Editing History of France (section)

== Ancient history ==
{{Distinguish|Ancien Régime}}

=== Greek colonies ===
{{Main|Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul}}
[[File:Massalia large coin 5th 1st century BCE.jpg|thumb|[[Marseille|Massalia]] (modern [[Marseille]]) Greek silver coin, 5th–1st century BC]]

In 600 BC, [[Ionia]]n Greeks founded the [[Greek colonies|colony of Massalia]] (present-day [[Marseille]]) on the shores of the [[Mediterranean Sea]], making it one of the oldest cities in France.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1TmVvMwmo4C&pg=RA1-PA754 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |date=1970 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5210-8691-2 |editor-last=Edwards |editor-first=I. E. S. |page=754 |display-editors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Orrieux |first1=Claude |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofancient0000orri |title=A History of Ancient Greece |last2=Schmitt Pantel |first2=Pauline |date=1999 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-6312-0309-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofancient0000orri/page/62 62]}}</ref> At the same time, some Celtic tribes arrived in the eastern parts ([[Germania superior]]) of the current territory of France, but this occupation spread in the rest of France only between the 5th and 3rd century BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carpentier |first1=Jean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ew7lAAAAMAAJ |title=Histoire de France |last2=Lebrun |first2=François |last3=Carpentier |first3=Élisabeth |date=2000 |publisher=Éditions du Seuil |isbn=978-2-0201-0879-9 |page=29 |language=fr}}</ref>

=== Gaul ===
{{Main|Gaul}}
{{See also|Iron Age France|Hallstatt culture|La Tène culture}}

Covering large parts of modern-day France, Belgium, northwest Germany and northern Italy, Gaul was inhabited by many [[Celts|Celtic]] and [[Belgae]] tribes whom the Romans referred to as [[Gauls]] and who spoke the [[Gaulish language]] roughly between the [[Oise (river)|Oise]] and the [[Garonne]], according to [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War, Book 1, chapter 1 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0001 |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> On the lower Garonne the people spoke [[Aquitanian language|Aquitanian]], a [[Pre-Indo-European languages|Pre-Indo-European language]] related to (or a direct ancestor of) [[Basque language|Basque]] whereas a [[Belgian language]] was spoken north of [[Lutecia]] but north of the [[Loire]] according to other authors like [[Strabo]]. The Celts founded cities such as [[Lutetia|Lutetia Parisiorum]] (Paris) and [[Bordeaux|Burdigala]] (Bordeaux) while the Aquitanians founded [[Toulouse|Tolosa]] (Toulouse).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Farid |first=Heba |title=The Gauls Warfare Depiction in Art during the Hellenistic Era |url=https://bcps.journals.ekb.eg/article_205254_b87a8109852a04c17f7aa00714d7e6d1.pdf}}</ref>

[[File:Celtic expansion in Europe.png|thumb|[[Celts|Celtic]] expansion in Europe, 6th–3rd century BC]]

Long before any Roman settlements, Greek navigators settled in what would become [[Provence]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Provence |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Provence-region-France |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905064145/https://www.britannica.com/place/Provence-region-France |archive-date=2015-09-05 |access-date=2017-01-19 |website=Britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The [[Phocaea|Phoceans]] founded important cities such as [[Marseille|Massalia]] (Marseille) and [[Nice|Nikaia]] (Nice),<ref name="Grummond-2015">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Clifford M. |title=Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology |date=11 May 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-1342-6861-0 |editor-last=de Grummond |editor-first=Nancy Thomson |editor-link=Nancy Thomson de Grummond |page=PT453 |chapter=Gaul |oclc=908993379 |quote=founding of Massalia (Marseilles) in 600 B.C. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UuE4CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT453}}</ref> bringing them into conflict with the neighboring Celts and Ligurians. The Celts themselves often fought with Aquitanians and Germans, and a Gaulish war band led by [[Brennus (4th century BC)|Brennus]] invaded Rome c. 393 or 388 BC following the [[Battle of the Allia]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}}

However, the tribal society of the Gauls did not change fast enough for the centralized Roman state. The Gaulish tribal confederacies were defeated by the Romans in battles such as [[Battle of Sentinum|Sentinum]] and [[Battle of Telamon|Telamon]] during the 3rd century BC.{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}} In the early 3rd century BC, some Belgae ([[Germani cisrhenani]]) conquered the surrounding territories of the [[river Somme|Somme]] in northern Gaul after battles supposedly against the [[Armoricani]] (Gauls) near [[Ribemont-sur-Ancre]] and [[Gournay-sur-Aronde]], where sanctuaries were found.{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}}

