Gaul

Gaul was the land Caesar conquered in the Gallic Wars of 58 to 50 BC, and the soldiers and wealth he drew from it carried him into civil war.^[1]^[2]^[3]

About the Place

Why it matters

Gaul was the Roman name for a Celtic land far larger than modern France.^{[4, p. 1]}^[2] Caesar opens his account by dividing it into three parts, held by the Belgae, the Aquitani and the Celts.^[5] These peoples differed in language, customs and laws.^[5] Gauls had also settled in northern Italy, which the Romans called Cisalpine Gaul, meaning Gaul on their side of the Alps.^[2] Britannica says the Gauls plundered Rome itself in 390 BC, a humiliation that helped inspire the Roman drive to conquer Gaul.^[2]

Rome took Gaul in several steps. By 181 BC it had subjugated and colonised Cisalpine Gaul in northern Italy.^[2] Britannica says Rome won control of the Rhone valley after 120 BC and founded the colony of Narbo Martius, modern Narbonne, in 118 BC.^[2] Mommsen quotes a description from about ten years before Caesar arrived that called the old province full of merchants and Roman citizens.^[6] In 58 BC Caesar was assigned Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for five years, and Transalpine Gaul was added to his command.^[7]^[8]

Vercingetorix addresses his warriors, who raise their spears to acclaim him war leader against Rome in 52 BC.

Britannica dates the Gallic Wars to 58 to 50 BC.^[1] Caesar began by fighting the Helvetii and Ariovistus, then moved against the Belgae in the north.^[9] In 52 BC the Gauls chose Vercingetorix as their leader.^[9] His defeat at the siege of Alesia that year ended Gallic resistance.^[10] Mommsen counted eight years of conflict in all.^[6] In January 49 BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the river between his province of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy, and called up his legions in Gaul.^[11]

Britannica says Caesar treated the Gauls generously, leaving their cities some autonomy, and so secured the loyalty of Gallic soldiers in his civil wars.^[2] Augustus later organised the provinces, adding Aquitania, Belgica and Lugdunensis to the old province of Narbonensis.^[12] Lugdunum, modern Lyon, became the capital of Roman Gaul.^[2] Britannica says Rome had lost control by the early 6th century, when the Frankish Merovingians arose.^[2] Napoleon III began excavating Alesia, above Alise-Sainte-Reine, in 1861.^[13]^[10] Many Roman amphitheatres and aqueducts in Gaul still stand.^[2]

Legacy & Reputation

What’s the verdict?

Legacy & Reputation

What's the verdict?

Plutarch judged that Caesar surpassed other Roman generals in the extent of country he acquired and the multitude of enemies he beat.^[3] Mommsen wrote that Alesia decided the fate of the Celtic nation.^[6] Ferrero argued that fears of a Helvetian conquest of all Gaul were much exaggerated.^[14] Camille Jullian wrote that Roman Gaul repaid the state a hundredfold.^{[15, p. 244]}

Myth-buster

Think you know this one?

Myth-buster

Think you know this one?

It is often assumed that Gaul simply means France. Holmes wrote that Gaul extended far beyond modern France, taking in a large part of Switzerland, Belgium and southern Holland.^{[4, p. 1]} Britannica adds that Gauls also lived in northern Italy.^[2]

Quick Facts

The essentials

Quick Facts

Location: Part of Ancient Gaul, under the Roman Republic — today, Mainly France and Belgium, with parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, western Germany and northern Italy Period: Ancient World Classification: Natural Landmark Also known as: Gallia (Latin) and Gaule (French)^[2]; Cisalpine Gaul and Transalpine Gaul, the Roman names for the parts south and north of the Alps^[16]

Keith has inspected the famous opening line

Caesar divides Gaul into Belgae, Aquitani and Celts. Holmes noted the grouping was not scientifically complete, since a Celtic tribe, the Carnutes, was a client of the Belgic Remi, but it was good enough for Caesar's narrative.^{[4, p. 1]}

Roger has noticed that the Gauls reached Rome first

Long before Caesar crossed the Alps, the Gauls had come the other way. Britannica says they plundered Rome in 390 BC, and Trollope adds that the Romans bought them off with a ransom.^[2]^[7]

Keith followed the money

Plutarch reports that Caesar sent his Gallic wealth flowing to Rome's politicians. He paid off the tribune Curio's debts and gave the consul Paulus fifteen hundred talents, which helped pay for a famous basilica in the Forum.^[3]

