France (Gaul) and Gauls in the Ancient Roman Era | Early European History And Religion

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ROMANS IN GAUL (FRANCE)

Gauls

Gaul was a region of Western Europe initially defined by the Romans. Comprising present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of 494,000 square kilometers (191,000 square miles). Julius Caesar divided Gaul into three parts: Gallia Celtica, Belgica, and Aquitania. [Source Wikipedia]

The Romans ruled Gaul for more than 500 years. They annexed Provence in 121 B.C. and subdued the Gauls during the Gallic Wars under Caesar between 57 and 52 B.C. Gaul became part of the Roman empire when Caesar defeated Vercingetorix in 52 B.C. The first assembly of Gauls was held in A.D. 12. Gaul (France) remained Roman until the Western Roman Empire disintegrated into small-scale agrarian settlements as the Franks invaded in the fifth century A.D.

The Romans founded numerous cities and towns that remain today, including Arles, Lyon, Autun, Frejus, Orange, Nimes and Narbonne. Before their division the Goths were allowed by the Romans to settle within the borders of the Roman Empire. They rose against the Romans and killed the Roman emperor Valentinian in battle. His successor was Theodosius sued for peace.

Gauls

The Gauls lived in extreme northern Italy and the areas now occupied by France and Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Crossing the Alps from western Europe, they had pushed back the Etruscans and occupied the plains of the Po; hence this region received the name which it long held, Cisalpine Gaul. They held this territory against the Ligurians on the west and the Veneti on the east; and for a long time were the terror of the Italian people. [Source: “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901)]

The Gauls were the native tribe of Gaul (France). They are regarded as a Celtic-Druidic people. They crossed the Alps and expanded into the Balkans, north Italy and France around the third century B.C. and later they reached the British isles. They occupied most of western Europe by 300 B.C.

Most of the great Barbarian tribes of the post-Roman period, many of who were involved in the fall of Rome, were either Germanic (Teutonic) or Celts. Druids and Gauls were Celts. Goths, Visigoths and Vandals were Germanic Tribes. The Iberians occupied Spain and intermingled with Celts. The Huns came from Central Asia.

Romans, Gauls and Germans

The name "Gauls" is basically the name the Romans gave the Celts. Julius Caesar is the main source of information on the Gauls. The distinction between Gauls (Celts) and Germanic tribes can be traced back to Julius Caesar who decided that Gaul region was worth conquering and the Germanic region to north wasn't.

The Romans described the Celts as bloodthirsty barbarians with incredible strength, appetites and aggressiveness. Roman art showed them fighting naked with mud-stiffened hairdos and oval shields and double-twisted neck torques. According to the Romans, the Celts practiced human sacrifices at the their religious festivals. They established places of worship at wells and fountains and made offerings at these places of the severed heads of their enemies. Severed heads are a common theme in Celtic art.

Celtic expansion in Europe, 6th–3rd century BC

Laura Geggel of LiveScience wrote: “Before the Romans invaded the south of France, in 125 B.C., a culture speaking the Celtic language lived there and practiced its own customs. These Celtic people lived in densely settled, fortified sites during the Iron Age (750 B.C. to 125 B.C.), trading with cultures near and far, the researchers said. But after the Roman invasion, the Celtic culture at this location changed socially and economically, Luley said. For instance, the new findings suggest that some people under the Romans stopped preparing their own meals and began eating at communal places, such as taverns. Rome had a big impact on southern France,” Benjamin Luley, a visiting assistant professor of anthropology and classics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, told Live Science. “We don’t see taverns before the Romans arrive.” [Source: Laura Geggel, LiveScience, March 10, 2016]

Crupellarii, heavily armored Gauls, fought against the Roman legionaries. Tacitus (A.D. 56–120) wrote: “Completely encased in iron in the national fashion, these crupellarii, as they were called, were too clumsy for offensive purposes but impregnable in defence……the infantry made a frontal attack. The Gallic flanks were driven in. The iron-clad contingent caused some delay as their casing resisted javelins and swords. However the Romans used axes and mattocks and struck at their plating and its wearers like men demolishing a wall. Others knocked down the immobile gladiators with poles or pitchforks, and, lacking the power to rise, they were left for dead. [Source: Tacitus Annales III. 43]

On the manners and customs of the Gauls and the Germans, Tacitus wrote: Factions exist in Gaul, not only among all the tribes and in all the smaller communities and subdivisions, but, one may almost say, in separate households: the leaders of the rival factions are those who are popularly regarded as possessing the greatest influence; and accordingly to their arbitrament and judgement belongs the final decision on all questions and political schemes. This custom seems to have been established at a remote period in order that none of the common people might lack protection against the strong; for the rival leaders will not suffer their followers to be oppressed or overreached; otherwise they do not command their respect. The same principle holds good in Gaul regarded in its entirety, the tribes as a whole being divided into two groups.

“Once there was a time when Gauls were more warlike than Germans, actually invading their country and, on account of their dense population and insufficient territory, sending colonies across the Rhine. Thus the most fertile districts of Germany around the Hercynian forest (which, I find, was known by degeneracy name to Eratosthenes and other Greeks, who called it Orcynia), and there settled. To this day the people in question, who enjoy the highest reputation for fair dealing and warlike prowess, continue to occupy this territory. The Germans still live the same life of poverty, privation, and patient endurance as before, and their food and physical training are the same; while the Gauls, from the proximity of the provinces and familiarity with seaborne products, are abundantly supplied with luxuries and articles of daily consumption. Habituated, little by little, to defeat, and beaten in numerous combats, they do not even pretend themselves to be as brave as their neighbours.

Goths, Gauls and Franks

Goths

The Goths were one of the main groups that threatened Rome. Originally from Scandinavia, they were the first Teutonic people to be Christianized. They migrated from Sweden across the Baltic Sea, through what is now Russia and the Ukraine to the Black Sea. From there they migrated into the Balkans and divided into two groups the Ostrogoths (East Goths) and Visagoths (West Goths). Before their division the Goths were allowed by the Romans to settle within the borders of the Roman Empire. They rose against the Romans and killed the Roman emperor Valentinian in battle. His successor Theodosius sued for peace.

