This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. For the political history of the brief "Gallic Empire" of the 3rd century, see Gallic Empire.

Gallo-Roman figures found in Ingelheim

The term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman mores and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context.^[1] The well-studied meld of cultures^[2] in Gaul give historians a model against which to compare and contrast parallel developments of Romanization in other, less-studied Roman provinces.

Interpretatio romana offered Roman names for Gaulish deities such as the smith-god Gobannus,^[3] but of Celtic deities only the horse-patroness Epona penetrated Romanized cultures beyond the confines of Gaul.^[4]

The barbarian invasions beginning in the early fifth century forced upon Gallo-Roman culture fundamental changes in politics, in the economic underpinning, in military organization. The Gothic settlement of 418 offered a double loyalty, as Western Roman authority disintegrated at Rome. The plight of the highly Romanized governing class^[5] is examined by R.W. Mathisen,^[6] the struggles of bishop Hilary of Arles by M. Heinzelmann,^[7]

Into the seventh century, Gallo-Roman culture would persist particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into Occitania, Gallia Cisalpina and to a lesser degree, Aquitania. The formerly Romanized north of Gaul, once it had been occupied by the Franks, would develop into Merovingian culture instead. 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 villa system, took longer to collapse in the Gallo-Roman regions, where the Visigoths largely inherited the status quo in 418. 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, where Gallo-Roman culture interfaced with Frankish culture in a city like Tours and in the person of that Gallo-Roman bishop confronted with Merovingian royals, Gregory of Tours.

Politics[link]

Northern Gaul "sou", 440-450, 4240mg. Hotel de la Monnaie.

Gaul was divided by Roman administration into three provinces, which were sub-divided in the later third century reorganization under Diocletian, and divided between two dioceses, Galliae and Viennensis, under the Praetorian prefecture of Galliae.^[8] On the local level, it was composed of civitates which preserved, broadly speaking, the boundaries of the formerly independent Gaulish tribes, which had been organised in large part on village structures that retained some features in the Roman civic formulas that overlaid them.

Over the course of the Roman period, an ever-increasing proportion of Gauls gained Roman citizenship. In 212 the Constitutio Antoniniana extended citizenship to all free-born men in the Roman Empire.

Gallic Empire[link]

A Gallic warrior dressed in Roman manner, but wearing a torc

During the Crisis of the Third Century, from 259 to 274, an independent Gallo-Roman realm, termed the Gallic Empire by modern historians, was temporarily established. It was formed of the break-away provinces of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania. The Gallic emperor Postumus set up the Empire's capital in Trier, in what is now the Rhineland-Palatinate of Germany.

Religion[link]

The pre-Christian religious practices of Roman Gaul were characterized by syncretism of Graeco-Roman deities with their native Celtic, Basque or Germanic counterparts, many of which were of strictly local cult. Assimilation was eased by interpreting indigenous gods in Roman terms, such as with Lenus Mars or Apollo Grannus. Otherwise, a Roman god might be paired with a native goddess, as with Mercury and Rosmerta. In at least one case – that of the equine goddess Epona – a native Gallic goddess was also adopted by Rome.

Eastern mystery religions penetrated Gaul early on. These included the cults of Orpheus, Mithras, Cybele, and Isis.

The imperial cult, centred primarily on the numen of Augustus, came to play a prominent role in public religion in Gaul, most dramatically at the pan-Gaulish ceremony venerating Rome and Augustus at the Condate Altar near Lugdunum annually on 1 August.

Christianity[link]

Gallo-Roman Christian sarcophagus, Rignieux-le-Franc (Ain), end of 4th century. Louvre Museum.

Gregory of Tours recorded the tradition that after the persecution under the co-emperors Decius and Gratus (250-51 CE), Pope Felix sent seven missionaries to re-establish the broken and scattered Christian communities, Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Martial to Limoges, and Austromoine to Clermont.^[9]

In the fifth and sixth centuries, Gallo-Roman Christian communities still consisted of independent churches in urban sites, each governed by a bishop; Christians experienced loyalties divided between the bishop and the civil prefect, who operated largely in harmony within the late-imperial administration. Some of the communities had origins that predated the third century persecutions. The personal charisma of the bishop set the tone, as fifth-century allegiances, for pagans as well as Christians, switched from institutions to individuals: most Gallo-Roman bishops were drawn from the highest levels of society as appropriate non-military civil roads to advancement dwindled, and they represented themselves as bulwarks of high literary standards and Roman traditions against the Vandal and Gothic interlopers; other bishops drew the faithful to radical asceticism. Bishops often took on the duties of civil administrator after the contraction of the Roman imperial administration due to the Barbarian invasions of the 5th century, helping fund building projects and even acting as arbiters of justice in the local community. Miracles attributed to both kinds of bishops, as well as holy men and women, attracted cult veneration, sometimes very soon after their death; a great number of locally-venerated Gallo-Roman and Merovingian saints arose in the transitional centuries 400 – 750. The identification of the diocesan administration with the secular community, which took place during the fifth century in Italy, can best be traced in the Gallo-Roman culture of Gaul in the career of Caesarius, bishop and Metropolitan of Arles from 503 to 543. (Wallace-Hadrill).

