Roman Gaul

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Roman Gaul refers to Gaul^{[note 1]} under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.

History

During the Republic

The Roman Republic's influence began in southern Gaul. By the mid-2nd century BC, Rome was trading heavily with the Greek colony of Massilia (modern Marseille) and entered into an alliance with them, by which it agreed to protect the town from local Gauls, including the nearby Aquitani and from sea-borne Carthaginians and other rivals, in exchange for land that it wanted in order to build a road to Hispania, to assist in troop movements to its provinces there. The Mediterranean settlements on the coast continued to be threatened by the powerful Gallic tribes to the north and in 122 BC the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus campaigned in the area and defeated the Allobroges followed by Quintus Fabius Maximus against the Arverni under King Bituitus in 121 BC.^[1]

The Romans respected and feared the Gallic tribes. In 390 BC, the

As 58 BC dawned, most of Gaul was still under independent rule. It was beginning to urbanize and shared many aspects of Roman civilization. Into this picture came the rising general

The wars began with conflict over the migration of the Helvetii in 58 BC, which drew in neighboring tribes and the Germanic Suebi. By 57 BC, Caesar had resolved to conquer all of Gaul, and led campaigns in the east, where the Nervii nearly defeated him. In 56 BC, Caesar defeated the Veneti in a naval battle and took most of northwest Gaul. In 55 BC, he sought to boost his public image, and undertook first of their kind expeditions across the Rhine river and the English Channel. Upon his return from Britain, Caesar was hailed as a hero, though he had achieved little beyond landing because his army had been too small. The next year, he went back with a proper army and invaded Britain. However, tribes rose up on the continent, and the Romans suffered a humiliating defeat. 53 BC saw a draconian campaign against the Gauls in an attempt to pacify them. This failed and the Gauls staged a mass revolt under the leadership of Vercingetorix in 52 BC. Gallic forces won a notable victory at the Battle of Gergovia, but the Romans' indomitable siege works at the Battle of Alesia utterly defeated the Gallic coalition.^[5]

In 51 BC and 50 BC, there was little resistance and Caesar's troops were mostly mopping up. Gaul was conquered, although it would not become a Roman province until 27 BC, and resistance would continue until as late as 70 AD. There is no clear end-date for the war, but the

At the end of the Gallic Wars, the Gauls had not been entirely subjugated and were not yet a formal part of the Empire, but that task was not Caesar's and he left that to his successors. Gaul would not be made formally into Roman provinces until the reign of Augustus in 27 BC. Several rebellions happened subsequently and Roman troops were kept stationed throughout Gaul. There may have been unrest in the region as late as 70 AD.^[6]

Massilia was allied to Pompey in Caesar's civil war, which led to its eventual defeat at the Siege of Massilia in 49 BC after which it lost its territories but was allowed to keep nominal autonomy, due to ancient ties of friendship and support of Rome.

In 40 BC, during the

In 22 BC, imperial administration of Gaul was reorganised establishing the provinces of Gallia Aquitania, Gallia Belgica and Gallia Lugdunensis. Parts of eastern Gaul were incorporated into the provinces Raetia (15 BC) and Germania Superior (AD 83).

Roman citizenship was granted to all in 212 by the Constitutio Antoniniana.

Several significant Roman figures were born in Gaul, including Roman Emperors

The Goths, who had sacked Rome in 410, established a capital in Toulouse and in 418 succeeded in being accepted by Honorius as foederati and rulers of the Aquitanian province in exchange for their support against the Vandals.^[10]

The Roman Empire had difficulty responding to all the barbarian raids, and

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman administration finally collapsed as remaining Roman troops withdrew southeast to protect Italy. Between 455 and 476, the

, then Francia occidentalis spread to describe the political reality of the kingdom of the Franks (regnum francorum).

Geographical divisions

Before 22 BC, Gaul had three geographical divisions, one of which was divided into multiple Roman provinces:

1. Gallia Cisalpina or "Gaul this side of the Alps", covered most of present-day northern Italy
   . It was conquered by the Romans around 121 BC, but was not made a formal province until 81 BC. By the end of the republic, it was annexed into Italy itself.
2. Gallia Transalpina, or "Gaul across the Alps", was originally conquered and annexed in 121 BC in an attempt to solidify communications between Rome and the Iberian peninsula. It comprised most of what is now southern France, along the Mediterranean coast from the Pyrenees to the Alps. It was later renamed Gallia Narbonensis, after its capital city, Narbo
   .
3. Belgica. It had tributary status throughout the second and first centuries BC, but was still formally independent of Rome. It was annexed into the Empire as a result of Julius Caesar's victory in the Gallic Wars
   in 50 BC.

