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Celtic Organization
The various Celtic tribes lacked a well-defined central government.  They were primarily bound together by common speech, customs, and religion.  The social levels of the tribe were threefold:  The highest was the king; the second, the druids, consisted of the warrior aristocracy; and the third class, the egues, was made up of the freemen farmers.  The druids, who were occupied with magico-religious duties, were the priests.  They were recruited from families of the warrior class but ranked higher.  The family was patriarchal.  

The Celts were Iron Age People
By 700 BC, archeological evidence indicates that the Celts were an Iron Age people.  Their use of iron, together with their fierceness as warriors, gave them dominance over the region.  It appears that many Celts became wealthy from controlling trade routes along rivers such as the Danube, Rhine, Rhône and Seine.  By the 5th century BC the Celts had migrated into Eastern Europe. During the 4th century BC, they overran northern Italy, Macedonia, and Thessaly (Thessalia).  In 390, they sacked Rome.  In 279, they attacked Delphi, in Greece, and went as far as Asia Minor, where they were known as Galatians.  

The Romans Knew Two Gauls

• Cisalpine Gaul
  South of the Alpes, the Romans knew the Celtic territory as Cisalpine Gaul [Gaul this side of the Alpes].  These Cisalpine Celts remained a menace to Rome until they were defeated, at Telamon, in 225. 

• Transalpine Gaul
  The Celtic land, to the north and to the west of the Alpes, was known as Transalpine Gaul [Gaul across the Alpes].  Transalpine Gaul included the lands from the Channel southeast to the Western Alpes, south to the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees and east from the Atlantic to the Rhine River.  What the Romans called Transalpine Gaul is now France and Belgium, along with parts of Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland.  In the middle of the 1st century, Transalpine Gaul became a distinct Roman territory as a result of the campaigns of Julius Caesar.  It disappeared late in the 5th century AD.  The remnants of Celtic languages, and tradition, are still found in Brittany, Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and Ireland.

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  • History of the Merovingiens [481-751]

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The Four Celtic Tribes of Transalpine Gaul
The main Celtic tribes of Transalpine Gaul, were known as the Aedui, the Allobroges, Senones and the Sequani: 

• The Aedui
  The Aedui was a tribe from central Gaul, the area now known as Burgundy.  Since 121 BC, the Aedui had been under the protection of Rome.  In about 61 BC the Aedui were defeated by the Sequani who appropriated their revenues from the Saone River.  Caesar latter rescued them and made them his allies.  They were subsequently elevated to the status of an allied state [civitas foederata] under Augustus.  In 48 AD, the Aedui became the first tribe of Gaul Transalpine to send senators to Rome.  

• The Allobroges
  The Allobroges were a Celtic tribe living in the area between the Rhône and Isère rivers and what is now the city of Geneva.  In 218 BC, Hannibal passed through their region.  They were conquered by the Romans in 121 BC and were ultimately incorporated into Transalpine Gaul.  In 63 BC, the Roman statesman Catiline tried to involve them in a plot against Marcus Cicero; instead, the Allobroges provided Cicero with proof of the plot.

• The Senones
  The French départements of Seine-et-Marne [region of Ile-de-France], Loiret [region of Centre], and Yonne [region of Burgundy] include the area once inhabited by the Gallic Senones.  Between 53 and 51 BC, the Senones fought against Julius Caesar.  They were beaten and were later included in Gallia Lugdunensis.  Their capital was the town known as Agendicum, which later became Senonus.  Its modern name is Sens. It was probably the Cisalpine branch of this tribe that led an army into Greece in 279 BC.  

• The Sequani
  In the 1st century BC the Sequani territory was located between the Saône, Rhône, and Rhine rivers.  Their capital was at the town of Vesontio, which is now known as Besançon, in the present-day departement of Doubs in Franche-Comte.  Their disputes with the Aedui caused them to ally themselves with the German leader Ariovistus.  He defeated the Aedui and then occupied Sequanian territory in modern Alsace.  Later, in 58 BC, the Sequani and the Aedui formed an alliance with Julius Caesar to drive out the Germans and the Sequani lands became part of the Roman Empire.
  

To the north, Gallic Comata, was subsequently subdivided into the three imperial provinces of Belgica, Lugdunensis and Aquitania.  The name ‘Gallic Comata’, meaning ‘Long-Haired Gaul’, was given as a disparagement of the northern Gauls’ craving for wine and their barbaric ways.

Between 69 and 96 AD, Rome recognized that the Rhine River would be at the limit of its expansion of north- eastern Gallia Comata.  As a consequence, It was decided that Rome would merely hold the region between the middle Rhine and upper Danube.  This area, known as the Agri Decumates [Ten Cantons], covered the region of the Black Forest.  It was considered sufficient to secure communications between the Roman garrisons that had been permanently established on both rivers.  The Ten Cantons were attached to Germania Superior [Upper Germany].

The north-eastern boundaries, established by the Romans, dichotomized the inhabitants as to Germanic and Romance language speakers. 

As Roman rule solidified, the people of Narbonensis and western Gallia Comata assimilated both the Roman language [Latin] and Roman civilization.  The territory subjugated by Caesar adopted to the Roman methods of agriculture and urbanization at a slower pace than was the case in the south.  In both regions, the development of the urban areas followed the Roman model with senate houses, temples and forums.  A large trade sprang up between the imperial provinces and Rome itself.

During the second century AD, Christians arrived in Gaul.

In the south, Rome quickly assimilated the now Romanized Celtic leaders into Roman aristocracy.  By the 4th century AD, the Narbonensis city of Arles, which had long been an important meeting place for merchants, become the seat of the prefecture of all Gaul.  At this same time, Marseille become the main center of Greek studies in the west.

Almost concurrently, Germanic tribes were successful in their invasions of Gaul.  Their invasions ultimately ended Rome's political domination of Gaul. 

As a consequence of Rome’s all encompassing penetration of Gaul, modern France eventually emerged as a Romance speaking country.  Its Roman heritage can also be found in its architecture.

The Merovingiens [481-751] >>>