Gallo-Roman art[link]

The "Endymion sarcophagus", early 3rd c., found in 1806 at Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans, in Roman Gallia Aquitania (Louvre)

Roman culture introduced a new phase of anthropomorphized sculpture to the Gaulish community,^[10] synthesized with Celtic traditions of refined metalworking, a rich body of urbane Gallo-Roman silver developed, which the upheavals of the second and fifth centuries motivated hiding away in hoards, which have protected some pieces of Gallo-Roman silver, from villas and temple sites, from the universal destruction of precious metalwork in circulation. The exhibition of Gallo-Roman silver highlighted specifically Gallo-Roman silver from the treasures found at Chaourse (Aisne), Mâcon (Saône et Loire), Graincourt-lès-Havrincourt (Pas de Calais),Notre-Dame d'Allençon (Maine-et-Loire), and Rethel (Ardennes, found in 1980).^[11]

Gallo-Roman sites[link]

The two more Romanized of the three Gauls were bound together in a network of Roman roads that linked cities. Via Domitia (laid out in 118 BC), reached from Nîmes to the Pyrenees, where it joined the Via Augusta at the Col de Panissars. Via Aquitania reached from Narbonne, where it connected to the Via Domitia, to the Atlantic Ocean through Toulouse to Bordeaux.

Sites, restorations, museums[link]

Bust of a Gallo-Roman, from Lausanne, Switzerland, About 200 AD.

At Périgueux, France, a luxurious Roman villa called the Domus of Vesunna, built round a garden courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded peristyle enriched with bold tectonic frescoing, has been handsomely protected in a modern glass-and-steel structure that is a fine example of archaeological museum-making (see external link).

Lyon, the capital of Roman Gaul, is now the site of a Museum of Gallo-Roman Civilization (rue Céberg), associated with the remains of the theater and odeon of Roman Lugdunum. Visitors are offered a clear picture of the daily life, economic conditions, institutions, beliefs, monuments and artistic achievements of the first four centuries of the Christian era. The "Claudius Tablet" in the Museum transcribes a speech given before the Senate by the Emperor Claudius in 48, in which he requests the right for the heads of the Gallic nations to participate in Roman magistracy. The request having been accepted, the Gauls decided to engrave the imperial speech on bronze.

In Martigny, Valais, Switzerland, at the Fondation Pierre Gianadda, a modern museum of art and sculpture shares space with Gallo-Roman Museum centered on the foundations of a Celtic temple.

Other sites include:

Towns[link]

• Arles - remains include the Alyscamps, a large Roman necropolis
• Autun
• Glanum, near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
• Narbonne
• Nîmes - remains include the Maison Carrée
• Orange
• Tongeren (Belgium) gallo-roman museum
• Vaison-la-Romaine
• several Roman amphitheatres are still visible in France. (see List of Roman amphitheatres for a list)

The Gallo-Roman museum in the amphitheatre of Lugdunum

Amphitheatres[link]

• Arelate (modern Arles)
• Grand
• Lugdunum (modern Lyon)
• Nemausus (modern Nîmes)
• Lutetia (modern Paris): Arènes de Lutèce
• Mediolanum Santonum (modern Saintes)

Aqueducts[link]

• Pont du Gard
• Barbegal aqueduct

See also[link]

• Culture of Ancient Rome
• Sidonius Apollinaris
• Syagrius
• Via Domitia, the first Roman road built in Gaul
• Pillar of the Boatmen
• Thraco-Roman
• Loupian Roman villa
• Gallo-Romance languages
• Gallo language
• Ausonius
• Venantius Fortunatus
• Hilary of Arles
• Roman villas in northwestern Gaul

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

• Wallace-Hadrill, J.M. 1983. The Frankish Church (Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-826906-4, 1983
• Drinkwater, John,and Hugh Elton, eds. Fifth-Century Gaul: a crisis of identity? (Cambridge University Press) 2002.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Roman sites in France

• Gallo-Roman Museum, Lyon
• Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum by Jean Nouvel
• Gallo-Roman Museum Tongeren - Belgium

Juan Ramón Francisco González (born June 24, 1987 in Bonao, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican professional baseball third baseman for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball.

The then switch-hitting Francisco was signed as a non-drafted free agent on May 6, 2004 by Juan Peralta. He lives in Villa Altagracia, Dominican Republic.