After 22 BC, the Romans divided Gallia Comata into three provinces, the Tres Galliae (the 3 Gauls):

Gallia Aquitania, corresponding to central and western France;

Gallia Belgica, corresponding to northeastern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany; capital at Reims, later Trier

Gallia Lugdunensis, corresponding to eastern and northern France; capital at Lugdunum (Lyon)

The Romans divided these huge provinces into

List of Celtic tribes) but the civitates were too large and in turn were divided into smaller units, pagi, a term that eventually became the modern French word "pays".^[12] 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

.

Language and culture

Celtic-style shield.^[13]

Main article: Gallo-Roman culture

In the five centuries between Caesar's invasion and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the

Emperor Claudius I, and in later centuries Christianity was introduced. The prohibition of Druids and the syncretic nature of the Roman religion led to disappearance of the Celtic religion. It remains to this day poorly understood: current knowledge of the Celtic religion is based on archaeology and via literary sources from several isolated areas such as Ireland and Wales

.

The Romans easily imposed their administrative, economic, artistic (especially in terms of monumental art and architecture) and literary culture.^[citation needed] They wore the Roman tunic instead of their traditional clothing.^{[citation needed]} Surviving Celtic influences also infiltrated back into the Roman Imperial culture in the 3rd century. For example, the Gaulish tunic—which gave Emperor Caracalla his surname—had not been replaced by Roman fashion. Similarly, certain Gaulish artisan techniques, such as the barrel (more durable than the Roman amphora) and chain mail were adopted by the Romans.

The Celtic heritage also continued in the spoken language (see History of French). Gaulish spelling and pronunciation of Latin are apparent in several 5th century poets and transcribers of popular farces.^[14] The last pockets of Gaulish speakers appear to have lingered until the 6th or 7th century.^{[citation needed]} Gaulish was held to be attested by a quote from Gregory of Tours written in the second half of the 6th century,^[15] which describes how a shrine "called 'Vasso Galatae' in the Gallic tongue" was destroyed and burnt to the ground.^[16] Throughout the Roman rule over Gaul, although considerable Romanization in terms of material culture occurred, the Gaulish language is held to have survived and continued to be spoken, coexisting with Latin.^[15]

Germanic placenames were first attested in border areas settled by Germanic colonizers (with Roman approval). In the 4th and 5th centuries, the Franks settled in northern France and Belgium, the Alemanni in Alsace and Switzerland, and the Burgundians in Savoie.

Villas in Roman Gaul

Further information: Roman villas in northwestern Gaul

Villas were usually centres of agricultural production, and were often closely associated with vineries and wine production.^[17] The owners were probably mainly local Gallic elites who became quickly romanised after the conquest, and sometimes Romans and Italians who wished to exploit rich local resources.^[18] The villas would have been the centre of complex relationships with the local area. Much of the work would have been undertaken by slave labour or by local coloni ("tenant farmers"). There would also have been a farm manager in addition to the inhabiting family.^[19]

See also

• Germanisation of Gaul
• Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul
• Montmaurin
• Praetorian prefecture of Gaul
• Gallo-Roman religion
• Jublains archeological site

Notes

1. ^ The territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany.

References

1. ISBN 978-1317750741
   p.6
2. ^ Gilliver 2003, p. 11.
3. ISBN 978-0300126891
   .
4. Weidenfeld and Nicolson
   .
5. ^
   OCLC 57577646
   .
6. ^ Gilliver 2003, pp. 83–88.
7. ISBN 978-0-19-511876-6
8. ^ Panegyrici Latini, 8:6; Aurelius Victor, Book of Caesars 39:20–21; Eutropius, Abridgement of Roman History 21; Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans 7:25.2-4
9. ^ Panegyrici Latini 8:12
10. ^ O'Callaghan, Joseph. "Spain: The Visigothic Kingdom". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
11. ISBN 9780191727467
12. ^ Patrick Galliou and Michael Jones, The Bretons, 1991, p. 79.
13. ^ Ashton, Kasey. "The Celts Themselves." University of North Carolina. Accessed 5 November 2017.
14. ^ Histoire de France, ed. Les Belles lettres, Paris.
15. ^
    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.
16. ^ 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.
17. ^ "Productions and activities". Villa, Villae en Gaule romaine. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
18. ^ "The estate owners". Villa, Villae en Gaule romaine. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
19. ^ "Farm employees and slaves". Villa, Villae en Gaule romaine. Retrieved 2019-02-04.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Gaul.

• Romans in Gaul : A Webliography – A Teacher Workshop held at Temple University, November 3, 2001. Dr. Janice Siegel, Department of Classics,
  Hampden-Sydney College
  , Virginia