1.
Gaul
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It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, capacity, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants, Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish. The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, also unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river
2.
Aveyron
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Aveyron is a department located in the north of the Occitanie region of southern France named after the Aveyron River. The inhabitants of the department are known as Aveyronnais or Aveyronnaises, the inhabitants of Rodez are called Ruthénois, based on the first Celtic settlers, the rutenii. Aveyron is the centre of a formed by the cities of Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand. The department approximately follows the outline of the province of Rouergue. It is the 5th largest department in metropolitan France in terms of area, the department comes under the jurisdiction of the Academy of Toulouse and the Montpellier Court of Appeal. The INSEE and Post Code is 12, Aveyron is located in the south of the Massif Central. The highest point in the department is the summit of Le Signal de Mailhebiau at 1469m on the Plateau of Aubrac, the Aveyron department is divided into several natural regions such as the Grand Causses and Rougiers. Aveyron department consists of an ancient high plateau of great geological diversity. The Truyère, Lot, Aveyron, and Tarn rivers have carved a lot of deep gorges, the department is surrounded by the departments of Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Hérault, Gard, Lozère, and Cantal. The Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat is used as a reservoir to provide drinking water supplies for the region, Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. During the medieval and early periods, and until the 1790s. In 1797, Victor of Aveyron was found wandering the woods in the area, the story of Victor is told in the film The Wild Child. In 1817, a local prosecutor Antoine Bernardin Fualdès was assassinated, the sordid circumstances of his death, following which his body was found floating in the Aveyron River, led to the matter becoming publicised as a cause célèbre. Recent studies have indicated that he met his end at the initiative of a right wing royalist organisation known as the Chevaliers de la Foi, in 2010, the department had 276,805 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the censuses conducted in the department since 1793. This table shows the towns of Aveyron including second homes. Source INSEE, data from 1 January 2008, the President of the General Council is Jean-Claude Luche of the Union for a Popular Movement. The regional sub-dialect spoken in Aveyron is a form of Languedoc Occitan called Rouergat, faced with the risk of disappearance of the language several associations asked the State and political communities for an ambitious language policy
3.
Lead
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Lead is a chemical element with atomic number 82 and symbol Pb. When freshly cut, it is bluish-white, it tarnishes to a dull gray upon exposure to air and it is a soft, malleable, and heavy metal with a density exceeding that of most common materials. Lead has the second-highest atomic number of the stable elements. Lead is a relatively unreactive post-transition metal and its weak metallic character is illustrated by its amphoteric nature and tendency to form covalent bonds. Compounds of lead are found in the +2 oxidation state. Exceptions are mostly limited to organolead compounds, like the lighter members of the group, lead exhibits a tendency to bond to itself, it can form chains, rings, and polyhedral structures. Lead is easily extracted from its ores and was known to people in Western Asia. A principal ore of lead, galena, often bears silver, Lead production declined after the fall of Rome and did not reach comparable levels again until the Industrial Revolution. Nowadays, global production of lead is about ten million tonnes annually, Lead has several properties that make it useful, high density, low melting point, ductility, and relative inertness to oxidation. In the late 19th century, lead was recognized as poisonous, Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates in soft tissues and bones, damaging the nervous system and causing brain disorders and, in mammals, blood disorders. A lead atom has 82 electrons, arranged in a configuration of 4f145d106s26p2. The combined first and second ionization energies—the total energy required to remove the two 6p electrons—is close to that of tin, leads upper neighbor in group 14. This is unusual since ionization energies generally fall going down a group as an elements outer electrons become more distant from the nucleus, the similarity is caused by the lanthanide contraction—the decrease in element radii from lanthanum to lutetium, and the relatively small radii of the elements after hafnium. The contraction is due to shielding of the nucleus by the lanthanide 4f electrons. The combined first four ionization energies of lead exceed those of tin, for this reason lead, unlike tin, mostly forms compounds in which it has an oxidation state of +2, rather than +4. Relativistic effects, which become particularly prominent at the bottom of the periodic table, as a result, the 6s electrons of lead become reluctant to participate in bonding, a phenomenon called the inert pair effect. A related outcome is that the distance between nearest atoms in crystalline lead is unusually long, the lighter group 14 elements form stable or metastable allotropes having the tetrahedrally coordinated and covalently bonded diamond cubic structure. The energy levels of their outer s- and p-orbitals are close enough to allow mixing into four hybrid sp3 orbitals
4.
Gallia Belgica
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Gallia Belgica was a province of the Roman empire located in Belgium, in the northern and eastern parts of Roman Gaul. It began as one of the three provinces of Gaul described by its Roman conqueror Julius Caesar. An official Roman province was created by emperor Augustus in 22 BC. The province is named for the Belgae as the largest tribal confederation in the area, the southern border of Belgica, formed by the Marne and Seine rivers, was reported by Caesar as the original cultural boundary between the Belgae and the Gauls who he distinguished as Celts. The province was re-organized several times, first increased and later decreased in size, the capital of Belgica Prima, Trier, became an important late western Roman capital. In 57 BC, Julius Caesar led the conquest of northern Gaul and this definition became the basis of the later Roman province of Belgica. Indeed, the Belgian tribes closest to the Rhine he distinguished as the Germani cisrhenani, apart from the southern Remi, all the Belgic tribes allied against the Romans, angry at the Roman decision to garrison legions in their territory during the winter. At the beginning of the conflict, Caesar reported the combined strength at 288,000, led by the Suessione king. Due to the Belgic coalitions size and reputation for uncommon bravery, instead, he used cavalry to skirmish with smaller contingents of tribesmen. Only when Caesar managed to isolate one of the tribes did he risk conventional battle, the tribes fell in a piecemeal fashion and Caesar claimed to offer lenient terms to the defeated, including Roman protection from the threat of surrounding tribes. Most tribes agreed to the conditions, a series of uprisings followed the 57 BC conquest. The largest revolt was led by the Bellovaci in 52 BC, during this rebellion, it was the Belgae who avoided direct conflict. They harassed the Roman legions, led personally by Caesar, with cavalry detachments, the rebellion was put down after a Bellovaci ambush of the Romans failed. Following a census of the region in 27 BC, Augustus ordered a restructuring of the provinces in Gaul, the capital of this territory was Reims, according to the geographer Strabo, though later the capital moved to modern day Trier. The date of this move is uncertain, successive Roman emperors struck a balance between Romanizing the people of Gallia Belgica and allowing pre-existing culture to survive. The Romans allowed local governments to survive, typically in the form of cantons, Roman government was run by Concilia in Reims or Trier. Additionally, local notables from Gallia Belgica were required to participate in a festival in Lugdunum which typically celebrated or worshiped the emperor’s genius, the gradual adoption of Romanized names by local elites and the Romanization of laws under local authority demonstrate the effectiveness of this concilium Galliarum. With that said, the concept and community of Gallia Belgica did not predate the Roman province, during the 1st century AD, the provinces of Gaul were restructured
5.
Ambiani
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The Ambiani were a Belgic people of Celtic language, who were said to be able to muster 10,000 armed men, in 57 BC, the year of Julius Caesars Belgic campaign. Their country lay in the valley of the Samara, and their chief town Samarobriva, afterwards called Ambiani and they were among the people who took part in the great insurrection against the Romans, which is described in the seventh book of Caesars Gallic War. The Ambiani were consummate minters and Ambianic coinage has been throughout the territories of the Belgic tribes. There is some evidence from coins that bear a stag on one side, a few Ambiani coins have been found along the south coast of the West Country possibly as the result of trade across the English channel. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
6.
