Modern France was formed on the territory of Gaul, the former Roman province. From the 4th century BC. e. Gauls settled practically throughout continental Europe - from the future Spain and Portugal to what was then Scythia. However, the Romans considered only the lands west of the Rhine to be purely Gallic regions.
How and where the Gauls, who can also be called Celts, came to Europe, today no one will tell you for sure. Some scientists believe that they are from Asia. In less than a century, they have mastered almost all of future Europe, except perhaps Scandinavia, the Greek part of the Balkans and the territory of Italy. They even managed to cross the English Channel and penetrate the British Isles.
The first meeting
For the Romans, the acquaintance with new neighbors did not start very well. Brennus, the Gaul leader in 391 BC e. crossed the Alps and began to "iron" Northern Italy.
The Etruscans were the first to face him. In the bloody battle of Clusia, they suffered a crushing defeat. Barbarians on lathered horses rushed into their cities, robbed everything cleaned up, and simply killed the inhabitants.
The Romans quickly realized that they would be next.
The military tribune Quintus Sulpicius Long gathered his troops and led them to intercept the enemy. He still had no idea who he would have to deal with. In 390 (according to another version - in 387) BC. e. the Roman army of Sulpicius and the horde of Brennus met on the battlefield.
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The Romans had not yet had time to prepare for battle, as they were already defeated. From everywhere, riders with long swords flew at them in a cloud and chopped them into cabbage. The glorious army of Sulpicius in full force fled from the battlefield. And the Gauls, hooting, drove them all the way to the Tiber. At the time of the crossing, the Gauls caught up with the slowed down opponents, and the Tiber turned red from Roman blood. Few lucky ones made it to their native walls. But they failed to defend the city. The Gauls feasted well in front of the walls, and a couple of days later entered Rome. Now the carnage was already on the city streets. The Roman soldiers managed to hide behind the fortress wall that surrounded the Capitol. They hoped that, having plundered the city, the barbarians would immediately leave it. It wasn't like that. They could not leave with honor without finishing off the enemy. Many times they rushed to storm Capitol Hill and retreated many times. The siege of the citadel lasted not a couple of days, but almost six months. In the end, Rome burned down almost to the ground.
Of course, such a beginning cannot lead to sincere friendship. The Romans hated their new neighbors with all their hearts, once and for all.
Enemies of the Empire
The Romans called the newly acquired enemy not Celts, but Gauls.
Where this name came from is unknown. Either because the Celts had the custom of dyeing their hair with a solution of lime, or because their skin was white as milk. Or, perhaps, simply because the Germanic barbarians called the Celts "Walls", that is, "foreigners", and the Celts pronounced this word as "Gauls", since the German "v" was pronounced as "g". This is how the Celts turned into Gauls and under this name they remained in history - at least in ancient Roman history.
Their relationship with Rome was disgusting from the very first day. Skirmishes, with some interruptions, continued for almost a century. Sometimes the outcome of battles was very deplorable for the Romans. In 284 BC. e. in the battle of Arretia, the Romans lost over 13 thousand soldiers and their own commander-in-chief, Lucius Cecilius Metellus.
A year later, the Romans repaid their enemies for this defeat. In the battle of Lake Vadimon, they practically destroyed the Gauls and the allied Etruscan army. It dawned on the Gauls that the situation had changed somewhat. They did not wait for the Romans to finish them off completely, and retreated first to the Alps, and then beyond the Alps.
They tried several times to return to Italy, but to no avail. Even during the Punic Wars, the Gallic warriors who fought on the side of Carthage, despite initial successes, were ultimately defeated along with Hannibal. And by the end of the 3rd century BC. e. the whole territory of Italy was cleared by the Romans from the Gauls they hated. Those had to move to the lands of modern Switzerland, Belgium and France.
Tribes and languages
Gaul, where the Celts-Gauls departed, was inhabited by ethnically close but disunited tribes. Each occupied a certain territory and had its own leader.
Aedui, Allobrogi, Ambians, Aquitaines, Arverni, Beakassa, Belgi, Boyi, Bellovaki, Biturigi, Vangioni, Velokasy, Veneti, Vindelici, Volcus, Helvetians, and so on - at least 70 tribes.
After the lands inhabited by these tribes were conquered by the Roman legions, practical conquerors solved the problem simply - everyone was enrolled in Gauls. Indeed, it is really difficult to understand such a variety!
During the time of Julius Caesar, before Latin became the official language in this province, Gauls spoke mainly three dialects - Gaulish, Belgian and Aquitanian. But after the final conquest of Gaul, the entire local elite began to switch to the language of the Romans. In Narbonne Gaul, all the people spoke Latin. And then, after the migration of Germanic tribes to Gaul, a group of Germanic languages was added. For several centuries the French language was born from these elements. It is not Gaulish, of course, but the Celtic Gaulish language also contributed to its formation.
Gradually, the tribes intermixed and became related to each other. But some cultural features remained nonetheless.
Druid chiefs and priests played a huge role in Gallic society. Caesar, ending the independence of Gaul by 50 BC. e., tried to lure the leaders to their side - and, only being convinced that this was impossible, tried to destroy them. But the druids were subject to destruction without any reservations. Caesar certainly did not expect anything good from them. Not only were they more persistent than the rebellious leaders, cared about "national identity", but also the very cult of the Druids evoked the deepest revulsion in the Roman ruler. They brewed some kind of hallucinogenic potion from a poisonous mistletoe, fell into a trance, began to speak in bad voices and call for disobedience, since the Roman soldiers and governors allegedly destroy the legacy of the Gallic ancestors. In addition, it depended on the druids whether the Gauls would agree to go to another war under the banner of Rome or not. And after all, there were many cases when Roman soldiers, born Gauls, refused to obey orders, because the priests told them so. According to the will of the priests, the Gauls executed their criminals according to the pagan custom, burning them in wicker boxes in the shape of a man. In the same way, they made human sacrifices - very often voluntary. The Romans strongly disliked this practice. Also, the Roman authorities were not satisfied with the fact that the Druids constantly interfered in the everyday life of the Gaulish society. If it seemed to those that the Gaul too followed Roman customs, he was deprived of the right to participate in rituals and visit the sacred groves, which immediately turned the excommunicated into an outcast. It is not surprising that the druids began to be persecuted and executed. But the local population still revered the priests, and the Romans did not give them away. Therefore, the Romans did not succeed in completely exterminating the "evil faith". Fearing for their lives, the Druids went deep underground, but they did not degenerate at all and existed even a millennium after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Outgoing era
The Gauls, and after the final conquest of their lands by Rome, repeatedly raised uprisings. Sometimes they even managed to achieve some success at first. But in the end they were beaten mercilessly every time. And life went on, and the benefits of civilization, which the Romans brought to the conquered peoples, were so tempting … In a word, when the Roman Empire fell, Gaul was already so saturated with the Roman spirit and culture that the return "to the roots" for most Gauls by blood meant only a return to wildness. The power of Rome brought significant changes, many cities were built, excellent roads were laid, and taxation was fair for that time. It is not surprising that a society that grew up on Roman sourdough valued personal merit more and more with each generation and tribal affiliation was less and less important. The era of the Gauls ended on its own.
Nikolay KOTOMKIN