Editing Gaul (section)

==History==

===Pre-Roman===<!--linked-->
{{Further|Prehistoric France|Celts|La Tène culture|Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul}}
[[File:Droysens Hist Handatlas S16 Gallien.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Map of Roman Gaul (Droysens Allgemeiner historischer Handatlas, 1886)]]

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 matter of archaeology, and the relationships between their [[Archaeological culture|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 Europe|Bronze Age]] [[Urnfield culture]] ({{Circa|12th}} to 8th centuries BC) out of which the early [[Iron Age Europe|iron-working]] [[Hallstatt culture]] (7th to 6th centuries BC) would develop. By 500 BC, there is strong [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] influence throughout most of France (except for the Alps and the extreme north-west).

Out of this Hallstatt background, the La Tène culture arose during the 7th and 6th century BC, presumably representing an early form of [[Continental Celtic languages|Continental Celtic]] culture and likely under Mediterranean influence from the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], [[Phoenicia]]n, and [[Etruscan civilization]]s. This culture spread out along the [[Seine]], the [[Middle Rhine]] and the upper [[Elbe]]. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spread rapidly across the entire territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late [[Iron Age]] (from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC) not only in France but also what is now [[Switzerland]], northern [[Italy]], [[Austria]], southern [[Germany]], [[Bohemia]], [[Moravia]], [[Slovakia]] and [[Hungary]]. A major archaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern [[Bronze Age Britain|Britain]] in the Bronze Age, during the 500-year period from 1300 to 800 BC. The newcomers were genetically most closely related to ancient individuals from Gaul. The authors describe this as a "plausible vector for the spread of early [[Celtic languages]] into Britain".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=N.|last2=Isakov|first2=M.|last3=Booth|first3=T.|title=Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=2021|volume=601 |issue=7894 |pages=588–594 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04287-4|pmid=34937049 |pmc=8889665 |bibcode=2022Natur.601..588P |s2cid=245509501 }}</ref> 

The major source of early information on the Celts of Gaul is [[Posidonius|Poseidonios]] of Apamea, whose writings were quoted by [[Timagenes]], [[Julius Caesar]], the [[Sicily|Sicilian]] [[Greeks|Greek]] [[Diodorus Siculus]], and the Greek geographer [[Strabo]].<ref>{{cite book|author = Berresford Ellis, Peter|title = ''The Celts: A History''|pages = 49–50|publisher = Caroll & Graf|year = 1998|isbn = 0-7867-1211-2}}</ref> 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 [[Gallia Transalpina]] as distinct from [[Gallia Cisalpina]]. In his ''[[Gallic Wars]]'', Julius Caesar distinguishes among three ethnic groups in Gaul: the [[Belgae]] in the north (roughly between the [[Rhine]] and the Seine), the Celtae in the center and in [[Armorica]], and the [[Aquitani]] in the southwest, the southeast being already colonized by the Romans. While some scholars believe the Belgae north of the [[Somme (river)|Somme]] were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved.

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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=26owDwAAQBAJ|last=Dietler|first=Michael|title=Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France|date=2010|publisher=Univ of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520287570}}</ref> Also, along the southeastern French Mediterranean coast, the [[Ligures]] had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-[[Liguria]]n culture.

===Roman conquest===
{{Main article|Gallic Wars}}

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 [[Avaricum]] ([[Bourges]]), [[Cenabum]] ([[Orléans]]), [[Autricum]] ([[Chartres]]) and the excavated site of [[Bibracte]] near [[Autun]] in Saône-et-Loire, along with a number of hill forts (or [[oppidum|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 found themselves under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls.{{sfn|Drinkwater|2014|page=5}} The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC.{{sfn|Drinkwater|2014|page= 5}} Whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed.{{sfn|Drinkwater|2014|page= 6}} In 122 BC [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 122 BC)|Domitius Ahenobarbus]] managed to defeat the [[Allobroges]] (allies of the [[Salluvii]]), while in the ensuing year [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus|Quintus Fabius Maximus]] "destroyed" an army of the [[Arverni]] led by their king [[Bituitus]], who had come to the aid of the Allobroges.{{sfn|Drinkwater|2014|page= 6}} Rome allowed Massilia to keep its lands, but added to its own territories the lands of the conquered tribes.{{sfn|Drinkwater|2014|page= 6}} As a direct result of these conquests, Rome now controlled an area extending from the [[Pyrenees]] to the lower [[Rhône]] river, and in the east up the [[Rhône valley]] to [[Lake Geneva]].<ref>{{harvnb|Drinkwater|2014|page= 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."</ref> By 121 BC Romans had conquered the Mediterranean region called ''Provincia'' (later named ''[[Gallia Narbonensis]]''). This conquest upset the ascendancy of the Gaulish Arverni peoples.[[File:GaulsinRome.jpg|thumb|upright|Gauls in Rome]]