When [[Carthaginian Republic|Carthaginian]] commander [[Hannibal|Hannibal Barca]] fought the Romans, he recruited several Gaulish mercenaries who fought on his side at [[Battle of Cannae|Cannae]]. It was this Gaulish participation that caused Provence to be annexed in 122 BC by the [[Roman Republic]].{{Sfnp|Jones|Ladurie|1999|pp=29–30}} Later, the Consul of Gaul — [[Julius Caesar]] — conquered all of Gaul. Despite Gaulish opposition led by [[Vercingetorix]], the Gauls succumbed to the Roman onslaught. The Gauls had some success at first at [[Battle of Gergovia|Gergovia]], but were ultimately [[Battle of Alesia|defeated at Alesia]] in 52 BC. The Romans founded cities such as [[Lugdunum]] ([[Lyon]]), [[Narbonne|Narbonensis]] (Narbonne) and allow in a correspondence between [[Lucius Munatius Plancus]] and [[Cicero]] to formalize the existence of [[Cularo]] (Grenoble).{{Cn|date=June 2024}}

=== Roman Gaul ===
{{Main|Roman Gaul}}
[[File:Siege-alesia-vercingetorix-jules-cesar.jpg|thumb|''[[Vercingetorix]] throws down his arms at the feet of [[Julius Caesar]]'' after the [[Battle of Alesia]]. Painting by Lionel-Noël Royer, 1899.]]

[[File:Square House Roman Temple at Nimes, France (7179063926).jpg|thumb|[[Maison carrée|Roman Temple]] at [[Nîmes]]]]
Gaul was divided into several different provinces. The Romans displaced populations to prevent local identities from becoming a threat to Roman control. Thus, many Celts were displaced in [[Gallia Aquitania|Aquitania]] or were enslaved and moved out of Gaul. There was a strong cultural evolution in Gaul under the Roman Empire, the most obvious one being the replacement of the [[Gaulish language]] by [[Vulgar Latin]]. It has been argued the similarities between the Gaulish and [[Latin]] languages favoured the transition. Gaul remained under Roman control for centuries and Celtic culture was then gradually replaced by [[Gallo-Roman culture]].

The Gauls became better integrated with the Empire with the passage of time. For instance, generals [[Marcus Antonius Primus]] and [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]] were both born in Gaul, as were emperors [[Claudius]] and [[Caracalla]]. Emperor [[Antoninus Pius]] also came from a Gaulish family. In the decade following [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]]'s capture by the Persians in 260, [[Postumus]] established a short-lived [[Gallic Empire]], which included the Iberian Peninsula and Britannia, in addition to Gaul itself. Germanic tribes, the [[Franks]] and the [[Alamanni]], entered Gaul at this time. The Gallic Empire ended with Emperor [[Aurelian]]'s [[Battle of Châlons (274)|victory at Châlons]] in 274.

A migration of Celts occurred in the 4th century in [[Armorica]]. They were led by the legendary king [[Conan Meriadoc]] and came from Britain. They spoke the now extinct [[British language (Celtic)|British language]], which evolved into the [[Breton language|Breton]], [[Cornish language|Cornish]], and [[Welsh language]]s.

In 418 the Aquitanian province was given to the [[Goths]] in exchange for their support against the [[Vandals]]. Those same Goths had sacked Rome in 410 and established a capital in Toulouse.

{{Main|Crossing of the Rhine}}

The Roman Empire had difficulty integrating all the barbarian newcomers - with whom [[foederati]] treaties were concluded - within the empire, and generals as [[Flavius Aëtius]] had to use these tribes against each other in order to maintain some Roman control. He first used the [[Huns]] against the [[Burgundians]], and these mercenaries destroyed [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], killed king [[Gunther]], and pushed the Burgundians westward. The Burgundians were resettled by Aëtius near [[Lugdunum]] in 443. The Huns, united by [[Attila the Hun|Attila]], became a greater threat, and Aëtius used the Visigoths against the Huns. The conflict climaxed in 451 at the [[Battle of Châlons]], in which the Romans and Goths defeated Attila.

{{Main|Frankish War (428)|Gothic War (436-439)|Burgundian Revolt of Gunther}}

The Roman Empire was on the verge of collapsing. Aquitania was definitely abandoned to the [[Visigoths]], who would soon conquer a significant part of southern Gaul as well as most of the Iberian Peninsula. The Burgundians claimed their own kingdom, and northern Gaul was practically abandoned to the Franks. Aside from the Germanic peoples, the [[Vascones]] entered [[Duchy of Vasconia|Wasconia]] from the Pyrenees and the [[Bretons]] formed three kingdoms in Armorica: [[Domnonia]], [[Cornouaille]] and [[Broërec]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heather |first=P. J. |title=The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians |date=2007}}</ref>