The Gauls were basically Celts that lived in Gaul (France) as well as in extreme northern Italy and areas in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Many centuries earlier they crossed the Alps from western Europe and pushed back the Etruscans and occupied the plains of the Po; hence this region received the name which it long held, Cisalpine Gaul. They held this territory against the Ligurians on the west and the Veneti on the east; and for a long time were the terror of the Italian people when Rome was a village in the 7th century B.C. [Source: “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901)]

The Franks, a federation Teutonic tribes, were another group that were around at the time Rome fell. They arrived from what is now Germany and settled as far as the Somme River around A.D. 250 during a westward drive by Germanic tribes. By the 5th century, the Merovingian Franks had thrown out the Romans, and swept over a large population of mostly Romanized Gauls, Burgundians and Gaohs. Childeric I became leader of the Merovingian Franks in A.D. 458. His son was Clovis, regarded by some as the foudner of France. Other Frank tribes spread as far as Greece.

An argument persists today on whether the French descended from the Germanic Franks from the north or the Romanticized Gauls from the south. The French right has traditionally linked themselves with the Franks while the left has traditionally claimed descent form the Gauls, who were regarded as libertarian and egalitarian without necessarily being Christian. The Franks are mostly closely linked with Christianity and Catholicism.

Caesar in Gaul

In 58 B.C., Julius Caesar became governor and military commander of the Roman province of Gaul, which included modern France, Belgium, and portions of Switzerland, Holland, and Germany west of the Rhine, as well as parts of northern Italy. During his eight years there he led military campaigns involving both the Roman legions and tribes in Gaul who were often competing among themselves. One of the best sources on the period is Caesar's account, “Commentaries on the Gallic Wars,” originally published in 50 B.C.

In 59 B.C., after serving a year as consul, Caesar had himself named the governor of Gaul, where he distinguished himself as a superb organizer and a motivator of soldiers with whom he worked with, fought with and suffered with. He inspired such respect and affection from the men who served under him it was said they would do anything for him. Caesar personally selected Gaul for his province to govern. At that time the most forbidding part of the Roman territory. It was the home of barbarians, with no wealth like that of Asia, and few relics of a former civilization like those of Spain and Africa.

Caesar meeting Ariovistus

Caesar governed Gaul from 58 to 49 B.C. David Silverman of Reed College wrote: Caesar “chose for his province Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, but the Senate added to this Transalpine Gaul, which as it turned out was where Caesar would spend most of his time, returning to the Italian side of the Alps periodically to meet with his people from the city and to keep his finger on what was happening on the domestic scene.” [Source: David Silverman, Reed College, Classics 373 ~ History 393 Class ^*^]

Suetonius wrote: “During the nine years of his command this is in substance what he did. All that part of Gallia which is bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Cévennes, and by the Rhine and Rhone rivers, a circuit of some 3,200 miles [Roman measure, about 3,106 English miles], with the exception of some allied states which had rendered him good service, he reduced to the form of a province; and imposed upon it a yearly tribute of 40,000,000 sesterces. He was the first Roman to build a bridge and attack the Germans beyond the Rhine; and he inflicted heavy losses upon them. He invaded the Britons too, a people unknown before, vanquished them, and exacted moneys and hostages. Amid all these successes he met with adverse fortune but three times in all: in Britannia, where his fleet narrowly escaped destruction in a violent storm; in Gallia, when one of his legions was routed at Gergovia; and on the borders of Germania, when his lieutenants Titurius and Aurunculeius were ambushed and slain. [Source: Suetonius (c.69-after 122 A.D.): “De Vita Caesarum, Divus Iulius” (“The Lives of the Caesars, The Deified Julius”), written A.D. c. 110, Suetonius, 2 vols., translated by J. C. Rolfe, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, and London: William Henemann, 1920), Vol. I, pp. 3-119]

Gaul at the Time Caesar Arrived

Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) wrote in “The Gallic Wars” (“De Bello Gallico” c. 51 B.C.): 1 Gaul is a whole divided into three parts, one of which is inhabited by the Belgae, another by the Aquitani, and a third by a people called in their own tongue Celtae, in the Latin Galli. All these are different one from another in language, institutions, and laws. The Galli (Gauls) are separated from the Aquitani by the river Garonne, from the Belgae by the Marne and the Seine. Of all these peoples the Belgae are the most courageous, because they are farthest removed from the culture and civilization of the Province,1 and least often visited by merchants introducing the commodities that make for effeminacy; and also because they are nearest to the Germans dwelling beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually at war. For this cause the Helvetii also excel the rest of the Gauls in valour, because they are struggling in almost daily fights with the Germans, either endeavouring to keep them out of Gallic territory or waging an aggressive warfare in German territory. The separate part of the country which, as has been said, is occupied by the Gauls, starts from the river Rhone, and is bounded by the river Garonne, the Ocean, and the territory of the Belgae; moreover, on the side of the Sequani and the Helvetii, it touches on the river Rhine; and its general trend is northward. The Belgae, beginning p5 from the edge of the Gallic territory, reach to the lower part of the river Rhine, bearing towards the north and east. Aquitania, starting from the Garonne, reaches to the Pyrenees and to that part of the Ocean which is by Spain: its bearing is between west and north. [Source: Gallic War by Julius Caesar, Book I, chapters 1, Loeb Classical Library, 1917, Bill Thayer, penelope.uchicago.edu]

pink area is area of Gaul conquered by Caesar as of 51 BC

“When Caesar arrived in Gaul the leaders of one party were the Aedui, of the other the Sequani. The latter, being by themselves inferior in strength — since the highest authority from ancient times rested with the Aedui, and their dependencies were extensive — had made Ariovistus and the Germans their friends, and with great sacrifices and promises had brought them to their side. Then, by several successful engagements and the slaughter of all the Aeduan nobility, they had so far established their predominance as to transfer a great part of the dependents from the Aedui to themselves, receiving from them as hostages the children of their chief men, compelling them as a state to swear that they would entertain no design against the Sequani, occupying a part of the neighbouring territory which they had seized by force, and securing the chieftaincy of all Gaul. This was the necessity which had compelled Diviciacus to set forth on a journey to the Senate at Rome for the purpose of seeking aid; but he had returned without achieving the object. [Source: Gallic War by Julius Caesar, Book VI (chapters 11 20). Loeb Classical Library, 1917, Bill Thayer, penelope.uchicago.edu]

“By the arrival of Caesar a change of affairs was brought about. Their hosts were restored to the Aedui, their old dependencies restored, and new ones secured through Caesar's efforts (as those who had joined in friendly relations with them found that they enjoyed a better condition and a fairer rule), and their influence and position were increased in all other respects: in result whereof the Sequani had lost the chieftaincy. To their place the Remi had succeeded; and as it was perceived that they had equal influence with Caesar, the tribes which, by reason of ancient animosities, could in no wise join the Aedui were delivering themselves as dependents to the Remi. These tribes the Remi carefully protected, and by this means they sought to maintain their new and suddenly acquired authority. The state of things then at the time in question was that the Aedui were regarded as by far the chief state, while the Remi held the second place in importance.