Aresaces
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The Aresaces were a Celtic people closely related to, and probably originally part of, the Treveri. They inhabited the left bank of the Rhine in the Mainz-Bingen area, the Aresaces are not mentioned by ancient writers, such as geographers or Julius Caesar, but are known from three inscriptions dating to the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. Two of these come from Rhenish Hesse, while the third is from Augusta Treverorum, another Celtic tribe in Rhenish Hesse, known from an inscription as well as ancient literature, was the Cairacates. According to current scholarship, the Aresaces would have organized as a pagus or sub-unit of the Treveri, settled in Rhenish Hesse in the area south. This area was sparsely settled during the late La Tène period. One possible cultural and administrative centre of the Aresaces might have been the oppidum on the Donnersberg, urbanization was only to increase noticeably at the time of, or shortly before, the Roman presence in the region. At the time of the Romans arrival in greater Mainz in 13–12 BCE, there is further evidence for settlement at Mainz-Finthen near the Königborn and Aubach. The Aresaces were likely to have organized as a separate civitas from the Treveri at this stage, if not earlier. Meanwhile, the city of Mainz—known in Latin as Mogontiacum—flourished as a headquarters for a number of Roman legions. The territory of the Aresaces was formerly thought to have belonged to the Vangiones, however, this interpretation is now considered superseded in light of archaeological discoveries
7.
Atrebates
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The Atrebates were a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain before the Roman conquests. However it is possible that the Atrebates were a family of rulers, cognate with Old Irish aittrebaid meaning inhabitant, Atrebates comes from proto-Celtic *ad-treb-a-t-es, inhabitants. The Celtic root is treb- building, home, which has linked to the root of English thorpe. Edith Wightman suggested that their name may be intended to mean the people of the earth to contrast with that of the neighbouring coastal Morini, the Gaulish Atrebates lived in or around modern Artois in northern France. Their capital, Nemetocenna, is now the city of Arras, the place-name Arras is the result of a phonetic evolution from Atrebates and replaced the original name in the Late Empire, according to a well-known tradition in Gaul. The name Artois is the result of a different phonetic evolution from Atrebates, in 57 BC, they were part of a Belgic military alliance in response to Julius Caesars conquests elsewhere in Gaul, contributing 15,000 men. Caesar took this build-up as a threat and marched against it, but the Belgae had the advantage of position, when no battle was forthcoming, the Belgic alliance broke up, determining to gather to defend whichever tribe Caesar attacked. Caesar subsequently marched against several tribes and achieved their submission, the Atrebates then joined with the Nervii and Viromandui and attacked Caesar at the battle of the Sabis, but were there defeated. After thus conquering the Atrebates, Caesar appointed one of their countrymen, Commius, Commius was involved in Caesars two expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC and negotiated the surrender of Cassivellaunus. In return for his loyalty, he was given authority over the Morini. However, he turned against the Romans and joined in the revolt led by Vercingetorix in 52 BC. After Vercingetorixs defeat at the Siege of Alesia, Commius had further confrontations with the Romans, negotiated a truce with Mark Antony, and ended up fleeing to Britain with a group of followers. Ptolemys 2nd century Geography refers to the Atribati living on the coast of Belgic Gaul, near the river Sequana, Commius soon established himself as king of the British Atrebates, a kingdom he may have founded. Their territory comprised modern Hampshire, West Sussex and Berkshire, centred on the capital Calleva Atrebatum and they were bordered to the north by the Dobunni and Catuvellauni, to the east by the Regnenses, and to the south by the Belgae. The settlement of the Atrebates in Britain was not a population movement. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe argues that they seem to have comprised a series of tribes, possibly with some intrusive Belgic element. After this time, the Atrebates were recognized as a client kingdom of Rome, coins stamped with Commiuss name were issued from Calleva from ca.30 BC to 20 BC. Three later kings of the British Atrebates name themselves on their coins as sons of Commius, Tincomarus, Eppillus, Tincomarus seems to have ruled jointly with his father from about 25 BC until Commiuss death in about 20 BC
8.
Atuatuci
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The Aduatuci or Atuatuci were, according to Caesar, a Germanic tribe who had been allowed to settle amongst the Germanic tribes living in east Belgium. They descended from the Cimbri and Teutones, who were thought to have originated in the area of Denmark. Much later, the Aduatuci sent troops to assist their Belgic neighbours, especially the Nervii, in the Battle of the Sabis and they were later defeated by the Romans after withdrawing to a fortified city. After their defeat by Caesar they disappear from the written record, before the Roman attack in 57 BC the oppidum of the Aduatuci were home to 57,000 including refugees fleeing the Romans. The oppidum of the Aduatuci were seized by the Romans and after the fall of the city with 4,000 dead the entire surviving population of 53,000 were sold as slaves. The Cimbri, the Teutones, and Ambrones were engaged by, and then defeated, several Roman armies at the battle of Noreia and at Arausio, where the Romans are said to have lost more than 80,000 men. After the Marian reforms of the legions, the Teutones and Ambrones were finally defeated by the Romans at Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC, the Cimbri were defeated by the Romans in northeast Italy in 101 BC. From the account of Caesar, the position of the Aduatuci is not clear. Edith Wightman states that they are supposed to have occupied the middle Meuse valley, perhaps rightly. Reoccupation of the fort of Hastedon is a possibility. Other candidates are not lacking, but they lie mostly in the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse area, in 2012 a group of historians and archeologists came to the conclusion that the oppidium of the Aduatuci was placed south of the Hainaut city of Thuin. The following arguments for this identification were listed, the discovery of the remains of a fortified Iron Age settlement, enclosing 13 hectares. The fortification was felt to match the description given by Caesar, concentrations of Roman lead projectiles show that the fort was attacked by Roman forces. Three troves of gold had been buried near the fortification, all dating to years of the decade 50 BCE. The place lies in the general area. The Battle of Sabis took place in 57 BC between the Romans and the Nervians, although the Roman forces under Julius Caesar eventually defeated the Nervians, the Romans were almost overtaken by the surprisingly strong tribe. The Romans followed the Aduatuci and besieged their city, the Aduatuci successfully resisted the Romans initial attacks but surrendered after the Romans erected siege weapons and approached the city with them. Caesar promised mercy if the Aduatuci surrendered, so the Aduatuci opened their gates and this may have been an attempt to trick the Romans and catch them off guard in a later attack
9.
