Belgic Gaul. The Belgæ were considered more warlike than the other Gauls,67 because, strangers to the civilisation of the Roman province and hostile to commerce, they had not experienced the effeminating influence of luxury. Proud of having escaped the Gaulish enervation, they claimed with arrogance an origin which united them with the Germans their neighbours, with whom, nevertheless, they were continually at war.68 They boasted of having defended their territory against the Cimbri and the Teutones, at the time of the invasion of Gaul. The memory of the lofty deeds of their ancestors inspired them with a great confidence in themselves, and excited their warlike spirit.69
The most powerful nations among the Belgæ were the Bellovaci,70 who could arm a hundred thousand men, and whose territory extended to the sea,71 the Nervii, the Remi, and the Treviri.
2. Celtic Gaul.72 The central part of Gaul, designated by the Greek writers under the name of Celtica, and the inhabitants of which constituted in the eyes of the Romans the Gauls properly so named (Galli), was the most extensive and most populous. Among the most important nations of Celtic Gaul were reckoned the Arverni, the Ædui, the Sequani, and the Helvetii. Tacitus informs us that the Helvetii had once occupied a part of Germany.73
These three first peoples often disputed the supremacy of Gaul. As to the Helvetii, proud of their independence, they acknowledged no authority superior to their own. In the centre and south of Celtic Gaul dwelt peoples who had also a certain importance. On the west and north-west were various maritime populations designated under the generic name of Armoricans, an epithet which had, in the Celtic tongue, the meaning of maritime. Small Alpine tribes inhabited the valleys of the upper course of the Rhone, at the eastern extremity of Lake Lémon, a country which now forms the Valais.
3. Aquitaine.74 Aquitaine commenced on the left bank of the Garonne: it was inhabited by several small tribes, and contained none of those agglomerations which were found among the Celts and the Belgæ. The Aquitanians, who had originally occupied a vast territory to the north of the Pyrenees, having been pushed backward by the Celts, had but a rather limited portion of it in the time of Cæsar.
The three regions which composed Gaul were not only, as already stated, divided into a great number of states, but each state (civitas) was farther subdivided into pagi,75 representing, perhaps, the same thing as the tribe among the Arabs. The proof of the distinct character of these agglomerations is found in the fact that in the army each of them had its separate place, under the command of its own chieftains. The smallest subdivision was called vicus.76 Such, at least, are the denominations employed in the “Commentaries,” but which were certainly not those of the Celtic language. In each state there existed principal towns, called indifferently by Cæsar urbs or oppidum;77 yet this last name was given by preference to considerable towns, difficult of access and carefully fortified, placed on heights or surrounded by marshes.78 It was to these oppida that, in case of attack, the Gauls transported their grain, their provisions, and their riches.79 Their habitations, established often in the forests or on the bank of a river, were constructed of wood, and tolerably spacious.80
Manners.
III. The Gauls were tall in stature, their skin was white, their eyes blue, their hair fair or chestnut, which they dyed, in order to make the colour more brilliant.81 They let their beard grow; the nobles alone shaved, and preserved long moustaches.82 Trousers or breeches, very wide among the Belgæ, but narrower among the southern Gauls, and a shirt with sleeves, descending to the middle of the thighs, composed their principal dress.83 They were clothed with a mantle or saie,84 magnificently embroidered with gold or silver among the rich,85 and held about the neck by means of a metal brooch. The lowest classes of the people used instead an animal’s skin. The Aquitanians covered themselves, probably according to the Iberic custom, with cloth of coarse wool unshorn.86
The Gauls wore collars, earrings, bracelets, and rings for the arms, of gold or copper, according to their rank; necklaces of amber, and rings, which they placed on the third finger.87
They were naturally agriculturists, and we may suppose that the institution of private property existed among them, because, on the one hand, all the citizens paid the tax, except the Druids,88 and, on the other, the latter were judges of questions of boundaries.89 They were not unacquainted with certain manufactures. In some countries they fabricated serges, which were in great repute, and cloths or felts;90 in others they worked the mines with skill, and employed themselves in the fabrication of metals. The Bituriges worked in iron, and were acquainted with the art of tinning.91 The artificers of Alesia plated copper with leaf-silver, to ornament horses’ bits and trappings.92
The Gauls fed especially on the flesh of swine, and their ordinary drinks were milk, ale, and mead.93 They were reproached with being inclined to drunkenness.94
They were frank and open in temper, and hospitable toward strangers,95 but vain and quarrelsome;96 fickle in their sentiments, and fond of novelties, they took sudden resolutions, regretting one day what they had rejected with disdain the day before;97 inclined to war and eager for adventures, they showed themselves hot in the attack, but quickly discouraged in defeat.98 Their language was very concise and figurative;99 in writing, they employed Greek letters.