Caesar on the Gauls’ Customs and Religion

Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) wrote in “The Gallic Wars” (“De Bello Gallico” c. 51 B.C.): “The Gallic people, in general, are remarkably addicted to religious observances; and for this reason persons suffering from serious maladies c s. and those whose lives are passed in battle and danger offer or vow to offer human sacrifices, and employ Druids to perform the sacrificial rites; for they believe that unless for man's life the life of man be duly offered, the divine spirit cannot be propitiated. They also hold regular state sacrifices of the same kind. They have, besides, colossal images, the limbs of which, made of wicker work, they fill with living men and set on fire; and the victims perish, encompassed by the flames. [Source: “Gallic War” Book VI, chapters 11-20, by Julius Caesar. Loeb Classical Library, 1917]

“They regard it as more acceptable to the gods to punish those who are caught in the commission of theft, robbery, or any other crime; but, in default of criminals, they actually resort to the sacrifice of the innocent. The god whom they most reverence is Mercury, whose images abound. He is regarded as the inventor of all arts and the pioneer and guide of travellers; and he is believed to be all-powerful in promoting commerce and the acquisition of wealth. Next to him they reverence Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Their notions about these deities are much the same as those of other peoples: Apollo they regard as the dispeller of disease, Minerva as the originator of industries and handicrafts, Jupiter as the suzerain of the celestials, and Mars as the lord of war. To Mars, when they have resolved upon battle, they commonly dedicate the spoils: after victory they sacrifice the captured cattle, and collect the rest of the booty in one spot. In the territories of many tribes are to be seen heaps of such spoils reared on consecrated ground; and it has rarely happened that any one dared, despite religion, either to conceal what he had captured or to remove what had been consecrated. For such an offense the law prescribes the heaviest punishment with torture

Gaulic warrior

“The Gauls universally describe themselves as descendants of Dis Pater,2 affirming that this is the Druidical tradition. For this reason they measure all periods of time not by days but by nights, and reckon birthdays, the first of the month, and the first of the year on the principle that day comes after night. As regards the other customs of daily life, about the only point ispecul,ar in which they differ from the rest of mankind is this, they do not allow their children to come near them openly 1 until they are old enough for military service; and they regard it as unbecoming for a son, while he is still a boy, to appear in public where his father can see him.

“It is the custom for married men to take from their own property an amount equivalent, according to valuation, to the sum which they have received from their wives as dowry, and lump the two together. The whole property is jointly administered and the interest saved; and the joint shares of husband and wife, with the interest of past years, go to the survivor. Husbands have power of life and death over Status of their wives as well as their children: on the death of the head of a family of high birth, his relations assemble, and, if his death gives rise to suspicion, examine his wives under torture like slaves, and, if their guilt is proved, bum t em to death with all kinds of tortures I funerals, considering the Gallic standard of living are splendid and costly: everything, even including animals, which the departed are supposed to have cared for when they were alive, is consigned to the flames; and shortly before our time slaves and retainers who were known to have been beloved by their masters were burned along with them after the conclusion of the regular obsequies.

“The tribes which are regarded as comparatively well governed have a legal enactment to the effect that if any one hears any political rumour or intelligence from the neighbouring peoples, he is to inform the magistrate and not communicate it to any one else, as experience has proved that headstrong persons, who know nothing of affairs, are often alarmed by false reports and impelled to commit crimes and embark on momentous enterprises The magistrates suppress what appears to demand secrecy, and publish what they deem it expedient for the people to know. The discussion of politics, except in a formal assembly, is forbidden.”

Caesar on Druids and Knights in Gaul

Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) wrote in “The Gallic Wars” (“De Bello Gallico” c. 51 B.C.): “Throughout Gaul there are two classes of persons of definite account and dignity. As for the common folk, they are treated almost as slaves, venturing naught of themselves, never taken into counsel. The more part of them, oppressed as they are either by debt, or by the heavy weight of tribute, or by the wrongdoing of the more powerful men, commit themselves in slavery to the nobles, who have, in fact, the same rights over them as masters over slaves. Of the two classes above mentioned one consists of Druids, the other of knights. [Source: Gallic War by Julius Caesar, Book VI (chapters 11 20). Loeb Classical Library, 1917, Bill Thayer, penelope.uchicago.edu]

Romans murdering Druids and burning their groves

The former are concerned with divine worship, the due performance of sacrifices, public and private, and the interpretation of ritual questions: a great number of young men gather about them for the sake of instruction and hold them in great honour. In fact, it is they who decide in almost all disputes, public and private; and if any crime has been committed, or murder done, or there is any disposes about succession or boundaries, they also decide it, determining rewards and penalties: if any person or people does not abide by their decision, they ban such from sacrifice, which is their heaviest penalty. Those that are so banned are reckoned as impious and criminal; all men move out of their path and shun their approach and conversation, for fear they may get some harm from their contact, and no justice is done if they seek it, no distinction falls to their share. Of all these Druids one is chief, who has the highest authority among them. At his death, either any other that is preëminent in position succeeds, or, if there be several of equal standing, they strive for the primacy by the vote of the Druids, or sometimes even with armed force. These Druids, at a certain time of the year, meet within the borders of the Carnutes, whose territory is reckoned as the centre of all Gaul, and sit in conclave in a consecrated spot. Thither assemble from every side all that have disputes, and they obey the decisions and judgments of the Druids. It is believed that their rule of life was discovered in Britain and transferred thence to Gaul; and to day those who would study the subject more accurately journey, as a rule, to Britain to learn it.

“The Druids usually hold aloof from war, and do not pay war taxes with the rest; they are excused from military service and exempt from all liabilities. Tempted by these great rewards, many young men assemble of their own motion to receive their training; many are sent by parents and relatives. Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters. I believe that they have adopted the practice for two reasons — that they do not wish the rule to become common property, nor those who learn the rule to rely on writing and so neglect the cultivation of the memory; and, in fact, it does usually happen that the assistance of writing tends to relax the diligence of the student and the action of the memory. The cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but after death pass from one to another; and this belief, as the fear of death is thereby cast aside, they hold to be the greatest incentive to valour. Besides this, they have many discussions as touching the stars and their movement, the size of the universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men.

“The other class are the knights. These, when there is occasion, upon the incidence of a war — and before Caesar's coming this would happen well-nigh every year, in the sense that they would either be making wanton attacks themselves or repelling such — are all engaged therein; and according to the importance of each of them in birth and resources, so is the number of liegemen and dependents that he has about him. This is the one form of influence and power known to them.”

Country House Life in Gaul

(Caius) Sollius Apollinaris (Modestus)Sidonius, (A.D. c.431-c.489) was a Roman Aristocrat living in Gaul at the time of its transformation from a province of the Roman Empire to the property of Frankish Kings. His letters are among the prime documents of the period. The two letters here illustrate aspects of that experience. The first is an account of the possibility of an idyllic country life for the Gallo-Roman aristocracy of the fifth century: the Roman Empire ended, but not, immediately, the lifestyle. The second is a description of a Germanic King, in this case Theodoric II, King of the Visigoths 453-66 [note: not the same as the Ostrogothic Theodoric!]. We see here the ways in which the Gallo-Roman aristocracy began to accommodate itself to the new military powers.

Sidonius wrote in his friend Donidius (A.D. 461-7): “To your question why, having got as far as Nimes, I still leave your hospitality expectant, I reply by giving the reason for my delayed return. I will even dilate upon the causes of my dilatoriness, for I know that what I enjoy is your enjoyment too. The fact is, I have passed the most delightful time in the most beautiful country in the company of Tonantius Ferreolus and Apollinaris, the most charming hosts in the world. Their estates march together; their houses are not far apart; and the extent of intervening ground is just too far for a walk and just too short to make the ride worthwhile. The hills above the houses are under vines and olives; they might be Nysa and Aracynthus, famed in song. The view from one villa is over a wide flat country, that from the other over woodland; yet different though their situations are, the eye derives equal pleasure from both. But enough of sites ; I have now to unfold the order of my entertainment. [Source: Sidonius Apollinaris (c. A.D. 431-c.489), “The Letters of Sidonius,” Book II: Letter IX, translated by O.M. Dalton, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1915), two vols]

“Sharp scouts were posted to look out for our return ; and not only were the roads patrolled by men from each estate, but even winding short-cuts and sheep-tracks were under observation, to make it quite impossible for us to elude the friendly ambush. Into this of course we fell, no unwilling prisoners; and our captors instantly made us swear to dismiss every idea of continuing our journey until a whole week had elapsed. And so every morning began with a flattering rivalry between the two hosts, as to which of their kitchens should first smoke for the refreshment of their guest ; nor, though I am personally related to one, and connected through my relatives with the other, could I manage by alternation to give them quite equal measure since age and the dignity of prefectorian rank gave Ferreolus a prior right of invitation over and above his other claims. From the first moment we were hurried from one pleasure to another. Hardly had we entered the vestibule of either house when we saw two opposed pairs of partners in the ball-game repeating each other's movements as they turned in wheeling circles ; in another place one heard the rattle of dice boxes and the shouts of the contending players in yet another, were books in abundance ready to your hand; you might have imagined yourself among the shelves of some grammarian, or the tiers of the Athenaeum, or a bookseller's towering cases. They were so arranged that the devotional works were near the ladies' seats where the master sat were those ennobled by the great style of Roman eloquence. The arrangement had this defect, that it separated certain books by certain authors in manner as near to each other as in matter they are far apart. Thus Augustine writes like Varro, and Horace like Prudentius; but you had to consult them on different sides of the room. Turranius Rufinus' interpretation of Adamantius Origenl was eagerly examined by the readers of theology among us; according to our several points of view, we had different reasons to give for the censure of this Father by certain of the clergy as too trenchant a controversialist and best avoided by the prudent; but the translation is so literal and yet renders the spirit of the work so well, that neither Apuleius' version of Plato's Phaedo, nor Cicero's of the Ctesiphon of Demosthenes is more admirably adapted to the use and rule of our Latin tongue.

Roman Empire in the East in 39 BC

While we were engaged in these discussions as fancy prompted each, appears an envoy from the cook to warn us that the moment of bodily refreshment is at hand. And in fact the fifth hour had just elapsed, proving that the man was punctual, had properly marked the advance of the hours upon the water-clock . The dinner was short, but abundant, served in the fashion affected in senatorial houses where inveterate usage prescribes numerous courses on very few dishes, though to afford variety, roast alternated with stew. Amusing and instructive anecdotes accompanied our potations; wit went with the one sort, and learning with the other. To be brief, we were entertained with decorum, refinement, and good cheer. After dinner, if we were at Vorocingus (the name of one estate) we walked over to our quarters and our own belongings. If at Prusianum, as the other is called, [the young] Tonantius and his brothers turned out of their beds for us because we could not be always dragging our gear about: I they are surely the elect among the nobles of our own age. The siesta over, we took a short ride to sharpen our jaded appetites for supper. Both of our hosts had baths in their houses, but in neither did they happen to be available; so I set my own servants to work in the rare sober interludes which the convivial bowl, too often filled, allowed their sodden brains. I made them dig a pit at their best speed either near a spring or by the river; into this a heap of red-hot stones was thrown, and the glowing cavity then covered over with an arched roof of wattled hazel. This still left interstices, and to exclude the light and keep in the steam given off when water was thrown on the hot stones, we laid coverings of Cilician goats' hair over all. In these vapour-baths we passed whole hours with lively talk and repartee; all the time the cloud of hissing steam enveloping us induced the healthiest perspiration.

“When we bad perspired enough, we were bathed in hot water; the treatment removed the feeling of repletion, but left us languid ; we therefore finished off with a bracing douche from fountain, well or river. For the river Gardon runs between the two properties except in time of flood, when the stream is swollen and clouded with melted snow, it looks red through its tawny gravels, and flows still and pellucid over its pebbly bed, io teeming none the less with the most delicate fish. I could tell you of suppers fit for a king ; it is not my sense of shame, but simply want of space which sets a limit to my revelations. You would have a great story if I turned the page and continued on the other side; but I am always ashamed to disfigure the back of a letter with an inky pen. Besides, I am on the point of leaving here, and hope, by Christ's grace, that we shall meet very shortly ; the story of our friends' banquets will be better told at my own table or yours-provided only that a good week's interval first elapses to restore me the healthy appetite I long for. There is nothing like thin living to give tone to a system disordered by excess. Farewell.