File under: grim endings

Vercingetorix told his council he had fought for the common freedom and offered his life or his surrender. Weigall writes that he was held prisoner for six years, then executed at the close of Caesar's triumph in Rome.^{[9, p. 201]}^{[17, p. 61]}

Roger insists the numbers matter here

Caesar's own account gives the relief army marching to Alesia as eight thousand horse and 240,000 foot. Trollope adds that, with that army still on the march, the men and women inside Alesia were starving.^[7]

Keith has found the railway timetable

George Long wrote in the 1860s that the site of Alesia is certain: Alise-Sainte-Reine, on Mont Auxois. He said anyone approaching from Les Laumes station, having read Caesar's description, will recognise the place as soon as they see it.^[18]

Roger would like you to know the Rubicon was once Gaul's border

Caesar's province of Cisalpine Gaul ended at the little river Rubicon. Weigall relates that as Caesar crossed it into Italy in January 49 BC, he exclaimed, "The die is cast!", and set his face towards Rome.^[11]

Meanwhile, in the old province

Mommsen quotes a description written about ten years before Caesar arrived: the province of Gaul was full of merchants and swarmed with Roman citizens, and no Gaul did business without a Roman.^[6]

One for the Ageonauts: Lyon began as a Roman city

Godwin says the governor Minutius Plancus founded Lugdunum, now Lyons, in 43 BC where the Rhone and Saone meet. He calls it the first Roman city in long-haired Gaul.^[12]

History has added a footnote at Alesia

Legge records that excavations at Alise were begun in 1861 by Napoleon III, whom he calls an enthusiastic archaeologist. Long quotes a French history noting that a statue of Vercingetorix had recently been placed near an old Gallic wall on Mont Auxois.^[13]^[18]

All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls, the third.

Julius Caesar

Caesar's opening sentence of his account of the Gallic War, in an English translation.^[5]

Timeline

How it unfolded

c. 390 BC

Gauls sack Rome

Britannica dates the Gauls' seizure and plundering of Rome to 390 BC, a humiliation that helped to inspire the Romans' drive to conquer Gaul.^[2]

by 181 BC

Rome subjugates Cisalpine Gaul

Britannica says that by 181 BC Rome had subjugated and colonised Cisalpine Gaul, the part of Italy occupied by the Gauls, which the Romans called Gaul this side of the Alps.^[2]

118 BC

Narbo Martius founded

Rome gained control of the Rhone valley after 120 BC, and the colony of Narbo Martius (Narbonne) was founded on the coast in 118 BC, according to Britannica. The southern province became known as Gallia Narbonensis.^[2]

58 BC

Caesar takes command in Gaul

In 58 BC Caesar was assigned Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for five years, with Transalpine Gaul added, and he went north that spring to take charge.^[7]^[8] Britannica dates the Gallic Wars to 58 to 50 BC.^[1]

52 BC

Siege of Alesia

The Gauls chose Vercingetorix as their leader in 52 BC, according to the contents of the Loeb edition of Caesar's Gallic War.^[9] Britannica says his siege and capture at Alesia that year ended Gallic resistance to Caesar.^[10]

January 49 BC

Caesar summons his legions from Gaul

Weigall says that in the middle of January 49 BC Caesar sent orders to his legions in Gaul to come to his support.^[11] Britannica says his generous treatment of the Gauls secured the allegiance of Gallic soldiers in his civil wars against Pompey.^[2]

27 BC

Augustus organises the Gallic provinces

Taylor wrote that in 27 BC Augustus went to Gaul and thoroughly organised the provinces won by Julius Caesar.^[19] Godwin names three provinces, Aquitania, Belgica and Lugdunensis, alongside the old Narbonensis.^[12]

Early 6th century AD

Roman control of Gaul ends

Britannica says that by the time the Frankish Merovingians arose in the early 6th century, the Romans had lost control of Gaul.^[2]

1861

Napoleon III begins excavating Alesia

Excavations at Alise, the village below the site of Alesia, were begun in 1861 by Napoleon III, according to Legge.^[13]^[10] Britannica adds that many Roman amphitheatres and aqueducts built in Gaul still stand.^[2]

Dig Deeper

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Explain how Caesar conquered a land as large as Gaul, and why the siege of Alesia and the surrender of Vercingetorix proved decisive.

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