Caeroesi
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The Caeroesi were a tribe living in Belgic Gaul when Julius Caesars Roman forces entered the area in 57 BCE. They are known from his account of the Gallic War and they are generally also equated with the Cæracates mentioned briefly by Tacitus in his Histories. They were one of a group of tribes listed by his local informants as the Germani, along with the Eburones, Condrusi, Paemani, and Segni. These tribes are referred to as the Germani Cisrhenani, to them from Germani living on the east of the Rhine, outside of the Gaulish. He also said that the descendants of the original Germani in his time were the Tungri, the general area of the Belgian Germani was between the Scheldt and Rhine rivers, and north of Luxemburg and the Moselle, which is where the Treverii lived. In modern terms this area includes eastern Belgium, the parts of the Netherlands, and a part of Germany on the west of the Rhine. The Caeroesi appear to have lived in the south of this range, in the Eifel region, in the area which later because the Roman pagus of Carucum, later this became the Frankish pagus called Caroascus. A Roman era boundary marker has been found near Neidenbach bei Kyllburg marked FINIS PAGI CARV CVM and this was on the Roman road between Trier, the main Roman city of the Treverii, and Cologne. This was an area, forming a boundary between regions. To the east of Neidenbach, the Vinxtbach, a river flowing eastwards to the Rhine. The name Vinxtbach is in fact thought to derive from the Latin word finis, today the Vinxtbach is still a boundary between modern German dialects, with Ripuarian to the north, and Moselle Frankish to the south. Also nearby is the boundary of modern German Länder of Rheinland-Pfalz. Their name is believed to mean sheep people, and to be Celtic in origin
10.
Condrusi
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The Condrusi were a Germanic tribe of ancient Belgium, which takes its name from the political and ethnic group known to the Romans as the Belgae. The Condrusi were probably located in the now known as Condroz, named after them. The terrain is wooded hills on the edge of the Ardennes. The Belgae were distinguished from the Celts and apparently claimed to be of Germanic descent, in particular, the Condrusi were in the tribal group known as the Germani cisrhenani, who are amongst the Belgae most strongly associated with Germanic ancestry. We learn all we know about the Condrusi from Julius Caesar in Commentarii de Bello Gallico, in 2.4, Caesar states that the Belgian Germani had crossed the Rhine long ago to take control of the fertile land on the other side. He also said that the descendants of the original Germani in his time were the Tungri, in chapter 2.4 of Caesars commentaries the Condrusi are specifically listed amongst the Germani, along with the Eburones, the Caeroesi, and the Paemani. At that time, in 57 BCE, they were joining an alliance of Belgic tribes against Caesar, the alliance met with defeat at the Battle of the Sabis, but some, including many of the Germani, most notably the Eburones, renewed fighting in 54 BCE. In 4.6 Caesar reports that the Condrusi were under the protection of the Treveri along with the Eburones. In 6.32 the Condrusi are again mentioned as Germani on this side of the Rhine, both tribes were reported to live between the Eburones and the Treviri. After their defeat or capitulation, the Germani cisrhenani became part of the civitas Tungrorum in Roman province of Gallia Belgica, but this civitas was eventually split out to become part of Germania Inferior. An inscription in Scotland shows that soldiers from the pagus Condrustis served within the cohort of the Tungrian civitas. The name of the pagus Condrustis survived not only into Roman times but into the Carolingian era also, in this way, the name, like many medieval county names, has managed to survive down to the present day, at least as a geographical term
11.
Eburones
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Though living in Gaul, they were also described as being both Belgae, and Germani. The Eburones played a role in Julius Caesars account of his Gallic Wars, as the most important tribe within the Germani cisrhenani group of tribes. Germani living west of the Rhine amongst the Belgae, Caesar claimed that the name of the Eburones was wiped out after their failed revolt against his forces during the Gallic Wars. Whether any significant part of the population lived on in the area as Tungri, Caesar is the primary source for the location of the Eburones. In the early medieval church this evolved into the church province of Cologne. This large area included parts of what are now the southern Netherlands, eastern Belgium. At one point Caesar reported that the greatest part of the Eburones settled between the Mosa and the Rhine, and on this basis German scholars place them in the northern Eifel. More generally Caesars description of a narrow defile to its west, suitable for ambush, is a type of landscape less common as one goes north in this region, towards the low-lying Campine. In the same passage, Caesar describes the Segni and Condrusi as being south of the Eburones, between them and the Treviri, who lived near the Moselle. This is difficult to reconcile with a territory near the Eifel because the Condrusi are the origin of the name of the Condroz region in the Ardennes, south of the Meuse, and west of the Eifel. No cultural groupings can be isolated to suit the Eburones in the north Eifel according to Edith Mary Wightman, in contrast, she also writes that Belgian archaeologists identify them with the cultural group in northern Limburg and Kempen which showed such strong continuity in Urnfield times. This would certainly account for the propinquity of Eburones and Menapii mentioned by Caesar and this is also seen to indicate that at least part of the Eburones lived west of the Maas, closer to the river deltas. Neighbouring both the Nervii and the Eburones, possibly between them, were also the Aduatuci. Caesar reported that Ambiorix had been forced to pay tribute to them before the Romans came, and it was with these two tribes, that the Eburones could quickly form a military alliance against Caesars forces. Caesar also reports that during his conflict with them, the Eburones had some sort of alliance, organized via their allies the Treveri, linguist Maurits Gysseling proposed that placenames such as Avendoren, Averdoingt, Averbode, and Avernas may be derived from the Eburones. Caesars forces clashed with an alliance of Belgic tribes in 57 BCE in the Battle of the Sabis, before that battle, information from the Remi, a tribe allied with Rome, stated that the Germani had collectively promised, they thought, about 40,000 men. The whole force was led by Galba, king of the Suessiones, however, the alliance did not work. The Suessiones and Bellovaci surrendered after the Romans defended the Remi, and after this the Ambiani offered no further resistance and the Nervii, along with the Atrebates and Viromandui, formed the most important force on the day of the battle
12.
Leuci
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The Leuci were a Gallic tribe, recorded to have lived in the southern part of what is now Lorraine. They are mentioned by Julius Caesar as a people supplying wheat to the Roman army in 58 BC, along with the Lingones, strabo in his Geographica describes the Leuci and a part of the Lingones dwelling above the Mediomatrici, whose capital was at Metz. Hillforts in the region of the Leuci include some small ones in the Vosges, there is also a possible oppidum in Geneviève. Toul was the Roman capital civitas of the tribe, but Ptolemy listed Naix-aux-Forges also as a civitas of the Leuci, and it was probably larger. Celtic camp at Bure City of the Leuci
13.
Mediomatrici
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The Mediomatrici were an ancient Celtic people of Gaul, who belong to the division of Belgae. Julius Caesar shows their position in a way when he says that the Rhine flows along the territories of the Sequani, Mediomatrici, Triboci or Tribocci. Ptolemy places the Mediomatrici south of the Treviri, divodurum was the capital of the Mediomatrici. Besides Metz, settlements in France include the oppidum of Hérapel, other settlements and oppida in Germany were thought to be Saarbrücken, Speyer, Homburg, and Rodalben, although today the ascription of Speyer, Homburg und Rodalben is hotly disputed. The name Mediomatrici has been explained as the people between the Matrona and the Matra and this agrees with Strabo, who says that the Sequani and Mediomatrici inhabit the Rhine, among whom are settled the Triboci, a Germanic nation which had crossed over from their own country. Elements of the Mediomatrici may have settled near Novara, in northern Italy and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. Belgae. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
14.