Roman Sites in France

Glanum (near St. Rémy-de-Provence about 20 kilometers from Arles) is regarded as the most important Roman archeological site in France. Situated in a steep-sided valley along the ancient Via Aurelia at the foot of the fantastically-shaped limestone Apilles mountains, the ruins of the this Greco-Roman city include temples, baths, a forum, and a basilica. Covered by centuries of silt washed down by rains, the city wasn't discovered until 1929. The remarkable thing about Glanum is that it was a large city on a major commercial route but there is no mention of it in the historical record. Part of a farm has been reconstructed using Roman stone masonry methods. The mausoleum and the commemorative arch are considered the best-preserved Roman monuments in France. The base of the mausoleum features a bas-relief with images of Roam soldiers defeating Gallic warriors.

Pont du Gard aqueduct

Pont du Gard (40 kilometers northwest of Arles) is a 160 foot-high, double tired Roman aqueduct that towers over the Gard river. According to UNESCO: “The Pont du Gard was built shortly before the Christian era to allow the aqueduct of Nîmes (which is almost 50 kilometers long) to cross the Gard river. The Roman architects and hydraulic engineers who designed this bridge, which stands almost 50 meters high and is on three levels – the longest measuring 275 meters – created a technical as well as an artistic masterpiece.” Henry James wrote: "You are very near it before you see it: the ravine it spans suddenly opens and exhibits the picture.” The three tiers of the monumental bridge he said were "unspeakably imposing."

Orange is the home of a Roman theater and a "Triumphal Arch". According to UNESCO: “Situated in the Rhone valley, the ancient theatre of Orange, with its 103-m-long facade, is one of the best preserved of all the great Roman theatres. Built between A.D. 10 and 25, the Roman arch is one of the most beautiful and interesting surviving examples of a provincial triumphal arch from the reign of Augustus. It is decorated with low reliefs commemorating the establishment of the Pax Romana.” =

Nimes

Dubbed the most Roman city outside Italy and often referred to as the "French Rome", Nîmes had a population of 50,000–60,000 during the Roman Empire and was the regional capital. Famous monuments in Nîmes include the Arena of Nîmes and the Maison Carrée (which translates as "square house"). The latter was built under Roman Emperor Augustus (ruled 27 B.C. to A.D. 14) and dedicated to his grandsons, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, who had both died in young adulthood. Constructed with Corinthian-style columns, the temple is about 17 meters (56 feet) tall. The 20,000-seat, Roman-era Arènes de Nîmes, is still used for bullfights and concerts and attracts about 350,000 visitors every year. [Source Owen Jarus, Live Science April 11, 2023]

A new museum opened in Nimes in the mid 2010s. Joshua Levine wrote in Smithsonian magazine: The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of tomb inscriptions, many with enough detail to serve as mini-biographies of Nîmes’ original Roman citizens. Then there’s the huge assortment of glassware, which functions as a lexicon of Roman design. [Source:Joshua Levine, Smithsonian magazine, June 2018]

“The museum was literally built around a restored portion of the massive pediment that once marked the entrance to the city’s sacred spring, but pride of place goes to an exquisite mosaic masterpiece found on the floor of the rediscovered villa. All across its 375 square feet swarm birds, masks and maenads — the besotted followers of the god Dionysus. In the center, the Theban king Pentheus gets the coup de grâce for snubbing the wine-god’s cult. The museum’s architect, Elizabeth de Portzamparc, conceived the building as a stylistic give-and-take across the centuries with its next-door neighbor, the “On the one hand, you have a round space surrounded by vertical Roman arches in stone and anchored to the ground, and on the other, a big square space, floating and draped in a toga of folded glass,” says de Portzamparc.

Arles

Sometimes referred to as Little Rome on the Rhône Arles was a major city during the Roman occupation of Gaul. Remnants of this era include the Baths of Constantine, the Circus amphitheater and the Arles Arena which was used for gladiator contest during Roman times and today is used for bullfights. Among the interesting museums in Arles are the Museum of Christian Art and the Museum of Pagan art, both which contain lovely mosaics beautiful decorated stone sarcophagi from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries. Underneath the museum are the eery Cryptoportiques, subterranean galleries that were used for storing grain.

In Roman times Arles was known as Arelate. It was one of the most important ports of the later Roman Empire. After siding with Julius Caesar during his civil war against Pompey, the town was formally established as a Roman colony for Caesar’s veterans in 46 or 45 B.C. Strategically located along the Rhône River in southern Gaul, Arelate developed into such a major economic, political, and cultural center that it was referred to as the “little Rome of the Gauls” by the fourth-century poet Ausonius. [Source: Jason Urbanus, Archaeology magazine, March-April 2016]

“Today, the city’s left bank, which served as the Roman settlement’s civic and administrative heart, is strewn with the remnants of ancient monuments: a theater, an amphitheater, baths, and a circus. It has long been thought that the city’s right bank was far less developed in the early Roman period, only witnessing significant growth decades or centuries later. However, this perception of ancient Arles is beginning to change as an ongoing investigation uncovers parts of a wealthy Roman residential area, providing new evidence of the early development of Arles’ periphery and also revealing some of the finest Roman wall paintings found anywhere in France.