The men were not exempt from a shameful vice, which we might have believed less common in this county than among the peoples of the East.100 The women united an extraordinary beauty with remarkable courage and great physical force.101
The Gauls, according to the tradition preserved by the Druids, boasted of being descended from the god of the earth, or from Pluto (Dis), according to the expression of Cæsar.102 It was for this reason that they took night for their starting-point in all their divisions of time. Among their other customs, they had one which was singular: they considered it as a thing unbecoming to appear in public with their children, until the latter had reached the age for carrying arms.103
When he married, the man took from his fortune a part equal to the dowry of the wife. This sum, placed as a common fund, was allowed to accumulate with interest, and the whole reverted to the survivor. The husband had the right of life and death over his wife and children.104 When the decease of a man of wealth excited any suspicion, his wives, as well as his slaves, were put to the torture, and burnt if they were found guilty.
The extravagance of their funerals
<p>67</p>
Strabo, IV., p. 163, edit. Didot.
<p>68</p>
Although of Germanic origin, like the Nervii, and glorying in it (Tacitus, Germania, 28), the Treviri were often at war with the Germans. (Cæsar, De Bello Gallico, VII. 68.)
<p>69</p>
Peoples of Belgic Gaul:
The Aduatuci, who occupied a part of the province of Namur.
The Ambiani, a people of the department of the Somme. Their chief town was Samarobriva (Amiens).
The Ambivareti, established on the left bank of the Meuse, to the south of the marsh of Peel.
The Atrebates, the people of the ancient Artois, and a part of French Flanders. Their principal oppidum was Nemetocenna (Arras).
The Bellovaci, occupying the greater part of the department of the Oise (the ancient Beauvaisis), and who extended, probably, to the sea. (Pliny, Hist. Nat., IV. 17.)
The Caletes, whose territory answered to the ancient Pays de Caux (the western and central part of the department of the Seine-Inférieure).
The Leuci, who occupied the southern part of the department of the Meuse, the greater part of that of the Meurthe, and the department of the Vosges.
The Mediomatrices. They extended from the upper course of the Meuse to the Rhine (department of the Moselle, and part of the departments of the Meuse, the Meurthe, the Upper Rhine, and the Lower Rhine).
The Menapii, who occupied the territory comprised between the Rhine and the mouths of the Scheldt.
The Morini, who inhabited the western part of the department of the Pas-de-Calais, and extended to near the mouths of the Scheldt.
The Nervii, established between the Sambre and the Scheldt (French and Belgic Hainaut, provinces of Southern Brabant, of Antwerp, and part of Eastern Flanders). The writers posterior to Cæsar mention Bagacum (Bavay) as their principal town.
The Remi, whose territory embraced the greater part of the departments of the Marne and the Ardennes, a fraction of the departments of the Aisne and the Meuse, and of the province of Luxemburg. Their principal town was Durocortorum (Rheims).
The Suessiones, the people of the ancient Soissonais, whose territory comprised the greater part of the department of the Aisne. Principal oppidum, Noviodunum (Soissons).
The Treviri, separated from Germany by the Rhine, and occupying the whole lower basin of the Moselle (Rhenish Luxemburg, Prussia, and Bavaria). The Treviri had for clients —
The Condrusi, established to the south of the Meuse, in the ancient Condroz, and who reached almost to Aix-la-Chapelle.
The Eburones, occupying part of the provinces of Liége and Limburg, and reaching to the Rhine through the ancient duchy of Juliers.
The Triboces, established on both banks of the Rhine, occupied the central part of the Grand Duchy of Baden and the north of the department of the Lower Rhine, perhaps already invaded, on the left bank. Their presence on the left bank of the Rhine appears from Cæsar’s account. (De Bello Gallico, IV. 10.)
The Veliocasses, whose territory embraced the ancient Vexin, and who occupied part of the departments of the Seine-Inférieure and the Eure.
The Veromandui, occupying the ancient Vermandois, the northern part of the Aisne, and the eastern part of the Somme.
<p>70</p>
“Qui belli gloria Gallos omnes Belgasque præstabant.” (De Bello Gallico, II. 4, and VIII. 6.)
<p>71</p>
Pliny, Hist. Nat., IV. xxxi, 17.
