Editing Flanders (section)

=== Early history ===
{{main|Belgae}}

When [[Julius Caesar]] conquered the area he described it as the less economically developed and more warlike part of ''[[Gallia Belgica]]''. His informants told him that especially in the east, the tribes claimed ancestral connections and kinship with the [[Germanic peoples|"Germanic" peoples]] then east of the [[Rhine]]. Under the [[Roman Empire]] the whole of ''Gallia Belgica'' became an administrative province. The future counties of Flanders and Brabant remained part of this province connected to what is now France, but in the east modern Limburg became part of the Rhine frontier province of ''[[Germania Inferior]]'' connected to what is now the Netherlands and Germany. ''Gallia Belgica'' and ''Germania Inferior'' were the two most northerly continental provinces of the [[Roman Empire]].

In the future county of Flanders, the main [[Belgic tribe]] in early Roman times was the [[Menapii]], but also on the coast were the [[Marsacii]] and [[Morini]]. In the central part of modern Belgium were the [[Nervii]], whose territory corresponded to medieval Brabant as well as French-speaking Hainaut. In the east was the large district of the [[Tungri]] which covered both French- and Dutch-speaking parts of eastern Belgium. The Tungri were understood to have links to Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. Another notable group were the [[Toxandrians]] who appear to have lived in the [[Campine|Kempen]] region, in the northern parts of both the Nervian and Tungrian districts, probably stretching into the modern Netherlands. The Roman administrative districts (''[[civitas|civitates]]'') of the Menapii, Nervii and Tungri therefore corresponded roughly with the medieval counties of Flanders, Brabant and [[County of Loon|Loon]], and the modern Flemish provinces of East and West Flanders (Menapii), Brabant and Antwerp (the northern Nervii), and Belgian Limburg (part of the Tungri). Brabant appears to have been separated from the Tungri by a relatively unpopulated forest area, the [[Silva Carbonaria]], forming a natural boundary between northeast and southwest Belgium.

Linguistically, the tribes in this area were under [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] influence in the south, and [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] influence in the east, but there is disagreement about what languages were spoken locally (apart from [[Vulgar Latin]]), and there may even have been an intermediate "[[Nordwestblock]]" language related to both. By the first century AD, [[Germanic languages]] appear to have become prevalent in the area of the Tungri.

As Roman influence waned, Frankish populations settled in the Tungiran area east of the Silva Carbonaria, and eventually pushed through it under [[Chlodio]]. They had kings in each Roman district (''civitas''). In the meantime, the Franks contributed to the Roman military. The first Merovingian king [[Childeric I]] was king of the Franks within the military of Gaul. He became leader of the administration of ''Belgica Secunda'', which included the ''civitas'' of the Menapii (the future county of Flanders). From there, his son [[Clovis I]] managed to conquer both the Roman populations of northern France and the Frankish populations beyond the forest areas.