Menapii
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The Menapii were a Belgic tribe of northern Gaul in pre-Roman and Roman times. In later geographical terms this corresponds roughly to the modern coast of Flanders. It also extended into neighbouring France and the deltas of the southern Netherlands. Their civitas, or administrative capital, under the Roman empire was Cassel, both of these are near Thérouanne, which was the civitas of the neighbouring Morini tribe, and indeed in the Middle Ages Cassel became part of the Diocese of Thérouanne. Cassel was therefore in the extreme of the Menapii lands. A pattern of placing Roman tribal capitals in the south is found in the neighbouring Belgian tribal states, of the Nervii. The positions of such Roman tribal capitals frequently didnt correspond to the centre of a territory in pre-Roman political geography. To the north and east of the Menapii lay the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, in the time of Caesar, the Menapii had settlements throughout this region and over the Rhine into Germany. During Roman times these islands were under the province of Germania Inferior. Of these last three, the Marsaci appear to be mentioned in place by Pliny as having a presence on the coast south of the delta, neighbouring the Menapii. The Frisiavones are also mentioned within the listing for Belgian Gaul, in one inscription, from Bulla Regia, the Tungri, Batavians and Frisiavones are grouped together, apparently confirming that the Frisiavones lived inland. It is suggested that the Marsaci and the Sturii could be pagi belonging to the civitas of either the Frisiavones or the Menapii. South of the delta, east of the river Scheldt from the Menapii and it is known that the Toxandri were associated with the civitates of both the Nervii and the Tungri, so they presumably had a presence in both. Apparently following Caesar he said that they dwell amongst marshes and forests, not lofty and they are also referred to in Ptolemys 2nd century Geographia, situated above the Nervii, and near the Meuse river. In any case as mentioned above they bordered in Roman times upon the Toxandrians, south of the Menapii were the Atrebates in Artois, and south-west along the coast were the Morini. The boundary with the Morini in classical times appears to have been the River Aa, the civitas Menapiorum became the civitas Turnencensium. By medieval times, when these Roman districts evolved into medieval Roman Catholic dioceses, Cassel had in fact part of the diocese of Thérouanne. The Menapii were persistent opponents of Julius Caesars conquest of Gaul and they were part of the Belgic confederacy defeated by Caesar in 57 BC, contributing 9,000 men
15.
Morini
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The Morini were a Belgic tribe of northern Gaul. They were mentioned in classical works as the Commentarii de Bello Gallico written by Julius Caesar. They became a part of the Roman empire with the coastal parts of the present-day départment of Pas-de-Calais in northernmost France. A generation after their entry into the Roman Empire the writer Vergil described them poetically as the remotest of people, the tribes name Morini is thought to be Celtic meaning those of the sea. It is apparently derived from the suffix -no- and the Celtic word mori meaning sea, another derived word morici exists and is translated into Latin as marini sailors. The variation morici is found in Aremorici those who live in front of the sea, mori is a close relative of Welsh môr, Breton and Cornish mor, Irish muir. The Indo-European prototype was perhaps *móri that gave birth to Germanic *mari, English mere, German Meer, etc. Old Slavic morje. One of the most important cities of the Morini, was Gesoriacum, modern Boulogne-sur-Mer, called Bononia by Zosimus in late antiquity, Itius Portus or Portus Itius was also the name of a Morini port city, generally considered to be either Wissant or Boulogne. The administrative capital or civitas during the Roman Empire was Tarwanna or Tervanna, modern Thérouanne, today in France, to the south of the Morini and Atrebates were the Ambiani, whose civitas was at modern Amiens. Strabo in his Geographica, describes the country of the Morini as being on the sea, close to the Menapii, during the rainy season these proved secure hiding-places, but in times of drought they were easily taken. Caesar described the Belgae, including the Morini, as Gauls who had different language, customs and he also mentioned that he had heard that the Belgae had some Germanic ancestry from east of the Rhine. Pliny the Elder remarked that the Morini cultivated flax and used linen to make sails, the area was also known for exporting wool, geese, pork, salt, and garum. In late classical times Zosimus implied the Germanic character of the city, Caesar was very interested in that part of the Morini territory, which is where the crossing of the sea to Britannia was the shortest. The Morini had several harbours of which Portus Itius, was only one, the tribe counted some pagi, which, apparently, could make their own decisions. The Morini fled into or behind the marshes and became unreachable for the Roman army, in 56 BC, when autumn was very wet, this tactic worked. The year after, which was much dryer, it failed, the Morini participated together with other coastal people and tribes from Britain, in the uprising of the Veneti. Caesar wanted to induce fear in the northern Morini so that they wouldnt attack him, the territory of the Morini and Menapii was well protected by marshes and woodland and suited for guerrilla tactics. The dangers outweighed the benefits of subduing those economically less interesting regions, in 55 BC Labienus tightened the Roman grip upon the strategically more important western side of the Morini tribal areas
16.
Nervii
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The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes, living in northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the part of modern Belgium, including Brussels. During their 1st century BC Roman military campaign, Caesars contacts among the Remi stated that the Nervii were the most warlike of the Belgae, in times of war, they were known to trek long distances to take part in battles. Being one of the distant northern Belgic tribes, with the Menapii to the west, the territory of the Nervii had its western and northwestern border on the Scheldt river and stretched in the south through Hainaut to the forests of Arrouaise and Thiérache. To the east, the boundaries are unclear but it is possible that they stretched as far as the Dyle river valley in the north, near Louvain, and the Meuse in the south in modern Wallonia, near Namur. An oppidum found near Asse may have belonged to them but it was isolated, a large population occupied the southern territories, near the river Sambre with the biggest being at Avesnelles, near Avesnes-sur-Helpe. Caesar also mentions smaller tribes who were expected to contribute troops to Nervian forces, Levaci, Pleumoxii, Geidumni, Ceutrones, the Nervii are counted as one of the northern Belgae, who are often proposed to have been in a transitional zone between Celtic languages and Germanic languages. Others included the Menapii and Morini, to the west of the Nervii on the English channel, Caesar reported hearing from the Remi that the Belgae generally had received immigration from Germanic people from east of the Rhine. The Romanized Greek Strabo wrote that the Nervii were of Germanic origin, the Romans were not precise in their ethnography of northern barbarians, by Germanic Caesar may simply have meant originating east of the Rhine with no distinction of language intended. During Caesars lifetime, Germanic languages east of the Rhine may have been no closer than the river Elbe. Julius Caesar considered the Nervii to be the most warlike of the Belgic tribes, and that the Belgic tribes were the bravest in Gaul. He says that their culture was a Spartan one, they would not partake of alcoholic beverages or any such luxury. He also says they disliked foreign trade and had no merchant class, archaeologists have sought to define the territories of the northern Belgic tribes by looking at the coins they used. The Nervii are associated with a type that uses a Greek epsilon. Remarkably, given the evidence of a Celtic La Tène culture having been present in the pre-Roman past. In fact they established hedges throughout their lands in order to them difficult for cavalry. The Nervii were part of the Belgic alliance that resisted Julius Caesar in 57 BC, after the alliance broke up and some tribes surrendered, the Nervii, under the command of Boduognatus and aided by the Atrebates and Viromandui, came very close to defeating Caesar. In 57 BC at the battle of the Sabis, they concealed themselves in the forests and their attack was so quick and unexpected that some of the Romans didnt have time to take the covers off their shields or even put on their helmets. The element of surprise briefly left the Romans exposed, however Caesar grabbed a shield, made his way to the front line, and quickly organised his forces, at the same time, the commander of the tenth legion, Titus Labienus, attacked the Nervian camp
17.