The Roman proconsul and general Julius Caesar led his army into Gaul in 58 BC, ostensibly to assist Rome's Gaullish allies against the migrating [[Helvetii]]. With the help of various Gallic clans (e.g., the [[Aedui]]) he managed to conquer nearly all of Gaul. While their military was just as strong as the Romans', the internal division between the Gallic tribes guaranteed an easy victory for Caesar, and [[Vercingetorix]]'s attempt to unite the Gauls against Roman invasion came too late.<ref name="EB_The_Roman_Conquest">{{cite web |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/215768/France/41196/The-press |title=France: The Roman conquest |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica (company)|Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=April 6, 2015 |quote="Because of chronic internal rivalries, Gallic resistance was easily broken, though Vercingetorix's Great Rebellion of 52 bc had notable successes."}}</ref><ref name="The_first_triumvirate_and_the_conquest_of_Gaul">{{cite web |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/88114/Julius-Caesar/9735/The-first-triumvirate-and-the-conquest-of-Gaul |title=Julius Caesar: The first triumvirate and the conquest of Gaul |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica (company)|Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=February 15, 2015 |quote="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."}}</ref> Caesar was checked by Vercingetorix at a [[Battle of Gergovia|siege of Gergovia]], a fortified town in the center of Gaul. Caesar's alliances with many Gallic clans broke. Even the Aedui, their most faithful supporters, threw in their lot with the Arverni but the ever-loyal [[Remi]] (best known for its cavalry) and [[Lingones]] sent troops to support Caesar. The [[Germani]] of the [[Ubii]] also sent cavalry, which Caesar equipped with Remi horses. Caesar captured Vercingetorix in September 52 BC in the [[Battle of Alesia]], which ended the majority of Gallic resistance to Rome.

As many as one million people (probably 1 in 5 of the Gauls) died, another one million were [[Slavery in ancient Rome|enslaved]],<ref>Plutarch, Caesar 22.</ref> 300 clans were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed during the Gallic Wars.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsHLDAAAQBAJ&q=300+clans+were+subjugated+and+800+cities+were+destroyed+during+the+Gallic+Wars&pg=PT307|title=50 Great Military Leaders of All Time|last=Tibbetts|first=Jann|date=2016|publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd|isbn=9789385505669|language=en}}</ref> The entire population of the city of Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) were slaughtered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/766_Julius_Caesar-3.html|last=Seindal|first=René|title=Julius Caesar, Romans [The Conquest of Gaul – part 4 of 11] (Photo Archive)|date=28 August 2003|access-date=29 June 2019}}</ref> Before 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Serghidou|first1=Anastasia|title=Fear of slaves, fear of enslavement in the ancient Mediterranean|date=2007|publisher=Presses Univ. Franche-Comté|location=Besançon|isbn=978-2848671697|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIHDaGuXkI4C&q=population+helvetii+caesar+slavery&pg=PA50|access-date=8 January 2017}}</ref>

===Roman Gaul===
{{Main article|Roman Gaul|3 = History of France}}
[[File:Gaul Soldiers.JPG|thumb|Soldiers of Gaul, as imagined by a late 19th-century illustrator for the [[Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle|Larousse dictionary]], 1898]]
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 [[Gallo-Roman culture]].<ref>A recent survey is G. Woolf, ''Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul'' (Cambridge University Press) 1998.</ref> Citizenship was granted to all in 212 AD by the [[Constitutio Antoniniana]]. From the 3rd to 5th centuries, Gaul was exposed to raids by the [[Franks]]. The [[Gallic Empire]]—consisting of the provinces of Gaul, [[Roman Britain|Britannia]], and [[Hispania]], including the peaceful [[Hispania Baetica|Baetica]] in the south—broke away from Rome from 260 to 273. In addition to the large number of natives, Gallia also became home to some [[Colonia (Roman)|Roman citizens from elsewhere]] and also imigration of Germanic and Scythian tribes such as the [[Alans]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbz9IyOvfPoC|title=Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751|last=Bachrach|first=Bernard S.|date=1972|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=9780816657001|pages=10|language=en}}</ref>

The religious practices of inhabitants became a combination of Roman and Celtic practice, with Celtic deities such as [[Cobannus]] and [[Epona]] subjected to {{lang|la|[[interpretatio romana]]}}.<ref>{{cite book |first=J. |last=Pollini |title=Gallo-Roman Bronzes and the Process of Romanization: The Cobannus Hoard |series=Monumenta Graeca et Romana |volume=9 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |year=2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=L.S. |last=Oaks |chapter=The goddess Epona: concepts of sovereignty in a changing landscape |title=Pagan Gods and Shrines of the Roman Empire |year=1986}}</ref> The [[imperial cult]] and Eastern [[mystery religions]] also gained a following. Eventually, after it became the official religion of the empire, and paganism became suppressed, Christianity won out in the twilight days of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. A small but notable [[Judaism|Jewish]] presence also became established.

