Editing Celts (section)

====Gaul====
[[File:Celtic Gold-plated Disc, Auvers-sur-Oise, Val-d'Oise.jpg|thumb|A 4th century BC gold-plated disk from Gaul]]
{{Main|Gauls}}

The Romans knew the Celts then living in present-day France as Gauls. The territory of these peoples probably included the [[Low Countries]], the Alps and present-day northern Italy. [[Julius Caesar]] in his ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Gallic Wars]]'' described the 1st-century BC descendants of those Gauls.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Eastern Gaul became the centre of the western La Tène culture. In later Iron Age Gaul, the social organisation resembled that of the Romans, with large towns. From the 3rd century BC the Gauls adopted coinage. Texts with Greek characters from southern Gaul have survived from the 2nd century BC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arrival of Celts - France - SpottingHistory.com |url= https://www.spottinghistory.com/historicalperiod/celts-arrival-france/ |access-date=14 October 2022 |website=www.spottinghistory.com |language=en |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221014141240/https://www.spottinghistory.com/historicalperiod/celts-arrival-france/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Greek traders founded [[Marseille|Massalia]] about 600 BC, with some objects (mostly drinking ceramic vessels) being traded up the [[Rhône]] valley. But trade became disrupted soon after 500 BC and re-oriented over the Alps to the Po valley in the Italian peninsula. The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] arrived in the Rhone valley in the 2nd century BC and encountered a mostly Celtic-speaking Gaul. Rome wanted land communications with its Iberian provinces and fought a major battle with the [[Saluvii]] at [[Entremont (oppidum)|Entremont]] in 124–123 BC. Gradually Roman control extended, and the [[Roman province]] of [[Gallia Narbonensis|Gallia Transalpina]] developed along the Mediterranean coast.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dietler |first=Michael |title=Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France |date=2010 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-26551-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dietler |first=Michael |title=Consumption and Colonial Encounters in the Rhône Basin of France: A Study of Early Iron Age Political Economy |date=2005 |series=Monographies d'Archéologie Meditérranéenne |volume=21 |publisher=[[French National Centre for Scientific Research]] |isbn=978-2-912369-10-9}}</ref> The Romans knew the remainder of Gaul as {{lang|la|[[Gallia Comata]]}}, 'Long-haired Gaul'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gallia Comata {{!}} Gaul, Celtic Tribes, Julius Caesar |url= https://www.britannica.com/place/Gallia-Comata |website=[[Britannica.com]]}}</ref>

In 58 BC, the [[Helvetii]] planned to migrate westward but Julius Caesar forced them back. He then became involved in fighting the various tribes in Gaul, and by 55 BC had overrun most of Gaul. In 52 BC, [[Vercingetorix]] led a revolt against Roman occupation but was defeated at the [[Battle of Alesia]] and surrendered.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vercingetorix {{!}} Gallic chieftain {{!}} Britannica |url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vercingetorix |access-date=22 October 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221022001419/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vercingetorix |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the Gallic Wars of 58–51 BC, Caesar's ''[[Gallia Celtica|Celtica]]'' formed the main part of Roman Gaul, becoming the province of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]]. This territory of the Celtic tribes was bounded on the south by the Garonne and on the north by the Seine and the Marne.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Celts |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=75}}</ref> The Romans attached large swathes of this region to neighbouring provinces [[Belgica]] and [[Aquitania]], particularly under [[Augustus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Drinkwater |first=John |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AfpQAwAAQBAJ&q=Belgica+and+Aquitania+augustus |title=Roman Gaul (Routledge Revivals): The Three Provinces, 58 BC-AD 260 |date=8 April 2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-317-75074-1 |language=en}}</ref>

Place- and personal-name analysis and inscriptions suggest that [[Gaulish]] was spoken over most of what is now France.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Celts |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=52}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dietler |first=Michael |title=Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France |date=2010 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-26551-6 |pages=75–94}}</ref>