Suessiones
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The Suessiones were a Belgic tribe of western Gallia Belgica in the 1st century BC, inhabiting the region between the Oise and the Marne, around the present-day city of Soissons. They were conquered in 57 BC by Julius Caesar, pliny the Elder apparently gives their name as Suaeuconi. Coinage minted by Belgic Gauls first appeared in Britain in the mid-2nd century BC with the coinage now categorized as the Gallo-Belgic A type, coins associated with King Diviciacus of the Suessiones, issued near or between 90 and 60 BC, have been categorized as Gallo-Belgic C. Finds of this issue of coin extend from Sussex to the Wash, a later issue of coin, Gallo-Belgic F, has concentrated finds near Paris, throughout the lands of the Suessiones, and the southern, coastal areas of Britain. These finds lead scholars to suggest that the Suessiones had significant trade and migration into Britain during the 2nd, Caesar mentions that their capital was Noviodunum, the present-day city of Soissons. Soissons was the city of the Merovingian Kingdom of Soissons from 511 to 613. Soissons was the birthplace of the Frankish Prince Charlemagne in the year 747, son of King Pippin the Short and it is today the capital of the département of the Aisne, in the northern part of Champagne. The region is commonly referred to as the Soissonnais and people of the region are called Soissonaires. List of peoples of Gaul List of Celtic tribes
18.
Toxandri
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The Toxandri were a people living at the time of the Roman empire. Their territory was called Toxandria, Toxiandria or Taxandria, a name which survived into the Middle Ages and it was roughly equivalent to the modern Campine geographical region of northeastern Flanders and southern Netherlands. In modern terms this covered all or most of North Brabant, the east of Antwerp Province, and their name is also preserved in modern placenames such as Tessenderlo, which is in the modern Belgian province of Limburg where it borders upon the provinces of Antwerp and Flemish Brabant. Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia reported that they were divided into various peoples with many names and he placed them at the extreme edge of Gallia Belgica, beyond the River Scaldis which apparently separated them from the Menapii. This means that the Toxandria were either within, or very close to, the part of the river delta area of Belgic Gaul. One is the Civitas Tungrorum, the civitas of the Tungri, the modern town of Tongerloo, named after the Tungri, is very close to Tessenderlo, but actually further from the city of the Tungri which is modern Tongeren. The relationship between the Tungri and Toxandri is unclear, prior to Pliny, the Toxandrians were not mentioned by Julius Caesar or Strabo in their reports of the region. The name of the Eburones is based on the Celtic word for a yew tree, before the takeover of Rome in this region, in Julius Caesars commentary tribal boundaries in the area where the Toxandri are later found are left unclear. It is generally described as low forest and marshy lowlands, northwards of main populations of the cisrhenane Germani. At one point Caesar specifically says that the cisrhenane Germani bordering the Menapii were the Eburones, in one isolated passage, Caesar did apparently describe a tribe in the area of the later Toxandri, the Ambivariti. But this tribe is never mentioned by any other known classical source, in the middle of the 4th century, the area of Toxandria became very de-populated, and was exposed to constant raiding from tribes across the Rhine, outside the empire. Having been amongst the worst raiders, the Salian Franks were eventually settled as foederati in Toxandria, julian the Apostate had at first fought against Saxons and Franks, including the Salians, but then allowed this one group descended from the Franks to settle in Toxandria in 358. But they had come under attack from Saxons, who were this time raiding Roman from the sea, the Salians then became Roman allies and provided troops for the imperial army, in the very period that Roman influence in the area was weakening. Toxandria therefore eventually became the name of a Frankish county in early medieval Lower Lotharingia, Germanic peoples List of Germanic peoples Campine Tungri Taxandriamuseum
19.
Treveri
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The Treveri or Treviri were a Belgic tribe who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their eventual absorption into the Franks. Celtic in language, according to Tacitus they claimed Germanic descent, although early adopters of Roman material culture, the Treveri had a chequered relationship with Roman power. Their leader Indutiomarus led them in revolt against Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars, much later, during the Crisis of the Third Century, the territory of the Treveri was overrun by Germanic Alamanni and Franks and later formed part of the Gallic Empire. Under Constantine and his 4th-century successors, Augusta Treverorum became a large, favoured, rich, during this period, Christianity began to succeed the imperial cult and the worship of Roman and Celtic deities as the favoured religion of the city. Such Christian luminaries as Ambrose, Jerome, Martin of Tours, among the surviving legacies of the ancient Treveri are Moselle wine from Luxembourg and Germany and the many Roman monuments of Trier and its surroundings, including neighbouring Luxembourg. The spelling variants Treveri and Treviri are found in Latin texts from the time of Caesars De Bello Gallico to Tacituss Annales, Latin texts are in general agreement that the first vowel, however, is -e-. For their part, Ancient Greek texts mostly give Τρηούϊροι, variants such as Treberi and Τρίβηροι appear in Pliny and Ptolemy, respectively. A few highly deviant variant forms are attested, Τριήροι in Ptolemy. The name has been interpreted as referring to a river or to crossing the river. They had a goddess of the ford called Ritona and a temple dedicated to Uorioni Deo. treuer- can be compared with the Old Irish treóir guiding, passage through a ford. The first syllable is long and stressed in Latin dictionaries, according to its Celtic etymology. The city of Trier derives its name from the later Latin locative in Trēverīs for earlier Augusta Treverorum, in the time of Julius Caesar their territory extended as far as the Rhine north of the Triboci, across the Rhine from them lived the Ubii. Caesar mentions that the Segni and the Condrusi lived between the Treveri and the Eburones, and that the Condrusii and Eburones were clients of the Treveri, Caesar bridged the Rhine in the territory of the Treveri. They were bordered on the north and west by Belgic tribes, the Tungri, to the south their neighbours were the Mediomatrici. The Rhine valley was removed from Treveran authority with the formation of the province of Germania Superior in the 80s CE, the valley of the Ahr would have marked their northern boundary. Colonia Augusta Treverorum was the capital of their civitas under the Empire, there is strong evidence that the recently excavated oppidum on the Titelberg plateau in the extreme southwest of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was the Treveran capital during the 1st century BCE. The transfer of their activities to Trier followed the construction of Agrippas road linking Trier with Reims which bypassed the Titelberg, during the Roman period, Trier became a Roman colony, and the provincial capital of Belgica itself. It was the frequent residence of a number of emperors, archaeological evidence suggests that the Treveri were divided into five cantons centred respectively on the oppida of the Titelberg, Wallendorf, Kastel, Otzenhausen and the Martberg
20.
Aedui
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The Aedui, Haedui, or Hedui were a Gallic people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who inhabited the country between the Arar and Liger, in todays France. Their territory thus included the part of the modern departments of Saône-et-Loire, Côte-dOr. The country of the Aedui is defined by reports of them in ancient writings, the upper Loire formed their western border, separating them from the Bituriges. The Saône formed their eastern border, separating them from the Sequani, both statements are true, the first in the south, and the second to the north. Outside of the Roman province and prior to Roman rule, Independent Gaul was occupied by self-governing tribes divided into cantons, the Aedui, like other powerful tribes in the region, had replaced their monarchy with a council of magistrates called grand-judges. The grand-judges were under the authority of the senate, the senate was made up of the descendants of ancient royal families. Free men in the tribes were vassals to the heads of families in exchange for military. According to Livy, they part in the expedition of Bellovesus into Italy in the 6th century BC. Before Julius Caesars time, they had attached themselves to the Romans and were honoured with the title of brothers, on his arrival in Gaul, Caesar restored their independence. In spite of this, the Aedui joined the Gallic coalition against Caesar, augustus dismantled their native capital Bibracte on Mont Beuvray and substituted a new town with a half-Roman, half-Gaulish name, Augustodunum. In 21, during the reign of Tiberius, they revolted under Julius Sacrovir, and seized Augustodunum, the Aedui were the first of the Gauls to receive from the emperor Claudius the distinction of jus honorum, thus being the first Gauls permitted to become senators. The oration of Eumenius, in which he pleaded for the restoration of the schools of his native place Augustodunum, shows that the district was neglected. The chief magistrate of the Aedui in Caesars time was called Vergobretus, certain clientes, or small communities, were also dependent upon the Aedui. It is thought that other Celtic tribes, such as the Remi, list of peoples of Gaul Caesar, Julius. A. E. Desjardins, Geographie de la Gaule, ii, T. Rice Holmes, Caesars Conquest of Gaul
21.
Ambarri
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The Ambarri were a Gallic people, whom Julius Caesar calls close allies and kinsmen of the Aedui. If the reading Aedui Ambarri in the referred to is correct. They are not mentioned among the clientes of the Aedui and they occupied a tract in the valley of the Rhône, probably in the angle between the Saône and the Rhône, and their neighbors on the east were the Allobroges. They are mentioned by Livy with the Aedui among those Galli who were said to have crossed the Alps into Italy in the time of Tarquinius Priscus, several communes in todays Ain department of France derive their name from them, including, Ambérieu-en-Bugey, Ambérieux-en-Dombes, Ambutrix and Ambronay. They joined Bellovesusmigrations towards Italy, together with the Aeduii, Ambarri, Arverni and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
22.
Andes (Andecavi)
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The Andecavi or Andegavi, also Andes in Julius Caesars Bellum Gallicum, were a people of ancient and medieval Aremorica. They gave their name to the comté Anjou, called Andegavia in medieval Latin, the territory of the Andecavi roughly corresponded with the diocese of Angers, Anjou, in the department Maine-et-Loire in present-day France. Although Caesar locates the Andes “near the Ocean, ” they held no coast and were located inland along the Loire river, the Andes, led by Dumnacus, played a significant role in the continuing war against Rome after the defeat of Vercingetorix at Alesia. Dumnacuss efforts are recounted by Aulus Hirtius in his continuation of the Bellum Gallicum, Dumnacus lay siege to Limonum, an oppidum of the Pictones, and engaged without success the Roman relief army under the command of Gaius Caninius Rebilus. When additional Roman forces arrived on the scene, Dumnacus was forced to lift the siege, the army of the Andes was pursued by the Romans and suffered heavy casualties. In a decisive battle the day, the Romans killed some 12,000 men. Dumnacus escaped, and when Armorica surrendered, he went into self-imposed exile
23.
Arverni
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The Arverni were a Celtic tribe. The tribe was located in what is today the French Auvergne region, one of the most powerful tribes in ancient Gaul, the Arverni opposed the Romans on several occasions. Their most important stronghold was Gergovia, near the commune of Clermont-Ferrand. The Arverni are known to have had the most powerful tribal hegemony in Gaul during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC under their kings, Luernios, and his son Bituitus. But when Arvern king Bituitus was defeated by the Romans of Quintus and Gnaeus Ahenobarbus in 121 BC, their ascendancy passed to the Aedui and Sequani. No further Arvernian kings are mentioned in the record between 121 BC and 52 BC, and they may have adopted a constitutional oligarchy at this time. However, there were at least two attempts to re-establish rulership by Celtillos and Vercingetorix. The King Luernios was mentioned in writing by the Greek ethnographer Posidonius, Luernios was known to have scattered gold and silver coins to his followers while riding in his chariot. Under Luernios, the Arverni were at the head of a formidable Gallic military hegemony which stretched from the Rhine to the Atlantic coast and they joined Bellovesus migrations towards Italy, together with the Aeduii, Ambarri, Aulerci, Carnutes and Senones. The Arverni later played an important role in the Gallic Wars of Julius Caesar from 58 BC to 51 BC, at first the Arvenian nobles tried to avoid confronting Caesar during his early incursions. They executed the leader Celtillus, evidently for trying to gain sovereignty over all the Gauls, in 52 BC, Celtillus son Vercingetorix rallied his supporters to fight the Romans, but was expelled from Gergovia by the nobles, including his uncle Gobanitio. He then raised an army in the country, and returned to the city where he ejected his opponents and was declared king. This accomplished, Vercingetorix forged an alliance with at least 15 Gallic tribes and he then led the majority of the Gauls and won the Gergovia battle against Julius Caesar and his cavalry did marvels in pursuing the Roman troops. After Julius Caesar saved half of his legions and received food from other Gauls, Vercingetorix was defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Alesia, after several months where the legions built 14 ranges of military equipment to block the Gallic soldiers. After several weeks of support from the western Gallic people with huge troops coming to support Vercingetorix, when the western Gallic people decided to depart, Vercingetorix took the decision to surrender to save the people of Alesia. The Arverni territories and over 75% of the Gauls were subsequently incorporated into the Roman imperium, Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, conquered King Bituitus Alba Fucens, town where Bituitus was held after capture
24.
Baiocasses
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The Baiocasses were a Celtic tribe in ancient Gaul. They were a division of the civitas of the Lexovii. The Baiocasses were located east of the Venelli and west of the Belgic Veliocasses, the Latin name for their territory was the Pagus Baiocensis, corresponding to the area in Normandy now known as le Bessin. This is the location of the city of Bayeux, which takes its name from the tribe. Their principal city was known during the late Roman Imperial era as Civitas Baiocassium, by Merovingian times, the city was called Baiocas. In the time of William the Conqueror the name was already being written as Bayeaux, the Celtic word badios or bodios, yellow, blond, forms several personal names found in Gaulish inscriptions. The meaning of the element -casses is less certain, it may mean hair, hairstyle, perhaps a particular warrior coiffure, or tin, bronze. The Baiocasses minted base gold, silver and billon coins in the denomination of one stater and in the case of gold coins sometimes quarter staters. Most of the show a Celtic-style male head with elaborated hair on the obverse, and on the reverse a horse with a chariot rider above or behind. A number of these are in existence, the 4th-century Bordelaise poet Ausonius teases a friend as a Baiocassis who claimed to be of druidic heritage and descended from priests of Belenus. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, illustrated by numerous engravings on wood, london, Walton and Maberly Hazlit, William. Online version at AncientLibrary. com Gaul List of peoples of Gaul List of Celtic tribes
25.
Bituriges
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The Bituriges were a tribe of Celtic Gaul with its capital at Bourges, whose territory corresponds to the former province of Berry. Their name supposedly meant kings of the world, early in the 1st century BCE, they had been one of the main Gallic tribes, especially in terms of druids and their political influence. But they soon declined in power as the druids were an important target for Julius Caesar in his conquest of Gaul, eventually, the town was to be buried by the Roman legions. Besides Avaricum or Mediolanum on the road from Paris and Orléans to Arvernum, Argentomagus and this is one of several tribes which seem to have split, with the Bituriges Cubi lived near Bourges/Berry and the Bituriges Vivisci near Burdigala. They joined Bellovesus migrations towards Italy, together with the Aedui, Ambarri, Arverni, Aulerci, a passage from Livy, summa imperii penes Biturges, meaning all the power in the hands of the Bituriges, has become the motto of the city of Bourges. List of peoples of Gaul Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
26.
Cahors
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Cahors is the capital of the Lot department in south-western France. Its site is dramatic, being contained on three sides within a U-shaped bend in the River Lot known as the presquîle. Cahors is known as the centre of AOC black wine, which has made since the Middle Ages and exported via Bordeaux. Cahors has had a history since Celtic times. The Cadurci were among the last Celtic tribes to resist the Roman invasion, however, romanization was rapid and profound, Cahors became a large Roman city, with many monuments whose remnants can be seen today. It has declined economically since the Middle Ages, and lost its university in the 18th century, today it is a popular tourist centre with people coming to enjoy its mediaeval quarter and the 14th-century fortified Valentré bridge. It is the seat of the Diocese of Cahors and it was also infamous at that time for having bankers that charged interest on their loans. The church in these times said that money as an end in itself was a sin. Because of this Cahors became synonymous with this sin, and was mentioned in Dantes Inferno alongside Sodom as wicked, pope John XXII, born Jacques Duèze or dEuse, was born in Cahors in 1249, the son of a shoemaker. In the 2007 Tour de France, Cahors was the start of stage 18, the town is situated 115 km north of Toulouse, on the RN20 / A20, connecting the city, via Limoges to Paris and Orleans. The towns height above sea level is between 105 metres and 332 metres, the area of the town is 64.72 square kilometres, with population density relatively high for France at 309 inhabitants per square kilometre. The Valentré Bridge, the symbol of the town, building began in 1308 and was completed in 1378. The legend associated with this bridge is one of the most fully realized of all Devils Bridge legends, with a developed plot, complex characters. When the bridge was restored in 1879, the architect Paul Gout made reference to this by placing a small sculpture of the devil at the summit of one of the towers, Maison Henri IV or Hôtel de Roaldès. Daurade quarter with, Maison Hérétié Maison Dolive Maison du Bourreau The barbican that once defended the Barre Gate, cloister Arc de Diane, a relic of ancient Roman baths. The stone walls can be seen in the car park first level, below the statue of Leon Gambetta, the area around Cahors produces wine, primarily robust and tannic red wine. Wine from the Cahors appellation must be made from at least 70% Malbec grape, the Cahors Blues Festival takes place every year in July since 1982. Pope John XXII Jules Combarieu, musicologist Communes of the Lot department INSEE commune file Official website Cahors Cathedral at Structurae
27.
Carnutes
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The Carnutes, a powerful Gaulish people in the heart of independent Gaul, dwelt in an extensive territory between the Sequana and the Liger rivers. Their lands were organized as the Catholic dioceses of Chartres, Orléans and Blois, that is. The territory of the Carnutes had the reputation among Roman observers of being the political, the chief fortified towns were Cenabum, the modern Orléans, where a bridge crossed the Loire, and Autricum. The great annual druidic assembly mentioned by Caesar took place in one or the other of these towns, livys history records the legendary tradition that the Carnutes had been one of the tribes that accompanied Bellovesus in his invasion of Italy during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus. In the 1st century BC, the Carnutes minted coins, usually struck with dies and their coinage turns up in hoards well outside their home territories, in some cases so widely distributed in the finds that the place of coinage is not secure. The iconography of their numismatics includes the motifs of heads with traditional Celtic torcs, a wolf with a star, a horse. Many coins show an eagle with the crescent, with a serpent, or with a wheel with six or four spokes, or a pentagrammatic star, or beneath a hand holding a branch with berries. The wheel with four forms a cross within a circle. Sometimes the circle is a ring of granules, among the Celts, the ring and spokes may represent the cycle of the year divided in its four seasons, rather than the sun, which is a common meaning among cultures. In the time of Caesar, the Carnutes were dependents of the Remi, in the winter of 58–57 BC, Caesar imposed a protectorate over the Carnutes and set up Tasgetius as his choice of king, picked from the ruling clan. Within three years, the Carnutes assassinated the puppet king, on 13 February 53 BC, the Carnutes of Cenabum massacred all the Roman merchants stationed in the town as well as one of Caesars commissariat officers. The uprising became a general one throughout Gaul, under the leadership of Vercingetorix, Caesar burned Cenabum, where he had the men killed and women and children sold as slaves. The booty was distributed among his soldiers, a way of financing the conquest of Gaul. During the war followed, the Carnutes sent 12,000 fighting men to relieve Alesia. Having attacked the Bituriges Cubi, who appealed to Caesar for assistance, Cenabum was left for years as a mass of ruins for example, with two Roman legions garrisoned there. After they had been pacified, though not Romanized, under Augustus and they retained their self-governing institutions, and minted coins, their only obligation was for the men to render military service to the emperor. Up to the 3rd century, Autricum was the capital, in 275 Aurelian refounded Cenabum, ordaining it no longer a vicus but a civitas, he named it Aurelianum or Aurelianensis urbs. See Livy, v.34, Julius Caesar, Belli Gall. v.25,29,5,31, Strabo Geographia iv.2 -3, Ptolemy Geographia, ii.8
28.
Cenomani
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This article is about the Cenomani in Gallia Celtica, for the Cenomani in Cisalpine Gaul, see Cenomani. According to Caesar, they assisted Vercingetorix in the rising with a force of 5000 men. Under Augustus they formed a civitas stipendiaria of Gallia Lugdunensis, there was another people called Cenomani that held extensive territory in Cisalpine Gaul, however, there is disagreement whether they are one and the same people. The orthography and the quantity of the vowel of Cenomani have given rise to discussion. According to Arbois de Jubainville, the Cenomni of Italy are not identical with the Cehomni of Gaul. In the case of the latter, the survival of the man in Le Mans is due to the stress laid on the vowel, had the vowel been short and unaccented. In Italy, Cenomani is the name of a people, in Gaul, William Smith adopts the difference, placing the peoples in two separate articles in his Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. According to Livy, the Cenomani of Cisalpine Gaul arrived after the expedition of Bellovesus, led by Helitovius and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Cenomani. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
29.
Curiosolitae
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The Curiosolites or Curiosolitae were a people in the region now called Brittany, in Celtica, who are mentioned by Julius Caesar several times. The name only occurs in the form, as there are variations in the manuscripts. They are mentioned by Caesar with the Veneti, Unelli, Osismi, and others that Caesar calls maritimae civitates, maritime cities, and border on the Atlantic Ocean. In another place he describes the position of the Curiosolitae on the ocean in the terms, and includes them among the Armoric states. The name occurs in Pliny in the form Cariosvelites, and he mentions them with the Unelli, Diablindi, the Curiosolitae are not mentioned by Ptolemy. No city of people is mentioned, and the Itineraries give no roads in this part of Brittany. The name seems to be preserved in Corseul, a village between Dinan and Lamballe, where there are the remains of an old Roman town and we may conclude that, after the fashion of Gallic names, Corseul represents the capital of the Curiosolitae. The neighbors of the Curiosolitae on the east were the Rhedones, on the west were the Osismi or Osismii, who occupied the extremity of the peninsula of Brittany. But Charles Athanase Walckenaer places, between the Osismi and the Curiosolitae, the Biducasii of Ptolemy, in the diocese of St. Bidué or St. Brieuc, whom he distinguishes from the Viducasses. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
30.