The Gaulish language is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture.<ref name=Helix>{{cite book|author=Laurence Hélix| title=Histoire de la langue française|isbn=978-2-7298-6470-5|publisher=Ellipses Edition Marketing S.A.|page=7|quote=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.| year=2011}}</ref> The last record of spoken Gaulish deemed to be plausibly credible<ref name=Helix/> concerned the destruction by Christians of a pagan shrine in Auvergne "called Vasso Galatae in the Gallic tongue".<ref>''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.</ref> Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the [[Vulgar Latin]] dialects that developed into French.<ref>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.</ref><ref>Eugeen Roegiest, ''Vers les sources des langues romanes: Un itinéraire linguistique à travers la Romania'' (Leuven, Belgium: Acco, 2006), 83.</ref><ref name=Savignac>{{cite book|author=Savignac, Jean-Paul|year=2004|page=26|title=Dictionnaire Français-Gaulois|location=Paris|publisher=La Différence}}</ref><ref name=Matas>{{cite book|author=Matasovic, Ranko|year=2007|chapter=Insular Celtic as a Language Area|title=The Celtic Languages in Contact |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VgBtaDT-evYC&pg=PA106 |type=Papers from the Workshop within the Framework of the XIII International Congress of Celtic Studies|page=106 |publisher=Potsdam University Press|isbn=978-3-940793-07-2 }}</ref><ref name=Adams>{{cite book|author= Adams, J. N.|date= 2007|title= The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC – AD 600|url= https://archive.org/details/regionaldiversif600adam_341 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url-access= limited|chapter= Chapter V – Regionalisms in provincial texts: Gaul|page= [https://archive.org/details/regionaldiversif600adam_341/page/n300 279]–289|location= Cambridge|doi= 10.1017/CBO9780511482977|isbn= 9780511482977}}</ref> The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti,<ref name="Adams" /> which evolved into the [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]] dialects which include French and its closest relatives. The influence of [[substrate (linguistics)|substrate]] languages may be seen in graffiti showing sound changes that matched changes that had earlier occurred in the indigenous languages, especially Gaulish.<ref name="Adams" /> The Vulgar Latin in the north of Gaul evolved into the [[langues d'oïl]] and [[Franco-Provencal]], while the dialects in the south evolved into the modern [[Occitan language|Occitan]] and [[Catalan language|Catalan]] tongues. Other languages held to be "Gallo-Romance" include the [[Gallo-Italic languages]] and the [[Rhaeto-Romance languages]].

===Frankish Gaul===
{{main article|Neustria|Frankish Aquitaine|Frankish Burgundy|Frankish Gascony}}
{{further|Visigothic Kingdom|Christianity in Gaul|List of Frankish synods}}
Following Frankish victories at [[Battle of Soissons (486)|Soissons (486)]], [[Battle of Vouillé|Vouillé (507)]] and [[Battle of Autun (532)|Autun (532)]], Gaul (except for [[Brittany]] and [[Septimania]]) came under the rule of the [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovingian]]s, the first [[kings of France]]. Gallo-Roman culture persisted particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into [[Occitania]], [[Cisalpine Gaul|Gallia Cisalpina]] and to a lesser degree, [[Aquitania]]. The north developed into Merovingian culture. Roman life, centered on the public events and cultural responsibilities of urban life in the ''[[res publica]]'' and the sometimes luxurious life of the self-sufficient rural [[Roman villa|villa]] system, took longer to collapse in the Gallo-Roman regions, where the [[Visigoths]] largely inherited the status quo in the early 5th century. Gallo-Roman language persisted in the northeast into the [[Silva Carbonaria]] that formed an effective cultural barrier, with the Franks to the north and east, and in the northwest to the lower valley of the [[Loire]]. Gallo-Roman culture interfaced with Frankish culture in urban areas like [[Tours]].

<gallery mode="packed" heights="140px">
File:Massalia large coin 5th 1st century BCE.jpg|Massalia (Marseille) silver coin with Greek legend, 5th–1st century BC.
File:ParisiiCoins.jpg|Gold coins of the Gaul [[Parisii (Gaul)|Parisii]], 1st century BC, ([[Cabinet des Médailles]], Paris).
File:RomanSilverDenariusWithHeadOfCaptiveGaul48BCE.JPG|Roman silver Denarius with the head of captive Gaul 48 BC, following the campaigns of Julius Caesar.
</gallery>