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Celts in III century BCE

Coins of the Parisii (Metropolitan Museum of Art).

The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish.

Gauls under Brennus defeated Roman forces in a battle circa 390 BCE. The peak of Gaulish expansion was reached in the 3rd century BCE, in the wake of the Gallic invasion of the Balkans of 281-279 BCE, when Gaulish settlers moved as far afield as Asia Minor.^[1]

Archaeologically, they were the bearers of the La Tène culture (5th to 1st centuries BCE). In the 3rd century BCE, the Gauls expanded towards the southeast in a series of invasions, including the Gallic Invasion of Greece, with a few settling as far east as Anatolia, as the Galatians. They were conquered by Julius Caesar in the Gallic Wars in the 50s BCE, and during the Roman period became assimilated into a Gallo-Roman culture. During the crisis of the third century, there was briefly a breakaway Gallic Empire under Postumus, Marcus Aurelius Marius and Tetricus I. By the arrival of the Franks during the Migration Period (5th century), the Gaulish language had been replaced by Vulgar Latin.

History[link]

Gold coins of the Santones Gauls, 5-1st century BCE. Early Gaul coins were often inspired by Greek coinage.^[2]

Bronze cuirass, weighing 2.9kg, Grenoble, end of 7th century - early 6th century EE.

Gaulish culture developed out of the Celtic cultures over the first millennia BCE. The Urnfield culture (c. 1300 BCE – c. 750 BCE) represents the Celts as a distinct cultural branch of the Indo-European-speaking people. The spread of iron working led to the Hallstatt culture in the 8th century BCE; the Proto-Celtic may have been spoken around this time. The Hallstatt culture evolved into the La Tène culture in around the 5th century BCE. The Greek, Phoenician, and Etruscan civilizations and colonies began to influence the Gauls especially in the Mediterranean area.

Brennus sacked Rome circa 390 BCE

Following the climate deterioration in the late Nordic Bronze Age, Celtic Gaul was invaded by tribes (named Kymris by some French historians) later called Gauls originating in the germano-celtic border - the Rhine and the Danube (Hercynian forest) - during the 6th or 5th century BCE. Gauls under Brennus sacked Rome circa 390 BCE. In the Aegean world, a huge migration of Eastern Gauls appeared in Thrace, north of Greece, in 281 BCE. Another Gaulish chieftain also named Brennus, at the head of a large army, was according to Greek sources only turned back from desecrating the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece at the last minute — he was alarmed, it was said, by portents of thunder and lightning.^[1]. However, according to the Roman legend of the cursed gold of Delphi, he did sack the city. During the Second Punic War the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca utilized Gallic mercenaries in his famous invasion of Italy. They played a part in some of his most spectacular victories including the battle of Cannae. The Mediterranean Gauls were prosperous enough by the 2nd century that the powerful Greek colony of Massilia had to appeal to the Roman Republic for defense against them.

All over Gaul archeology has uncovered numerous pre-roman gold mines (at least 200 in the Pyrenees) suggesting that they were very rich also evidenced by large finds of gold coins and artefacts. Also there existed highly developed population centers called Oppidum by Ceasar such as Bibracte, Gergovia, Avaricum, Alesia, Bibrax, Manching and others. Modern archeology strongly suggests that the countries of Gaul were quite civilized and very wealthy. Most had contact with Roman merchants and some, particularly those that were governed by Republics such as the Aedui, Helvetii and others had enjoyed stable political alliances with Rome. They imported Mediterranean wine on an industrial scale evidenced by large finds of Mediterranean wine vessels in digs all over Gaul the largest and most famous of such vessels being the one discovered in Vix grave which stands 1.63 m (5'4") in height.

The Romans intervened in southern Gaul in 125 BCE, and conquered the area eventually known as Gallia Narbonensis by 121. In 58 BCE Julius Caesar launched the Gallic Wars and conquered the whole of Gaul by 51 B.C. At this time Caesar noted that the Gauls were one of the three primary peoples in the area at the time, along with the Aquitanians and the Belgae. Caesar's motivation for the invasion seems to have been his need for gold to pay off his debts and a successful military expedition to boost his political career. The people of Gaul who at the time were divided and segregated could provide him with both. So much gold was looted from Gaul that after the war the price of gold fell by as much as 20%. As a result of the conflict 1 million Gauls, mainly civilians, lost their lives and another million were enslaved. After the annexation of Gaul a mixed Gallo-Roman culture began to emerge.

