Gaul

File:Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png

Map of Gaul circa 58 BC

Gaul (Latin: [Gallia] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) was the name given in ancient times to the area of Western Europe that included northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. Many Celtic tribes lived in the region and were known by the Romans simply as "Gauls".

In English, the word Gaul (French: [Gaulois] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) may mean a Celtic inhabitant of that region or it may mean all ancient speakers of the Gaulish language. In this way, "Gaul" and "Celt" are sometimes used in the same sense.

Gauls under Brennus attacked Rome with the Battle of the Allia (390 BC). Later the Romans conquered and ruled Gaul.

From 260-274, Gaul broke away from the Roman Empire and formed the Gallic Empire before getting defeated and reintegrated.

Trivia

In Greek, modern-day France is called Γαλλία (same as the Latin Gallia) and the term for a Gaulish person is Γαλατία (Galatia).

Gaul Media

• Map Gallia Tribes Towns-la.svg

  Gaul c. 58 BC, on the eve of the Gallic Wars. The Romans divided Gaul into five parts: Gallia Celtica (largely corresponding to the later province Gallia Lugdunensis), Gallia Belgica, Gallia Cisalpina, Gallia Narbonensis, and Gallia Aquitania.

• Droysens Hist Handatlas S16 Gallien.jpg

  Map of Roman Gaul (Droysens Allgemeiner historischer Handatlas, 1886)

• GaulsinRome.jpg

  The Gauls in Rome

• Gaul, 1st century BC.gif

  A map of Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the relative positions of the Celtic ethnicities: Celtae, Belgae and Aquitani.

• Celts in III century BC.jpg

  Expansion of the Celtic culture in the 3rd century BC.

• Massalia large coin 5th 1st century BCE.jpg

  Massalia (Marseille) silver coin with Greek legend, 5th–1st century BC.

• ParisiiCoins.jpg

  Gold coins of the Gaul Parisii, 1st century BC, (Cabinet des Médailles, Paris).

• RomanSilverDenariusWithHeadOfCaptiveGaul48BCE.JPG

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

Other websites

• The Gallic Wars Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine