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Definition: Gaul from Philip's Encyclopedia

Ancient Roman name for the land N of the Pyrenees, S and W of the Rhine and W of the Alps. In 900 bc tribes of Celts began to migrate across the Rhine and spread S. In 222 bc the Romans conquered the region S of the Alps, calling it Cisalpine Gaul. By 121 bc Rome captured the area N of the Alps, known as Transalpine Gaul. In the Gallic Wars (58-51 BC), Caesar completed the conquest of Gaul.

Gaul

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
gôl, Lat. Gallia , ancient designation for the land S and W of the Rhine, W of the Alps, and N of the Pyrenees. The name was extended by the Romans to include Italy from Lucca and Rimini northwards, excluding Liguria. This extension of the name is derived from its settlers of the 4th and 3d cent. B.C. —invading Celts, who were called Gauls by the Romans. Their cousins in Gaul proper (modern France) probably had been there since 600 B.C. , for the Greeks of Massilia (Marseilles) knew them. The Gaul in Italy was called Cisalpine Gaul [Cisalpine, from Lat.,=on this side the Alps], as opposed to Transalpine Gaul; Cisalpine Gaul was divided into Cispadane Gaul [on this side the Po] and Transpadane Gaul. By 121 B.C. , Rome had acquired S Transalpine Gaul, and by the time of Julius Caesar it had been pacified. It was usually called the Province ( Provincia , hence modern Provence), and it included a strip 100 mi (160 km) wide along the sea from the E Pyrenees northeastward and up the Rhone…
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Also known as: Gallia In Roman times the term Gaul was used to describe two places: Cisalpine Gaul, which was the northern part of Italy occupied by Celtic tribes, and Transalpine Gaul, the area covering modern-day France and some surrounding areas, also inhabited by Celts. Although the Celtic…
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Full text Article Gaul

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
gôl, Lat. Gallia , ancient designation for the land S and W of the Rhine, W of the Alps, and N of the Pyrenees. The name was extended by the Romans to include Italy from Lucca and Rimini northwards, excluding Liguria. This extension of the name is derived from its settlers of the 4th and 3d cent. …
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Full text Article GAULS

From Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures Full text Article Europe
Gauls
One of the major groups of ancient CELTS . The Gauls inhabited most of modern France and parts of Switzerland, southern Germany and northern Italy in the second half of the 1st millennium BC . They were progressively conquered by the ROMANS between 295 and 51 BC . The Gauls subsequently became…
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Full text Article Gaul

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Ancient country, Europe, located generally south and west of the Rhine , west of the Alps , and north of the Pyrenees . The Gauls north of the Po River harried Rome from c. 400 bce ; by 181 bce Rome had subjugated and colonized that area of northern Italy they called Cisalpine Gaul. Rome conquered…
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Full text Article Gaul

From Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
Ancient country of Europe, commonly the part S and W of the Rhine, W of Alps, and N of Pyrenees, inhabited from ab. 600 b.c. by Celtic tribes (Lat. Galli ); in earliest times also N Italy. Cis•al•pine Gaul \sis-ˈal-ˌpīn;\ Lat. Gallia Cis•al•pi•na \ˌsis-ˌal-ˈpī-nə\ also Gallia Ci•te•ri•or…
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Full text Article GAUL

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity
The first testimony of the * evangelization of Gaul , a “letter of the servants of Christ in pilgrimage at * Vienne and at * Lyons ” destined for their brethren of * Asia and of * Phrygia (Eus., HE 5, 1-4), illustrates the difficulties of a small Christian minority, describing the pogrom that…
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Full text Article Gaul (Transalpine)

From The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
Gaul (Transalpine) Drawing of the burial chamber...
(see Map 5 ) comprised the area from the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean coast of modern France to the English Channel, and the Atlantic to the Rhine and the western Alps. As a geopolitical entity, it emerged in the 1st cent. bc and lasted into the 5th cent. ad . Augustus divided Gaul into four…
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Full text Article Alemannic invasion of Gaul

From Reference Guide to the Major Wars and Conflicts in History: Wars in the Ancient World (Prehistory to 600 CE)
298 PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Roman Gaul vs. the Alemannic tribes PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Gaul (modern-day France) DECLARATION: None MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: The Alemanni sought plunder and hegemony over Gaul; the Romans fought to defend Gaul and expel the Alemanni beyond its frontier OUTCOME: The…
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Full text Article Gaul (Cisalpine)

From The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
(See Map 5, Cc ) The prosperous northern region of modern Italy, comprising the Po (Padus) plain and its mountain fringes from the Apennines to the Alps, was known to the Romans as Cisalpine Gaul. In the middle republic it was not even considered part of Italy, which extended only to the foothills…
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In Roman times, Gaul made up the area now encompassed by France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany west of the Rhine River. It was divided into four general areas: Provincia, Aquitania, Celtica, and Belgica. The first to come under Roman domination was Provincia, whose capital, Massalia (or…
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