<p>72</p>
Peoples of Celtic Gaul:
The Arverni extended over a vast region, comprising the present departments of the Puy-de-Dôme and Cantal, and part of those of the Allier and the Upper Loire. Gergovia was their principal town. The Arverni had for clients —
The Cadurei Eleutheri, whose territory answered to the ancient Quercy (department of the Lot). [This epithet of Eleutheri, which is found in Cæsar (De Bello Gallico, VIII. 75) leads us to believe that in southern Quercy there existed Cadurci placed under the dominion of Rome.]
The Gabali, who occupied the ancient Gévaudan (the department of the Lozère).
The Vellavi, whose territory answered to the ancient Velay (department of the Upper Loire).
The Aulerci formed an extensive nation, which was subdivided into three great tribes, established over the country from the lower course of the Seine to the Mayenné.
1. The Aulerci Cenomanni, a fraction of whom was, as early as the sixth century of Rome, established in Cisalpine Gaul, between the Oglio and the Adige, and who occupied in Gaul the greater part of the territory now forming the department of the Sarthe;
2. The Aulerci Diablintes, the northern and central parts of the department of the Mayenne.
3. The Aulerci Eburovices, the central and southern part of the department of the Eure.
The Bituriges, a nation which had more than twenty towns. Avaricum (Bourges) was the principal. Their territory embraced the ancient Berry (departments of the Cher, the Indre, and part of the Allier).
The Carnutes occupied the greatest part of the present departments of Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, and Loiret. Genabum (Gien) was one of their most important towns.
The Ædui occupied the modern departments of Saône-et-Loire and the Nièvre, and a part of the Côte-d’Or and the Allier. Their principal oppidum was Bibracte (Mont-Beuvray), the place of which was subsequently taken by Augustodunum (Autun). Cabillonum (Chalon-sur-Saône), Matisco (Mâcon), and Noviodunum, afterwards called Nivernum (Nevers), were also reckoned among their most important places. The Ædui had for clients —
The Ambarri, a small tribe situated between the Saône, the Rhone, and the Ain (department of the Ain).
The Ambluaretes, a people occupying a district around Ambierle (arrondissement of Roanne, department of the Loire). (?)
The Aulerci Brannovices, a tribe which dwelt between the Saône and the Loire, occupied the ancient country of Brionnais.
The Blannovii, who occupied a territory round Blanot (Saône-et-Loire). (?)
The Boii, a fraction of a great nomadic nation of this name, of Celtic origin, authorised by Cæsar to establish themselves on the territory of the Ædui, between the Loire and the Allier.
The Segusiavi, who occupied the ancient Forez (departments of the Rhône and the Loire), and extended to the left bank of the Saône.
The Essuvii, established in the department of the Orne.
The Helvetii, who were subdivided into four tribes or pagi; their territory occupied the part of Switzerland which extends from the north shore of the Léman to the Lake of Constance.
The Lemovices, whose territory answered to the Limousin (departments of the Upper Vienne and the greater part of the Corrèze and the Creuse).
The Lingones, whose territory embraced the greatest part of the department of the Haute-Marne and a fraction of the departments of the Aube, the Yonne, and the Côte-d’Or.
The Mandubii, established between the Ædui and the Lingones (department of the Côte-d’Or), occupied the ancient country of Auxois. Alesia (Alise) was their principal oppidum.
The Meldœ occupied the north of the department of the Seine-et-Marne and a small part of the department of the Oise.
The Nitiobriges occupied the greatest part of the department of the Lot-et-Garonne and a fraction of the Tarn-et-Garonne.
The Parisii, whose territory embraced the department of the Seine and a great part of the department of the Seine-et-Oise. Their principal town was Lutetia (Paris).
The Petrocorii, established in the ancient Périgord (department of the Dordogne).
The Rauraci, whose origin is perhaps German, established on both banks of the Rhine, towards the elbow which the river forms at Bâle.
The Ruteni occupied the ancient province of Rouergne (department of the Aveyron).
The Senones, established between the Loire and the Marne. Their principal town was Agedincum (Sens). Their territory comprised a part of the departments of the Yonne, the Marne, the Loiret, Seine-et-Marne, and the Aube.
The Sequani, whose territory embraced the ancient Franche-Comté (Jura, Doubs, Haute-Saône, and part of the Haut-Rhin). Principal town, Vesontio (Besançon).
The Turones, who occupied Touraine (department of Indre-et-Loire).
The peoples whom Cæsar calls maritime, or Armorican, were —
The Ambibari, established at the point where the departments of La Manche and Ille-et-Vilaine join.
