1832). A Grammar of Ancient Geography,: Compiled for the Use of King's College School. Hansard London 1832. p. 50. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
gallia .
- ^ Bisdent, Bisdent (28 April 2011). "Gaul". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Birkhan 1997, p. 48.
- ^ "The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville" p. 198 Cambridge University Press 2006 Stephen A. Barney, W. J. Lewis, J. A. Beach and Oliver Berghof.
- ^ Howlsedhes Services. "Gerlyver Sempel". Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ Pierre-Yves Lambert, La langue gauloise, éditions Errance, 1994, p. 194.
- ^ Ekblom, R., "Die Herkunft des Namens La Gaule" in: Studia Neophilologica, Uppsala, XV, 1942-43, nos. 1-2, p. 291-301.
- ^ Sjögren, Albert, Le nom de "Gaule", in Studia Neophilologica, Vol. 11 (1938/39) pp. 210–214.
- Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology(OUP 1966), p. 391.
- ^ Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique et historique (Larousse 1990), p. 336.
- ^ Koch 2006, p. 532.
- ^ Koch 2006, pp. 775–776.
- Brittonic root *Wēdelos meaning literally "forest person, wild man")[13]
- ISBN 978-0-415-30234-0.
- S2CID 245509501.
- ISBN 0-7867-1211-2.
- ISBN 9780520287570.
- ^ a b Drinkwater 2014, p. 5.
- ^ a b c Drinkwater 2014, p. 6.
- ^ Drinkwater 2014, p. 6. "[...] the most important outcome of this series of campaigns was the direct annexation by Rome of a huge area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône, and up the Rhône valley to Lake Geneva."
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
Because of chronic internal rivalries, Gallic resistance was easily broken, though Vercingetorix's Great Rebellion of 52 bc had notable successes.
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
Indeed, the Gallic cavalry was probably superior to the Roman, horseman for horseman. Rome's military superiority lay in its mastery of strategy, tactics, discipline, and military engineering. In Gaul, Rome also had the advantage of being able to deal separately with dozens of relatively small, independent, and uncooperative states. Caesar conquered these piecemeal, and the concerted attempt made by a number of them in 52 BC to shake off the Roman yoke came too late.
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 22.
- ISBN 9789385505669.
- ^ Seindal, René (28 August 2003). "Julius Caesar, Romans [The Conquest of Gaul - part 4 of 11] (Photo Archive)". Retrieved 29 June 2019.
- ISBN 978-2848671697. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- ^ A recent survey is G. Woolf, Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul (Cambridge University Press) 1998.
- ISBN 9780816657001.
- ^ Pollini, J. (2002). Gallo-Roman Bronzes and the Process of Romanization: The Cobannus Hoard. Monumenta Graeca et Romana. Vol. 9. Leiden: Brill.
- ^ Oaks, L.S. (1986). "The goddess Epona: concepts of sovereignty in a changing landscape". Pagan Gods and Shrines of the Roman Empire.
- ^ ISBN 978-2-7298-6470-5.
Le déclin du Gaulois et sa disparition ne s'expliquent pas seulement par des pratiques culturelles spécifiques: Lorsque les Romains conduits par César envahirent la Gaule, au 1er siecle avant J.-C., celle-ci romanisa de manière progressive et profonde. Pendant près de 500 ans, la fameuse période gallo-romaine, le gaulois et le latin parlé coexistèrent; au VIe siècle encore; le temoignage de Grégoire de Tours atteste la survivance de la langue gauloise.
- ^ Hist. Franc., book I, 32 Veniens vero Arvernos, delubrum illud, quod Gallica lingua Vasso Galatæ vocant, incendit, diruit, atque subvertit. And coming to Clermont [to the Arverni] he set on fire, overthrew and destroyed that shrine which they call Vasso Galatæ in the Gallic tongue.
- ^ Henri Guiter, "Sur le substrat gaulois dans la Romania", in Munus amicitae. Studia linguistica in honorem Witoldi Manczak septuagenarii, eds., Anna Bochnakowa & Stanislan Widlak, Krakow, 1995.
- ^ Eugeen Roegiest, Vers les sources des langues romanes: Un itinéraire linguistique à travers la Romania (Leuven, Belgium: Acco, 2006), 83.
- ^ Savignac, Jean-Paul (2004). Dictionnaire Français-Gaulois. Paris: La Différence. p. 26.
- ^ Matasovic, Ranko (2007). "Insular Celtic as a Language Area". Papers from the Workship within the Framework of the XIII International Congress of Celtic Studies: 106.
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- ISBN 978-1604597622. Retrieved 8 January 2017.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-1508518518. Retrieved 8 January 2017 – via Internet Sacred Text Archive.
- ISBN 978-0714127835. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- ^ Kendrick, Thomas D. (1966). The Druids: A study in Keltic prehistory (1966 ed.). New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc. p. 78.
Sources
- Birkhan, H. (1997). Die Kelten. Vienna.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 978-1317750741.
- Koch, John Thomas (2006). Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-440-7.
- Ñaco del Hoyo, Toni; Principal, Jordi; Dobson, Mike, eds. (2022). Rome and the north-western Mediterranean : integration and connectivity c.150-70 BC. Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781789257175.