Professional baseball[link]

Cincinnati Reds[link]

He spent his first professional season, with the Gulf Coast League Reds. He batted .280 in 182 at-bats with three home runs. He enjoyed a nine game call up at the season's end to the Billings Mustangs rookie class team, where he went 12-for-36.

Francisco spent 2007 with the single-A Dayton Dragons. He hit .268 in 534 at-bats, slugging 25 home runs and driving in 90. Juan was a Midwest League mid-season All-Star and post-season All-Star for the Dragons.

Promoted again in 2008, this time to the single-A advanced Sarasota Reds, he again spent the entire season with the same team. In 516 at-bats, he hit .277 with 23 homers and 92 RBI. Francisco earned All-Star status again, for both the mid-season and post-season in the Florida State League. In addition, he was selected to play in the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Futures Game. Francisco was named Reds' Minor League Hitter of the Year for 2008. Juan played winter ball for Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Winter Baseball League. In 40 games for the team, he .360 with 37 RBI, and his 12 home runs set the DWL record for regular season homers by a left-handed hitter. He continued to produce in the playoffs, hitting six more homers and 18 more RBI.^[1] His performance earned him the DWL Rookie of the Year accolade. He was added to the 40-man roster on November 20.

Originally a switch-hitter, Francisco abandoned hitting right-handed in 2009 to become a full-time lefty.

Juan began the year in double-A Carolina. He played in 109 games for the Mudcats, where he hit .281 with 22 home runs and 78 RBI in 437 at-bats. For the third year in a row he earned mid- and post-season All-Star recognition, this time in the Southern League. He was promoted to the triple-A Louisville Bats. He played in 22 games, getting 92 at-bats, and hit .359 with 5 homers and 19 RBI. Juan again earned a promotion, this time to the Cincinnati Reds.

Francisco made his debut for the Reds as part of a 3–1 win over the Houston Astros on September 14, 2009 at Great American Ball Park. Pinch hitting for left fielder Darnell McDonald in the seventh inning, Francisco faced pitcher Jeff Fulchino and struck out in his first Major League at bat.^[2] He finished his September call-up batting .429 (9-for-21) with his first career big-league homer and seven RBI.

He was again named Minor League Hitter of the Year, and Baseball America rated him the organization's best power hitter and best infield arm.

He headed back to the Gigantes for the 2009–10 DWL season. He played in 46 games this time, batting .302 with 11 doubles, 11 homers, and 42 RBI. The Gigantes were runner-ups in the playoffs, and in 22 games of post-season play he hit 3 home runs with 18 RBI. This performance earned him the title of 2009 DWL Most Valuable Player.

Francisco spent 2010 mainly with the Louisville Bats. Ironically, in his best statistical season to date, he was not named to any All-Star roster for the first time in four years. For the Bats, he played in 77 games and hit .286 in 308 at-bats, slugging 18 homers and 59 RBI in his shortened season. He spent the rest of the season with the Reds, and saw action in 36 games. He hit .273 with one homer and seven RBI in 55 at-bats.

He played winter ball with Cibao again, and continued to be one of the top players. In 39 games and 152 at-bats, he hit .322 with 8 homers and 30 RBI. They lost in the championship game again, but this time without Francisco, who fouled a pitch off his leg under his right knee on December 10 and missed the rest of the season. He was hospitalized when it became infected and inflamed and the knee had to be drained, but Walt Jocketty, Reds GM, said that it was nothing serious.^[3] Despite missing part of the season, Francisco won his second consecutive DWL MVP award. This and his other trips to the DWL playoffs, which are taken very seriously in the Dominican Republic, have given Juan post-season experience which he can bring with him to the big leagues.

Francisco made the club out of spring training in 2011 as a backup to Scott Rolen, backup left fielder, and a left handed bat off the bench. He switched his number from 64 to the more conventional number 25. On September 12, 2011, Francisco hit a home run off Chicago Cubs pitcher Rodrigo López that cleared the right field bleachers at Great American Ball Park. It was estimated to have gone 502 feet. It was the second longest homerun in Great American Ballpark history behind Adam Dunn's 535 ft home run in 2004.^[4]

Atlanta Braves[link]

On April 1, 2012, Francisco was traded to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher J. J. Hoover.^[5] Debuted at 3rd base on April 7, 2012 for the Braves against the Mets.

Scouting report[link]

Francisco plays first base and left field in addition to third base. He is known as a free swinging power hitter with a high strikeout rate. He also has a good throwing arm, as evidence by his recognitions from Baseball America in 2009.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• [1] - Juan Francisco Stats, Bio on MLB.com
• [2] - Juan Francisco Stats, Bio on MiLB.com