The Ambiliates, whose territory comprised the part of the department of Maine-et-Loire situated to the south of the Loire.
The Andes, occupying Anjon (department of Maine-et-Loire and a fraction of the department of the Sarthe).
The Curiosolitæ, occupying the greatest part of the department of the Côtes-du-Nord.
The Lemovices Armorici, fixed to the south of the Loire, in the southern part of the department of the Loire-Inférieure and the west of that of Maine-et-Loire.
The Lexovii, occupying the department of Calvados, and a fraction of that of the Eure.
The Namnetes, who occupied, in the department of the Loire-Inférieure, the right bank of the Loire.
The Osismii, whose territory answered to the department of Finistère.
The Pictones, occupying Poitou (departments of La Vendée, the Deux-Sèvres, and the Vienne).
The Redones, whose territory embraced the greatest part of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine.
The Santones, occupying Saintonge, Aunis, and Angoumois (department of the Charente and the Charente-Inférieure, and a part of the department of the Gironde).
The Unelli, the people of the ancient Contentin (department of La Manche).
The Veneti, whose territory included the department of Morbihan.
<p>73</p>
Tacitus. Germania, 28.
<p>74</p>
Peoples of Aquitaine:
The Ausci, who occupied the central part of the department of the Gers, the most powerful of the nations of Aquitaine, according to Pomponius Mela (III. 2).
The Bigerriones occupied Bigorre (department of the Hautes-Pyrénées).
The Cocosates, established on the coasts of the Gulf of Gascony, in the Landes (the southern part of the department of the Gironde and the northern of the department of the Landes).
The Elusates occupied the north-west part of the department of the Gers and part of that of the Lot-et-Garonne.
The Gates, at the confluence of the Gers and the Garonne.
The Garumni, in the south of the department of the Haute-Garonne.
The Ptianes, probably towards Pau and Orthez.
The Sibuzates appear to have occupied the ancient country of Soule (Basses-Pyrénées).
The Sotiates occupied the south-west part of the department of Lot-et-Garonne and a part of the departments of the Landes and the Gers.
The Tarbelli occupied all the territory bordering upon the head of the Gulf of Gascony (departments of the Landes and the Basses-Pyrénées).
The Tarusates, established on the Adour, in the ancient Tursan (the south-east part of the department of the Landes). Peoples of Aquitaine (continued).
The Vasates or Vocates, established in the country of Bazas (the south-east part of the department of the Gironde).
<p>75</p>
“Pagus, pars civitatis.” (De Bello Gallico, I. 12.)
<p>76</p>
Cæsar mentions in different pasages the existence of vici among the Helvetii (I. 5), the Allobroges trans Rhodanum (I. 11), the Remi (II. 7), the Morini (III. 29), the Menapii (IV. 4), the Eburones (VI. 43), the Boii (VII. 14), the Carnutes (VIII. 5), and the Veragri (III. 1).
<p>77</p>
De Bello Gallico VII. 15, 25, 68.
<p>78</p>
The “Commentaries” name twenty-one oppida: Alesia, Avaricum, Bibracte, Bibrax, Bratuspantium, Cabillonum, Genabum, Genava, Gergovia, Gorgobina, Lutetia, Lemonum, Melodunum, Noviodunum Æduorum, Noviodunum Biturigum, Noviodunum Suessionum, Uxellodunum, Vellaunodunum, Vesontio, the oppidum Aduatucorum, and the oppidum Sotiatum.
<p>79</p>
“Oppidum dictum quod ibi homines opes suas conferunt.” (Paulus Diaconus, p. 184, edit. Müller.)
<p>80</p>
The Gauls lived in houses, or rather in huts, constructed of wood and with hurdles, tolerably spacious and of a circular form, covered with a high roof. (Strabo, IV. 163, edit. Didot.) – The Gauls, to avoid the heat, almost always built their habitations in the neighbourhood of woods and rivers. (Cæsar, De Bello Gallico, VI. 30.)
<p>81</p>
See a very curious passage in Solinus, chap. 25, on the practice of tattooing among the Gauls.
<p>82</p>
Diodorus Siculus (V. 28) says that the Gauls were of tall stature, had white flesh, and were lymphatic in constitution. Some shaved; the majority had beards of moderate size. – According to Titus Livius, the Gauls possessed a tall stature (procera corpora), flowing hair of an auburn colour (promissæ et rutilatæ comæ), a white complexion (candida corpora). (Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 17, 21, and Ammianus Marcellinus, XV. 22.) The latter adds that the Gauls had generally a threatening and terrible tone of voice, which is also stated by Diodorus Siculus (V. 31). – The skeletons found in the excavations at Saint-Etienne-au-Temple are 1·80m. to 1·90m. in length.
