Everything about Gaul totally explained
Gaul 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. In English, the word
Gaul 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.
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 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. At the same time a
migrating band of
Celts, some 10,000
warriors, with their women and children and
slaves, were moving through Thrace. 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.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. Eventually they settled down in eastern
Phrygia and
Cappadocia in central
Anatolia, a region henceforth known as
Galatia.
Name
The names
Gallia and
Galatia sometimes are compared to
Gael, which is, however, from
Goidhel or
Gwyddel, and can't be directly related. It is uncertain whether the
Gal- names are from a native name of a tribe, or if they're
exonyms. 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. 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.
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). 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.
Hellenistic
aitiology connects the name with
Galatia (first attested by Timaeus of Tauromenion in the 4th c. 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).
Pre-Roman Gaul
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.
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.
Many cultural traits of the early Celts seem to have been carried northwest up the
Danube Valley, although this issue is contested. 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 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.
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.
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 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. Farther to the north extended the contemporary
Pre-Roman Iron Age culture of
northern Germany and
Scandinavia.
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. 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. This fitted the French expansionist aspirations of the time under
Napoleon III of France. 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. 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. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the
Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-
Ligurian culture.
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. 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'd conquered the Mediterranean region called
Provincia (later named
Gallia Narbonensis). This conquest upset the ascendancy of the Gaulish
Arverni tribe.
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.
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 entire population of the city of
Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) were slaughtered. 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 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.
Religion
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. Also, worship of animals wasn't 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.
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. The "father god" in Gallic worship was "Dis Pater," who could be assigned the Roman name "
Saturn." 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. There is no certainty concerning their origin, but it's 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
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 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. 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.
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. 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 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.
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.
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.
Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they're 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're the nearest to the Germani, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they're 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's 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 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.
|
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gaul'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://gaul.totallyexplained.com">Gaul Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
