Roman–Gallic wars
Over the course of nearly four centuries, the Roman Republic fought a series of wars against various Celtic tribes, whom they collectively described as Galli, or Gauls. Among the principal Gallic peoples described as antagonists by Greek and Roman writers were the Senones, Insubres, Boii, and Gaesatae.
The Romans first came into conflict with Gauls who entered Italy from the north. Some of these settled in the lands immediately south of the Alps, which became known as Cisalpine Gaul: "Gaul this side of the Alps". Gaulish armies, some perhaps fighting as mercenaries in the service of the cities of Magna Graecia, plundered territory in Etruria and Latium during the fourth century, famously sacking Rome circa 390 BC.[1]
Following the
Cisalpine conflicts
Major conflicts on the Italian side of the Alps include:
390
367 BC: A Gallic expedition is said to have been routed by Camillus, but the historicity of this episode is doubtful.[10][11][12][13]
361–358 BC: Gauls allied with
350–349 BC: The Gauls ravage Latium, and the Latin League refuses direct aid to Rome. Despite various hardships, the Romans defeat their attackers, and a young Marcus Valerius Corvus wins everlasting fame by slaying a giant Gaul in single combat, aided by a raven, from which he takes his surname.[16][17][18][19][20]
331 BC: The Romans conclude a peace with the Gauls, which holds for nearly thirty years.[21][22]
302 BC: Gauls cross the Alps into Cisalpine Gaul, where previously-settled Gallic tribes allow them to pass southward. Some of the latter join the march, as do some
295 BC: During the
284 BC:
225 BC: The Insubres and Boii hire Alpine Gauls, the Gaesatae, to join them and march on Rome. The Gauls defeated the Romans at Faesulae, but later the Romans defeated the Gauls at Telamon.[31][32][33]
223–193 BC: After this came a concerted Roman policy aimed at conquering Gallic territories south of the Alps. Rome invaded the territory of the Insubres in 223 BC, and took Clastidium, Acerrae and Mediolanum in 222 BC.[34][35][36] Rome fought Carthage in the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), and the Gauls typically sided with Carthage.[36] After the war, Rome took Bononia (196 BC),[37][38] Placentia (194 BC),[39][40][36] and Mutina (193 BC).[41][42] According to Strabo, many of the surviving Boii retreated north across the Alps to the land subsequently known as Boihaemum,[43] but in all probability the region was already inhabited by Boii prior to their subjugation in Italy.[44]
Transalpine conflicts
125–121 BC: Romans crossed the Alps and fought first the
109 BC: During the Cimbrian War, the Cimbri defeat the consul Marcus Junius Silanus.[54][55] in 107 BC, the Cimbri and Ambrones, together with their allies Helvetii, defeat a Roman army near Agendicum in the Battle of Burdigala, in which the consul Lucius Cassius Longinus is killed.[56][54][57][58][59]
58–50 BC:
40–37 BC: Prompted by unrest in Gaul, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa marches against the Aquitani, whom he defeats.[62][63]
28–27 BC:
Notes
- Varronian chronology. Polybius places the event approximately three to four years later.[3]
References
- ^ a b Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, pp. 313–318.
- ^ a b Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, pp. 455, 456 ("Gallic Wars").
- ^ Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, p. 314.
- ^ Livy, v. 35–49.
- ^ Dionysius, xiii. 6 s. 7–12 s. 18.
- ^ Polybius, Histories, ii. 18.
- ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Camillus", 14–30.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 94–96.
- ^ a b Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, p. 977 ("Senones").
- ^ Livy, vi. 42.
- ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Camillus", 40–42.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 113.
- ^ a b Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, p. 324.
- ^ Livy, vii. 9–12, 15.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 119–121.
- ^ Livy, vii. 23–26.
- ^ Dionysius, xv. 1.
- ^ Appian, Bella Celtica, 2, 10.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 127–129.
- ^ Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, pp. 324, 325.
- ^ Polybius, Histories, ii. 18.
- ^ Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, p. 325.
- ^ a b c Polybius, Histories, ii. 19.
- ^ Livy, x. 21, 26–30.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 177–179.
- ^ Gallic War (283 BC) http://www.keytoumbria.com/Umbria/Wars_with_Gauls_and_Etruscans_%28285_-_280_BC%29.html
- ^ Polybius, Histories, ii. 20.
- ^ Dionysius, xix. 12 s. 13.
- ^ Appian, Bella Celtica, 11.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 188, 189.
- ^ Polybius, Histories, ii. 23, 25–31.
- ^ Appian, Bella Celtica, 2.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 230, 231.
- ^ Polybius, Histories, ii. 34, 35.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 231, 232.
- ^ a b c Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, p. 548 ("Insubres").
- ^ Livy, xxxiii. 36, 37.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 335.
- ^ Livy, xxxiv. 43.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 342, 343.
- ^ Livy, xxxiv. 55, 56.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 346.
- ^ Strabo, Geographica, v. 6, 10.
- ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, p. 171 ("Boii").
- ^ Livy, Epitome, lx, lxi.
- ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 34; Bella Celtica, 12.
- ^ Diodorus, xxxiv. 23.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 510–512, 514–516.
- ^ Cicero, Pro Fonteio, 36.
- ^ Caesar, De Bello Gallico, i. 45.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 520–522.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, vol. I, p. 954 ("Gallia Transalpina".
- ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, p. 47 ("Allobroges").
- ^ a b Livy, Epitome, 65.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, p, 545.
- ^ Caesar, De Bello Gallico, i. 7, xii. 5–7, xiii. 2, xiv. 3.
- ^ Appian, Bella Celtica, i. 3.
- ^ Tacitus, Germania, 37.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 550.
- ^ Caesar, De Bello Gallico, passim.
- ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Caesar", 15, 16, 18, 20, 22–27.
- ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, v. 75, 92.
- ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, pp. 30 ("Agrippa"), 90 ("Aquitania").
- ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, iv. 38.
- ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, pp. 90 ("Aquitania"), 674 ("Messalla Corvinus").
Bibliography
- Polybius, Historiae (The Histories).
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Fonteio.
- Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War).
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica (Library of History).
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia (Roman Antiquities).
- Titus Livius (History of Rome.
- Strabo, Geographica.
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus, De Origine et Situ Germanorum (The Origin and Situation of the Germans, or "Germania").
- Appianus Alexandrinus (Appian), Bella Celtica (The Gallic Wars); Bellum Civile (The Civil War).
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1854).
- T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952–1986).
- Oxford Classical Dictionary, Second Edition, N. G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard, eds., Clarendon Press, Oxford (1970).
- Timothy J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000–264 BC), Routledge, London (1995).