<p>83</p>
Strabo, p. 163, edit. Didot.
<p>84</p>
Isidorus Hispalensis, Origines, I. 19, 24.
<p>85</p>
Diodorus Siculus, V. 30.
<p>86</p>
Diodorus Siculus, V. 33.
<p>87</p>
Pliny, XXXIII. 24. – Gold was very abundant in Gaul; silver was much less common. The rich wore bracelets, rings on the leg, and collars, of the purest gold and tolerably massive; they had even breastplates of gold. (Diodorus Siculus, V. 27.) – A great number of these rings and circles of gold, of very good workmanship, have been found in the Gaulish burying-places. The Museum of Saint-Germain contains bracelets and earrings of chased gold, found, in 1863, in a tumulus situated near Châtillon-sur-Seine.
<p>88</p>
De Bello Gallico, VI. 14.
<p>89</p>
De Bello Gallico, VI. 13.
<p>90</p>
Pliny, Hist. Nat., VIII. xlviii. lxxiii., p. 127, edit. Sillig.
<p>91</p>
De Bello Gallico, VII. 22. – Pliny, XXXIV. xvii., p. 162, edit. Sillig.
<p>92</p>
“Deinde et argentum incoquere simili modo cœpere, equorum maxime ornamentis, jumentorumque ac jugorum, in Alesia oppido.” (Pliny, XXXIV. xvii., p. 162. – Florus, III. 2.)
<p>93</p>
Milk and the flesh of wild or domestic animals, especially swine’s flesh fresh or salted, formed the principal food of the Gauls. (Strabo, IV., p. 163.) – Beer and mead were the principal drink of the Gauls. (Posidonius quoted by Athenæus, IV., p. 151, Fragmenta Historicum Græc., III. 260.) – This statement is made also by Diodorus Siculus (V. 26), who informs us that this beer was made with barley.
<p>94</p>
Cicero already remarked the propensity of the Gauls to drunkenness (Orat. pro Fonteio), and Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12) also addresses the same reproach to them, which is again stated in Diodorus Siculus (V. 26).
<p>95</p>
“The Gauls, in their great hospitality, invited the stranger to their meal as soon as he presented himself, and it was only after drinking and eating with them that they inquired his name and country.” (Diodorus Siculus, V. 28.)
<p>96</p>
Strabo (IV., p. 162) says that the Gauls were of a frank character and good-hearted (literally, without malice). – Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12), who wrote at the end of the fifth century, represents the Gauls as excessively vain. – Strabo (IV., p. 165) assures us that they were much inclined to disputes and quarrels.
<p>97</p>
Cæsar often speaks of the fickleness of temper of this people, which, during a long period, gave great trouble to the Roman people. “Omnes fere Gallos novis rebus studere, et ad bellum mobiliter celeriterque excitari.” (De Bello Gallico, III 10.) – Lampridius, in his Life of Alexander Severus, 59, expresses himself thus: “But the Gauls, those tempers hard to deal with, and who regret all they have ceased to possess, often furnished grave cares to the emperors.” – “Gallorum subita et repentina consilia.” (De Bello Gallico, III. 8.)
<p>98</p>
De Bello Gallico, III. 19.
<p>99</p>
Diodorus Siculus (V. 31) says that the language of the Gauls was very concise and figurative, and that the Gauls made use of hyperbole in blaming and praising.
<p>100</p>
Diodorus Siculus, V. 32. – Strabo, IV., p. 165. – Athenæus, XIII., p. 603.
<p>101</p>
De Bello Gallico, VII. 47 and 48. – Among the Gauls, the women were equal to the men, not only in size, but also in courage. (Diodorus Siculus, V. 32.) – The Gaulish women were tall and strong. – Ammianus Marcellinus (XV. 12) writes: “Several foreigners together could not wrestle against a single Gaul, if they quarrelled with him, especially if he called for help to his wife, who even exceeds her husband in her strength and in her haggard eyes. She would become especially formidable if, swelling her throat and gnashing her teeth, she agitated her arms, robust and white as snow, ready to act with feet or fists; to give blows as vigorous as if they came from a catapult.”
<p>102</p>
De Bello Gallico, VI. 18: “Ab Dite patre prognatos.”
<p>103</p>
De Bello Gallico, VI. 18.
<p>104</p>
De Bello Gallico, VI. 19.