Diablintes
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The Diablintes or Diablintres or Diablindi or Aulerci Diaulitae were an ancient people of Gaul, a division of the Aulerci. Julius Caesar mentions the Diablintes among the allies of the Veneti, the Diablintes are mentioned between the Morini and Menapii. The territory of the Diablintes seems to have small, and it may have been included in that of the Cenomanni. The true form of the name in Caesar is doubtful, schneider, in his edition of the Gallic War, has adopted the form Diablintres, and there is good manuscriptual authority for this. The Diablintes are the Diablindi, whom Pliny places in Gallia Lugdunensis and their position can be calculated from Plinys enumeration, Cariosvelites, Diablindi, Rhedones. The capital of the Diablintes, according to Ptolemy, was Noeodunum, the Notitia of the Gallic provinces, which belongs to the commencement of the fifth century, mentions Civitas Diablintum among the cities of Lugdunensis Tertia. A document of the seventh century speaks of condita Diablintica as situated in Pago Cenomannico and this document also helps explain why Ptolemy used the name Aulerci for both the Diablintes and Cenomanni. Another document of the seventh century speaks of oppidum Diablintes juxta ripam Araenae fiuvioli, where the Arena is recognised as the Aron, a branch of the Mayenne River. The small town of Jublains, where Roman remains have been found and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
31.
Eburovices
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The Eburovices, or Eburovici, were a Gallic tribe, a branch of the Aulerci. They are mentioned by Julius Caesar with the Lexovii, pliny speaks of the Aulerci, qui cognominantur Eburovices, et qui Cenomani. Ptolemy makes the Αὐλέρκοι Ἐβουραϊκοί extend from the Ligeris to the Sequana and their chief place was Mediolanum Aulercorum. Their limits correspond to those of the diocese of Évreux. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
32.
Helvetii
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The Helvetii were a Gallic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Julius Caesar, the Helvetians were divided into four subgroups or pagi, of these Caesar only names the Verbigeni and the Tigurini, while Posidonius mentions the Tigurini and the Tougeni. They feature prominently in the Commentaries on the Gallic War, with their failed attempt to southwestern Gaul serving as a catalyst for Caesars conquest of Gaul. The endonym Helvetii is mostly derived from a Gaulish elu-, meaning gain, prosperity or mulititude, cognate with Welsh elw and Old Irish prefix il-, meaning many or multiple. The second part of the name has sometimes been interpreted as *etu-, terrain, grassland, the earliest attestation of the name is found in a graffito on a vessel from Mantua, dated to c.300 BC. The inscription in Etruscan letters reads eluveitie, which has interpreted as the Etruscan form of the Celtic elu̯eti̯os. The name of the personification of Switzerland, Helvetia. The star 51 Pegasi was named Helvetios after them and this was the first main-sequence star found to have an exoplanet orbiting it. Of the four Helvetian pagi or sub-tribes, Caesar names only the Verbigeni and the Tigurini, Posidonius the Tigurini, there has been substantial debate in Swiss historiography on whether the Tougeni may or may not be identified with the Teutones mentioned by Titus Livius. According to Caesar, the territory abandoned by the Helvetii had comprised 400 villages and 12 oppida and his tally of the total population taken from captured Helvetian records written in Greek is 263,000 people, including fighting men, old men, women and children. However, the figures are generally dismissed as too high by modern scholars, like many other tribes, the Helvetii did not have kings at the time of their clash with Rome but instead seem to have been governed by a class of noblemen. When Orgetorix, one of their most prominent and ambitious noblemen, was making plans to himself as their king. Caesar does not explicitly name the tribal authorities prosecuting the case and gathering men to apprehend Orgetorix, in his Natural History, Pliny provides a foundation myth for the Celtic settlement of Cisalpine Gaul in which a Helvetian named Helico plays the role of culture hero. The Greek historian Posidonius, whose work is preserved only in fragments by other writers, offers the earliest historical record of the Helvetii. Posidonius described the Helvetians of the late 2nd century BC as rich in gold but peaceful and that the Helvetians originally lived in southern Germany is confirmed by the Alexandrian geographer Claudius Ptolemaios, who tells us of an Ἐλουητίων ἔρημος north of the Rhine. Tacitus knows that the Helvetians once settled in the swath between Rhine, Main, and the Hercynian forest, at the later Vicus Turicum, probably in the first 1st century BC or even much earlier, the Celts settled at the Lindenhof Oppidium. In 1890, so-called Potin lumps were found, whose largest weights 59.2 kilograms at the Prehistoric pile dwelling settlement Alpenquai in Zürich, the pieces consist of a large number of fused Celtic coins, which are mixed with charcoal remnants. Some of the 18,000 coins originate from the Eastern Gaul, others are of the Zürich type, that were assigned to the local Helvetii, which date to around 100 BC
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Lingones
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The Lingones were a Celtic tribe that originally lived in Gaul in the area of the headwaters of the Seine and Marne rivers. Some of the Lingones migrated across the Alps and settled near the mouth of the Po River in Cisalpine Gaul of northern Italy around 400 BC and these Lingones were part of a wave of Celtic tribes that included the Boii and Senones. The Lingones may have helped sack Rome in 390 BC, the Cathedral St-Mammes, built in the Burgundian Romanesque style for the ancient diocese that was referred to as Lingonae and rivaled Dijon. Three of its bishops were martyred by the invasion of the Vandals
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Namnetes
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The Namnetes were a tribe of ancient Gaul, living in the area of the modern city of Nantes near the river Liger. They were neighbours to the Veneti people, the Redones, the Andecavi, in the spring 56 BC during the Gallic wars and according to Caesar, the Namnetes allied to the Veneti to fight against the fleet made by Caesar. Decimus Brutus, leader of the Roman fleet, finally won the battle, during Roman domination, the Namnete capital city was located at the confluence of the Loire and the Erdre, its name was probably Condevicnum. During the 3rd century AD, the city known as Portus Namnetum. No man was allowed on the island and the women themselves sailed from it to have intercourse with men on the continent before returning there again. They also had the custom of unroofing their temple every year and roofing it again on the same day before sunset. The woman whose load would fall out of her arms was rent to pieces by the rest, according to French archaeologist Jean-Louis Brunaux, there are three reasons to believe the story to be factual. First of all, the wet, windy climate of Western Gaul made it likely for the Gallic dwellings to be roofed again every year, secondly, not to drop new material was, according to Pliny the Elder, a common religious practice amongst the Celts. Thirdly, circumambulation is known to have existed as a rite amongst the Celts if we are to believe Poseidonios
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Osismii
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The Osismii were a Gaulish tribe on the western Armorican peninsula. They were first described as the Ostimioi by the Greek geographer and traveller Pytheas in the fourth century BC and he situated them at the end of the peninsula of Kabaïon, which is not clearly identifiable today. Their name means the farthest or those at the end of the world and their territory corresponded broadly to the modern French département of Finistère, whose name reflects the same meaning in Latin Finis Terræ, i. e. end of the earth. Their chief city was Vorgium, modern Carhaix and they survived into Roman times and are found in the texts of Julius Caesar, Pliny the Elder, and Strabo. They submitted to Caesar during the Gallic Wars, in 57 BC, the next year, they revolted along with the Veneti, but were put down. They became a Roman civitas and their identity survived into Late Antiquity, province and Empire, Brittany and the Carolingians
