History

History
[edit] Pre-Roman Gaul
Further information: Prehistoric France, Celts, and Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul
A map of Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the relative positions of the Celtic
tribes.
The early history of the Gauls is predominantly a work in archaeology — there being
little written information (save perhaps what can be gleaned from coins) concerning the
peoples that inhabited these regions — and the relationships between their material
culture, genetic relationships (the study of which has been aided, in recent years, through
the field of archaeogenetics), and linguistic divisions rarely coincide.
The major source of materials on the Celts of Gaul was Poseidonios of Apamea, whose
writings were quoted by Timagenes, Julius Caesar, the Sicilian Greek Diodorus Siculus,
and the Greek geographer Strabo.[6]
By the second century BC, France was called Gaul (Gallia Transalpina) by the Romans.
In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar distinguishes among three ethnic groups in Gaul: the
Belgae in the north (roughly between Rhine and Seine), the Celts in the centre and in
Armorica, and the Aquitani in the southwest, the southeast being already colonized by the
Romans

One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation
during the 19th century. French historians adopted fully the explanation of Caesar who
stated that Gaul stretched from the Pyrenees up to the Rhine in the north. This fitted the
French expansionist aspirations of the time under Napoleon III of France. In the north of
(modern) France, the Gaul-German language border was situated somewhere between the
Seine and the River Somme. Northern Belgic tribes like the Nervians, Atrebates or
Morini appear to be Germanic tribes who migrated from the Germanic hinterland and
adopted Celtic language and customs[citation needed], as all of the names of their leaders and
towns are Celtic. 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 (present-day
Marseille) along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean
coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture.
In the second century BC, Mediterranean Gaul had an extensive urban fabric and was
prosperous, while the heavily forested northern Gaul had almost no cities outside of
fortified compounds (or oppida) used in times of war. 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 125 BC, and by 121 BC they had conquered the Mediterranean
region called Provincia (later named Gallia Narbonensis). This conquest upset the
ascendancy of the Gaulish Arverni tribe.
[edit] Conquest by Rome
Main article: Gallic Wars
The Roman proconsul and general Julius Caesar pushed his army into Gaul in 58BC, on
the pretext of assisting Rome's Gaullist allies against the migrating Helvetii. With the
help of various Gallic tribes (for example, the Aedui) he managed to conquer nearly all of
Gaul. But the Arverni tribe, under Chieftain Vercingetorix, still defied Roman rule. Julius
Caesar was checked by Vercingetorix at a siege of Gergorvia, a fortified town in the
center of Gaul. Caesar's alliances with many Gallic tribes broke. Even the Aedui, their
most faithful supporters, threw in their lot with the Arverni. Caesar captured
Vercingetorix in the Battle of Alesia, which ended Gallic resistance to Rome.

Gauls in Rome.
As many as a million people (probably 1 in 4 of the Gauls) died, another million were
enslaved, 300 tribes were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed during the Gallic
Wars. The entire population of the city of Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) were
slaughtered.[8] During Julius Caesar's campaign against the Helvetii (present-day
Switzerland) approximately 60% of the tribe was destroyed, and another 20% was taken
into slavery.
[edit] Roman Gallia
Main articles: Roman Gaul, Gallo-Roman culture, and History of France
The Gaulish culture then was massively submerged by Roman culture, Latin was adopted
by the Gauls, Gaul, or Gallia, was absorbed into the Roman Empire, all the
administration changed and Gauls eventually became Roman citizens.[9] From the 3rd to
5th centuries, Gaul was exposed to raids by the Franks. The Gallic Empire broke away
from Rome from 260 to 273, consisting of the provinces of Gaul, Britannia, and
Hispania, including the peaceful Baetica in the south.

Vercingétorix
Les sources primaires [modifier]
Une édition de 1783 des Commentarii de Bello Gallico de César
Les documents historiques témoignant de la vie de Vercingétorix sont peu nombreux et
doivent être critiqués et interprétés, particulièrement à la lumière de l'archéologie2. Ce
sont essentiellement des écrits d'auteurs anciens, dont Strabon3, Plutarque4, Florus
résumant Tite-Live5, et Dion Cassius6. Mais Vercingétorix est avant tout connu au travers
des Commentaires sur la guerre des Gaules, destinés au Sénat romain, que Jules César
rédige tout au long de ses campagnes et compile après sa victoire finale d'Alésia sur les
Gaulois.
Naissance de Vercingétorix

Sa date de naissance n'est pas non plus connue, si ce n'est par une déduction du texte de
César qui fait référence à un adulescens en -529, soit, en droit romain, à un homme de
moins de trente ans. On peut donc en déduire une naissance autour de l'an -8010.
Il est le fils de Celtillos, chef d'un des principaux clans arvernes, un des peuples gaulois
les plus puissants et qui fut opposé à Rome à la fin du deuxième siècle avant notre ère.
Son père aurait été mis à mort par les familles aristocratiques arvernes pour avoir tenté de
rétablir à son profit la royauté, abolie et remplacée par un régime aristocratique dans les
années -120 par Rome, imposant ses conditions de vainqueur et emmènant en captivité
Bituitos, le dernier roi vaincu près d'Orange11. Ce rejet de la monarchie valait sans doute
autant que la crainte d'une dénonciation du traité passé avec Rome, source de paix et de
profit pour ce peuple depuis soixante ans
« Gallia est omnis divisa in tres partes », dit César (« la Gaule est divisée en trois
parties ») : les Aquitains, les Celtes et les Belges. La Gaule comprend alors plus
de soixante peuples, dont certains très connus, comme les Arvernes, les
Éduens, les Séquanes, les Rèmes. Au total, ces territoires sont très peuplés et
comptent de 9 à 10 millions d'habitants27.
La Guerre des Gaules [modifier]
En -58, Vercingétorix est un jeune homme d'une vingtaine d'années, issu de l'aristocratie
et en âge de se battre, lorsque Jules César envahit la Gaule à la tête de ses légions
romaines et de contingents alliés gaulois pour venir en aide aux alliés traditionnels de
Rome, les Éduens, menacés à leur tour par les Germains29. Il veut soumettre les peuples