Robert Kunzig wrote in National Geographic: “Arles in the first century was the thriving gateway to Roman Gaul. Freight from all over the Mediterranean was transferred there to riverboats, then hauled up the Rhône by teams of men to supply the northern reaches of the empire, including the legions manning the German frontier. “It was a city at the intersection of all roads, which received products from everywhere,” says David Djaoui, an archaeologist at the local antiquities museum. Julius Caesar himself had conferred Roman citizenship on the people of Arles as a reward for their military support. In the city center today, on the left bank of the Rhône, you can still see the amphitheater that seated 20,000 spectators for gladiator fights. But of the port that financed all this, and that stretched half a mile or more along the right bank, not much remains—only a shadow in the riverbed, in the form of a thick stripe of Roman trash. [Source: Robert Kunzig, National Geographic, April 2014]

According to UNESCO: “Arles is a good example of the adaptation of an ancient city to medieval European civilization. It has some impressive Roman monuments, of which the earliest – the arena, the Roman theatre and the cryptoporticus (subterranean galleries) – date back to the 1st century B.C. During the 4th century Arles experienced a second golden age, as attested by the baths of Constantine and the necropolis of Alyscamps. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Arles once again became one of the most attractive cities in the Mediterranean. Within the city walls, Saint-Trophime, with its cloister, is one of Provence's major Romanesque monuments.” [Source: UNESCO World Heritage sites website =]

Roman-Era Home with Beautiful Wall Frescoes Found in Arles

A project led by the Museum of Ancient Arles archaeologist Marie-Pierre Rothé discovered a first-century B.C. domus in the Trinquetaille area of Arles with high quality wall paintings. Jason Urbanus wrote in Archaeology magazine: Its frescoes were designed in the Second Pompeian Style, according to August Mau’s nineteenth-century classification of the four major styles of Roman painting. The Second Style, which dates to between 70 and 20 B.C. in Roman Gaul, frequently used trompe l’oeil composition and painted architectural elements such as columns, windows, and marble panels to create the illusion of three-dimensional masonry. Although paintings such as these are common in Italy, especially Pompeii, they are rare in France, where only around 20 known examples exist. The excavations in Trinquetaille have uncovered the best in situ Second Style paintings in France, thanks to the preservation of a nearly five-foot-tall Roman wall to which the frescoes are still attached. [Source:Jason Urbanus, Archaeology magazine, March-April 2016]

“While some sections of the frescoes still remain in situ, most of the painted plaster must be retrieved from the debris and fill layers. Archaeologists now have hundreds of boxes containing thousands of fragments that need to be pieced back together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Although this process will take years to complete, large portions of the painted ceilings and walls are already being reconstructed. Thus far, two rooms of the first-century B.C. domus have been excavated. One is most commonly identified as a cubiculum, or bedroom. Its frescoes imitate architectural elements, such as marble paneling, Corinthian columns, podiums, and orthostats, all rendered in colors that are still vibrant. One half of the room, where the bed was likely located, shows a more luxurious design of multicolored stripes and burgundy rosettes.

“The adjacent room, which served as a reception area for important guests, is decorated with large-scale figures in the Second Style. According to French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research art historian Julien Boislève, this combination is previously unknown in Gaul. One-half to three-quarter life-size figures are painted upon a bright red background, a color that was particularly expensive. “These decorations with large-scale figures are extremely rare, even in Italy, with only a half-dozen examples known,” says Boislève. “In houses like the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii or in the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale, they mark a high level of luxury.”

“Although at this stage it is not possible to identify all the painted characters, at least one female figure appears to be playing a harp-like stringed instrument. Other clues imply the presence of the god Pan, suggesting a Bacchic theme common to many Roman wall paintings. Only the most prominent families of the ancient city could have afforded a house displaying artwork of this high quality, likely created by artists brought from Italy. The house may have belonged to a wealthy Roman official who moved to Arelate in the years following its colonial founding, or perhaps it was owned by a local Arlesian aristocrat assimilating Roman culture by imitating the behavior of affluent Romans in Italy, who frequently outfitted their homes in this manner. “These paintings shed new light on the spread of Roman decorative styles after the conquest,” says Boislève. “They are unique in Gaul.”

Augustodunum — a Roman-Era University Town?

Augustodunum (modern Autun in present-day central France) was the home of the Maeniana, a famous school of rhetoric. Jarrett A. Lobell wrote in Archaeology Magazine: Augustodunum had been founded around 13 B.C. by the emperor Augustus (r. 27 B.C.– A.D. 14) as a new capital for the Aedui, a Celtic tribe that was — mostly — allied with the Romans. By 121 B.C., the tribe had been awarded the title of “brothers and kinsmen of Rome.” The Aedui largely supported Julius Caesar in his campaigns in Gaul, with the exception of a brief defection in 52 B.C. when they joined an unsuccessful rebellion led by Vercingetorix, the doomed chief of the Arverni tribe. The capital of the Aedui had been located at the settlement of Bibracte, but when the tribe became a civitas foederata, or allied community, of Rome, it was moved 15 miles east to its new location. It was given a name that combined its Roman and Gallic identities: Augustofor Augustus, and -dunum, the Celtic word for “hill,” “fort,” or “walled town.” [Source: Jarrett A. Lobell, Archaeology Magazine, November/December 2021]

From the start, Augustodunum was a city with a status and appearance befitting the prestige of the Aedui and their Roman governors. The provincial capital city of Lugdunum (modern Lyon), a little over 100 miles south, was its only superior in architectural splendor, economic prominence, and population in the region. “Augustodunum was one of the most important cities in Gaul,” says archaeologist Carole Fossurier of France’s National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). For most of the nearly three centuries preceding Eumenius’ oration, it was a thriving university town and one of the most Romanized in Gaul. It was encircled by a stout 4.5-mile city wall that enclosed an area of about 500 acres, with straight Roman streets laid out on a grid plan. It was also home to Gaul’s largest theater, an amphitheater, shops, manufacturing quarters, public baths, luxuriously decorated residences, a forum, numerous temples, and, eventually, places for Christian worship. The city was traversed by a major Roman road built by Augustus’ son-in-law Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa for military use and to encourage trade by connecting the province to the English Channel. Under the emperor Claudius (r. A.D. 41–54), who was born in Lugdunum, the Aedui became the first Gallic tribe whose members were allowed to serve as senators in Rome. In Augustodunum, writes the firstand second-century A.D. Roman historian Tacitus, “the noblest youth of Gaul devoted themselves to a liberal education.”

After the siege by Victorinus that damaged the city, the emperor Constantius I (r. A.D. 293–306) became Augustodunum’s benefactor. He promised to restore the city to its former status and appearance, an effort that was continued by his son, the emperor Constantine I (r. A.D. 306–337). “Augustodunum wanted to be a provincial capital,” says University of Kent archaeologist Luke Lavan, “and to become one, it competed with other provincial centers in Gaul for the emperor’s patronage.”

