Editing History of France (section)

=== 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}}