Social structure[link]

The Dying Gaul, an ancient Roman marble copy of a lost ancient Greek statue, thought to have been executed in bronze, commissioned some time between 230 – 220 BCE by Attalus I of Pergamon to commemorate his victory over the Galatians

Gaulish society was dominated by the druid priestly class. The druids were not the only political force, however, and the early political system was complex. The fundamental unit of Gallic politics was the tribe, which itself consisted of one or more of what Caesar called "pagi". Each tribe had a council of elders, and initially a king. Later, the executive was an annually-elected magistrate. Among the Aedui tribe the executive held the title of "Vergobret", a position much like a king, but its powers were held in check by rules laid down by the council.

The tribal groups, or pagi as the Romans called them (singular: pagus; the French word pays, "region", comes from this term) were organised into larger super-tribal groups that the Romans called civitates. These administrative groupings would be taken over by the Romans in their system of local control, and these civitates would also be the basis of France's eventual division into ecclesiastical bishoprics and dioceses, which would remain in place — with slight changes — until the French Revolution.

Roman silver Denarius with the head of captive Gaul 48 BCE, following the campaigns of Caesar.

Although the tribes were moderately stable political entities, Gaul as a whole tended to be politically divided, there being virtually no unity among the various tribes. Only during particularly trying times, such as the invasion of Caesar, could the Gauls unite under a single leader like Vercingetorix. Even then, however, the faction lines were clear.

The Romans divided Gaul broadly into Provincia (the conquered area around the Mediterranean), and the northern Gallia Comata ("free Gaul" or "wooded Gaul"). Caesar divided the people of Gaulia Comata into three broad groups: the Aquitani; Galli (who in their own language were called Celtae); and Belgae. In the modern sense, Gaulish tribes are defined linguistically, as speakers of dialects of the Gaulish language. While the Aquitani were probably Vascons, the Belgae would thus probably be counted among the Gaulish tribes, perhaps with Germanic elements.

Julius Caesar, in his book, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, comments:

Language[link]

Gaulish or Gallic is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became dominant in Roman Gaul. According to Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars it was one of three languages in Gaul, the others being Aquitanian and Belgic.^[3] In Gallia Transalpina, a Roman province by the time of Caesar, Latin was the language spoken since at least the previous century. Gaulish is paraphyletically grouped with Celtiberian, Lepontic, and Galatian as Continental Celtic. The Lepontic language and the Galatian language are sometimes considered to be dialects of Gaulish. Gaulish is a P-Celtic language and (like Lepontic in Cisalpine Gaul) was already spoken in Gaul long before the arrival of the Gallic tribes in the 6th century BCE.

Religion[link]

Taranis (with Celtic wheel and thunderbolt), Le Chatelet, Gourzon, Haute-Marne, France.

The Gauls practiced a form of animism, ascribing human characteristics to lakes, streams, mountains, and other natural features and granting them a quasi-divine status. Also, worship of animals was not uncommon; the animal most sacred to the Gauls was the boar, which can be found on many Gallic military standards, much like the Roman eagle.

Depiction of Cernunnos from the Pilier des Nautes, Paris, France.

Their system of gods and goddesses was loose, there being certain deities which virtually every Gallic person^{[citation needed]} worshiped, as well as tribal and household gods. Many of the major gods were related to Greek gods; the primary god worshiped at the time of the arrival of Caesar was Teutates, the Gallic equivalent of Mercury. The "father god" in Gallic worship was "Dis Pater". However there was no real theology^{[citation needed]}, just a set of related and evolving traditions of worship.

Perhaps the most intriguing facet of Gallic religion is the practice of the Druids. There is no certainty concerning their origin, but it is clear that they vehemently guarded the secrets of their order and held sway over the people of Gaul. Indeed they claimed the right to determine questions of war and peace, and thereby held an "international" status. In addition, the Druids monitored the religion of ordinary Gauls and were in charge of educating the aristocracy. They also practiced a form of excommunication from the assembly of worshippers, which in ancient Gaul meant a separation from secular society as well. Thus the Druids were an important part of Gallic society.

List of Gaulish tribes[link]

A map of Gaul in the 1st century BCE, showing the relative positions of the Celtic tribes.

Sculpture of an armoured torc-wearing Gaul warrior, Vachères, France.

Averni coin depicting warrior, 5th-1st century BCE.

Pictones coin depicting warrior, 5th-1st century BCE.

Celtic sword and scabbard circa 60 BCE.

After completing the conquest of Gaul, Rome converted most of these tribes into civitates, making for the administrative map of the Roman provinces of Gaul. This was then perpetuated by the early church, whose geographical subdivisions were based on those of late Roman Gaul, and lasted into the areas of French dioceses prior to the French Revolution.

See also[link]

• Aulerci, a generic term used by Julius Caesar that includes several tribes
• Asterix, a French comic about Gauls set in 40s BCE
• Cisalpine Gaul
• French people
• Gaulish language
• List of Celtic tribes
• Roman villas in northwestern Gaul

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Boardman, John The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, Princeton 1993 ISBN 0-691-03680-2

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