Christianity was well established in Augustodunum by the early fourth century A.D. In A.D. 313, its first recorded bishop, Reticius, was honored with an invitation to Rome to help resolve the schism in the church caused by the Donatists, a North African sect of Christians. One of Gaul’s oldest Christian inscriptions was found in a city cemetery in 1839. According to INRAP archaeologist Michel Kasprzyk, it dates to the late third or early fourth century A.D. The document’s Greek text, he explains, includes the name of a Christian man, Pektorios, and an acrostic of the Greek word ichthys, or fish, an early Christian symbol of Christ.

Another rare text included in a set of panegyrics called the Laudes Domini dates from A.D. 290 to the 310s and describes the city’s appearance in antiquity. This collection of speeches was made by delegates from Augustodunum to the imperial court at Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier). From about A.D. 250 to the middle of the next century, Trier was one of the largest cities in the empire and served as a residence for the Roman emperor. The texts mention many monuments in Augustodunum, some rebuilt after the crisis of the late third century A.D., including baths, aqueducts, houses, and the schools of the Maeniana. One describes a visit to Augustodunum by Constantine at the end of A.D. 310 during which he was shown “all the statues of their gods,” a clear indication, says Kasprzyk, that the city was both pagan and Christian at the time.

Archaeology at Augustodunum

Jarrett A. Lobell wrote in Archaeology Magazine: Archaeologists have explored Autun periodically for decades. Still, very little of Augustodunum — perhaps only 3 to 4 percent — has been investigated, and only through small surveys, limited excavations, and sometimes accidental discoveries. Researchers have unearthed the remnants of ancient structures, including possibly the Maeniana, as well as aqueducts, marble sculptures, and finely crafted mosaics that once covered the floors of the city’s wealthiest residents’ homes. Some of these mosaics depict scenes from Greek mythology, such as the story of the hero Bellerophon, who killed the mythical beast the Chimera. Others include portraits and sayings of Greek philosophers. These are testaments to the influence of Greco-Roman high culture in Augustodunum and to its well-educated citizenry. Part of Augustodunum’s fourth-century A.D. church was excavated in the 1970s, and several acres of one its largest ancient cemeteries were dug in 2004. [Source: Jarrett A. Lobell, Archaeology Magazine, November/December 2021]

Also found in the cemetery were a long-necked glass bottle, an olive-shaped blue glass bead, and a dyed textile fragment with gold threads.In 2020, INRAP archaeologists Fossurier and Nicolas Tisserand led an excavation, which they have since completed, in an area of Autun known as Saint-Pierre-l’Estrier. There they uncovered new evidence of the lives and deaths of Augustodunum’s residents. On the site where a house was being built, they made a spectacular discovery — a necropolis containing more than 250 burials dating to the third through fifth centuries A.D. The graves represent a variety of religions and economic statuses and contain some of the most valuable artifacts from the Roman world.

Among the types of burial the team discovered were several mausoleums, a tiled tomb, a wooden building, six sandstone sarcophaguses, and at least 15 lead coffins. Some of the dead were interred with extremely high-quality objects, among them some of the rarest to be found in Roman Gaul. Although some graves almost certainly belonged to members of Augustodunum’s early Christian community, researchers have not been able to definitively establish the religious affiliations, or even the names, of any of the deceased — very few of the funerary containers are inscribed. Some are marked with “X”s, which Tisserand explains were used to indicate the position of the body inside — a single mark for the head and two for the feet — so that once the coffins were closed, the heads could be oriented to the west, as was customary. “This is simply a question of practical and not religious marks,” says Tisserand.

The necropolis’ earliest burials seem to date to between A.D. 200 and 250, and it was fully in use by the 270s. It eventually became the city’s main cemetery. “For the earliest graves there are no clear signs of Christianity, as the grave goods, mainly ceramics, also occur in ‘pagan’ graves,” says Kasprzyk. “The main question regarding these early graves is are they already Christian, since we know that Saint-Pierre is Augustodunum’s main Christian cemetery from the fourth to sixth centuries, or is this cemetery a ‘pagan’ cemetery in the third century and later ‘Christianized’?” Both Kasprzyk and Lavan raise the question of whether grave goods are reliable indicators of religious affiliation. “People at this time don’t show their identity through their jewelry or clothing,” Lavan says, “but there was a secular value system and a strong civic and secular culture of wearing social displays of rank.”

Nevertheless, the necropolis provides scholars with a wide-ranging opportunity to learn about the burial practices used in Augustodunum at the time. “The diversity of burial methods probably illustrates the diversity of the society in this period,” says Fossurier. “People whose status seems to have differed were interred side by side in the necropolis, and the variety of funerary containers and accompanying goods indicates that the cemetery was used for common people as well as the high-status rich or the very rich. We also know that men, women, and children were buried there.”

In the largest sarcophagus, which was deeply buried and sealed with iron spikes, the team found a gold hair ornament, a gold ring with a garnet, and a collection of pins made of amber. These pins, says Tisserand, are similar to examples made from other materials, but are the only known pins of this style carved from amber in the Roman world. Other burials contained pins and bracelets made of jet, a blue glass bead, coins, several glass and ceramic vessels, a child’s pair of gold earrings, and a copper-alloy belt buckle shaped like an amphora. The archaeologists also discovered dyed textile fragments, some of which were woven with gold threads. The pigment, characteristic of very wealthy burials of the period in the region, was extracted from the glands of murex snails from the Mediterranean.

A tremendous surprise awaited the team in a sarcophagus belonging to one of Augustodunum’s richest citizens. In it they discovered an example of one of the most luxurious artifacts from the Roman world — a type of late Roman glass vessel known as a cage cup, of which very few examples survive. These cups have intricate three-dimensional openwork designs in deep relief, usually geometric and much less frequently figural. “Cage cups are incredibly rare,” says ancient glass expert Carolyn Needell of the Chrysler Museum. “You almost never see them, and never in the ground.” In fact, the vessel found at Augustodunum is among the 10 best-preserved examples of Roman cage glass and the first complete vessel found in Gaul.

The cage cup from Augustodunum represents the pinnacle of Roman glassmaking. “What makes this cup extraordinary is the manufacturing technique,” says Tisserand. “It was probably carved from a single block of blown glass using techniques similar to those used by goldsmiths.” In fact, says Needell, cage cups are so difficult to make that scholars still debate how Roman glassmakers accomplished it. The Augustodunum cup must have been extraordinarily valuable. By way of comparison, says Tisserand, one of the last cage cups discovered was unearthed at the city of Taranes in what is now the Republic of North Macedonia in the 1970s. That cup was found along with a gold fibula, or clasp, inscribed with the name of the emperor Maximian (r. A.D. 286–305), an indication of its tremendous value. The inscription on the Augustodunum cage cup reads vivas feliciter, or “live happily.” The vessel is currently being restored at the Romano-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz, Germany.

Ancient Roman Resort, with Waterfall-Fed Swimming Pool

Yenne, Savoie (500, kilometers, 325 miles southeast of Paris) is a once-elaborate complex that sits along a river in southern France. Aspen Pflughoeft wrote in the Miami Herald: The ancient Roman resort was situated along the bank of the Rhône river near a waterfall that was used to supply the bath complex. Mineral remnants from the waterfall matched remnants found in the pipes of the resort. [Source: Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, March 13, 2023]

The bathing complex was built in the second century and abandoned at the end of the fourth century, archaeologists said. This period overlaps with Roman rule of Savoie, or Savoy, which began in 121 B.C. and lasted until the Frankish Kingdom took control of the area in the fifth century A.D..

The 1,800-year-old resort ruins included a section with three rooms and fragments of a heating system. These rooms were likely used as a warm room, moderate room and cold room. Another section of the 1,800-year-old complex had a large basin once used as a swimming pool. The ruins also had an open section that likely housed a garden. Decorated wall fragments of two more rooms were uncovered. One decoration shows gray-green lines arranged in a bush-like shape on a deep red background. The second design had red, white, and black vertical stripes. On the black stripe is an ambiguous orange shape. Faded green vines creep across the stripes. Archaeologists aren’t certain what use these decorated rooms had. The rooms could have served as a cloakroom, library, shop or other reserve space.

Roman-Era Tavern Found in France

In 2016, a Roman-ere tavern, still littered with animal bones and the bowls used by patrons, was discovered in Lattara, an important historical site in France,. The tavern was most likely used during 175–75 B.C., around the time the Roman army conquered the area. The tavern served drinks as well as flatbreads, fish, and choice cuts of meat from sheep and cows. In the kitchen, there were three large ovens on one end and millstones for making flour on the other. In the serving area was a large fireplace and reclining seats.

Laura Geggel wrote in LiveScience: “An excavation uncovered dozens of other artifacts, including plates and bowls, three ovens, and the base of a millstone that was likely used for grinding flour, the researchers said. The finding is a valuable one, said study co-researcher Benjamin Luley, a visiting assistant professor of anthropology and classics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Before the Romans invaded the south of France, in 125 B.C., a culture speaking the Celtic language lived there and practiced its own customs. The new findings suggest that some people under the Romans stopped preparing their own meals and began eating at communal places, such as taverns. “Rome had a big impact on southern France,” Luley told Live Science. “We don’t see taverns before the Romans arrive.”[Source: Laura Geggel, LiveScience, March 10, 2016]

“The excavated area includes a courtyard and two large rooms; one was dedicated to cooking and making flour, and the other was likely reserved for serving patrons, the researchers said. There are three large bread ovens on one end of the kitchen, which indicates that “this isn’t just for one family,” but likely an establishment for serving many people, Luley said. On the other side of the kitchen, the researchers found a row of three stone piles, likely bases for a millstone that helped people grind flour, Luley said. “One side, they’re making flour. On the other side, they’re making flatbread,” Luley said. “And they’re also probably using the ovens for other things as well.” For example, the archaeologists found lots of fish bones and scales that someone had cut off during food preparation, Luley added.

“The other room was likely a dining room, the researchers said. The archaeologists uncovered a large fireplace and a bench along three of the walls that would have accommodated Romans, who reclined when they ate, Luley said. Moreover, the researchers found different kinds of animal bones, such as wishbones and fish vertebra, which people simply threw on the floor. (At that time, people didn’t have the same level of cleanliness as some do now, Luley noted.)

“The dining room also had “an overrepresentation of drinking bowls,” used for serving wine — more than would typically be seen in a regular house, he said. Next to the two rooms was a courtyard filled with more animal bones and an offering: a buried stone millstone, a drinking bowl and a plate that likely held cuts of meat. “Based upon the evidence presented here, it appears that the courtyard complex … functioned as a space for feeding large numbers of people, well beyond the needs of a single domestic unit or nuclear family,” the researchers wrote in the study. “This is unusual, as large, ‘public’ communal spaces for preparing large amounts of food and eating together are essentially nonexistent in Iron Age Mediterranean France.” Perhaps some of the people of Lattara needed places like the tavern to provide meals for them after the Romans arrived, Luley said. “If they might be, say, working in the fields, they might not be growing their own food themselves,” he said. And though the researchers haven’t found any coins at the tavern yet, “We think that this is a beginning of the monetary economy” at Lattera, Luley said. “The study was published in the journal Antiquity.

Prefect of Gaul

Pretorian Prefect of the Gauls
Under the control of the illustrious pretorian prefect of the Gauls are the dioceses mentioned below: The Spains; the Seven Provinces; the Britains.
Provinces: of the Spains seven: Baetica; Lusitania;, Callaecia; Tarraconensis; Carthaginensis; Tingitania; the Balearic Isles.
of the Seven Provinces seventeen: Viennensis; Lugdumensis prima; Germania prima, Germania secunda; Belgica prima; Belgica secunda; the Maritime Alps; the Pennine and Graian Alps; Maxima Sequanorum; Aquitania prima; Aquitania secunda; Novempopuli; Narbonensis prima; Narbonensis secunda; Lugdunensis Secunda; Lugdugnensis tertia; Lugduneusis Senonia.
( for the anomaly of seventeen provinces ranged under the title. The Seven Provinces. Subdivision and addition had caused what was originally the diocese of The Five Provinces to include the seventeen here named. of the Britains five: Maxima Caesariensis; Valentia; Britannia prima; Britannia secunda; Flauia Caesariensis. [Source: Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), William Fairley, in Translations and Reprints from Original Sources of European History, Vol. VI:4 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 1899].

The staff of the illustrious pretorian prefect of the Gauls:
A chief of staff,
A chief deputy,
A chief assistant,
A custodian,
A keeper of the records, Receivers of taxes,
Assistants,
A curator of correspondence,
A registrar,
Secretaries,
Aids,
Notaries.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901) ; “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932); BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history/ ; Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Live Science, Discover magazine, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, The New Yorker, Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com and various other books, websites and publications.

Last updated October 2024