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13d - Gaul

from 13 - The West

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

C. Goudineau
Affiliation:
Professeur du Collége de France (chaire d' Antiquités nationales)
Alan K. Bowman
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Edward Champlin
Affiliation:
Princeton University, New Jersey
Andrew Lintott
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Caesar's conquest of Gaul fundamentally shifted the balance of the Roman world, up until then based on the Mediterranean, with the single exception of the Black Sea. The ‘new territories’ represented a vast addition to the empire, comprising some 30 per cent of its land area apart from Italy. Exposed to central Europe, and especially to the German barbarians and other groups, amongst them the Cimbri and Teutones, who had already left their mark on Roman history, they stretched to the northern oceans, and to Britain, which Caesar had abandoned, after suffering his only failure. The occupation of the new provinces demanded, in the short term, that the Alps and the Pyrenees be subjugated and that control be established over the Rhine and the Danube. The Gallic Wars had utterly and irreversibly transformed the geopolitics of the ancient world. Conversely, the history of Gaul reflected its new environment, and the new strategic geography formed by the German frontier and the proximity of Britain, with all the attendant social and economic repercussions.

But it is impossible to understand ancient texts or decisions, such as those that created the administrative structure or the road system, if we continue to base our analyses on present-day cartography. It is important to remember that as late as Pliny, and perhaps as late as Ptolemy, geographical knowledge remained extremely approximate. Book IV of Strabo's Geography, devoted to Gaul and completed about A.D. 18, illustrates the point.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1996

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References

Duval, P.-.M. Les sources de l' histoire de France I. La Gaulejusqu'au milieu du Ve siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1971.
Lerat, L. La Gaule romaine, textes choisis et présentés. Paris, 1977.

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  • Gaul
    • By C. Goudineau, Professeur du Collége de France (chaire d' Antiquités nationales)
  • Edited by Alan K. Bowman, University of Oxford, Edward Champlin, Princeton University, New Jersey, Andrew Lintott, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Ancient History
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521264303.017
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  • Gaul
    • By C. Goudineau, Professeur du Collége de France (chaire d' Antiquités nationales)
  • Edited by Alan K. Bowman, University of Oxford, Edward Champlin, Princeton University, New Jersey, Andrew Lintott, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Ancient History
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521264303.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Gaul
    • By C. Goudineau, Professeur du Collége de France (chaire d' Antiquités nationales)
  • Edited by Alan K. Bowman, University of Oxford, Edward Champlin, Princeton University, New Jersey, Andrew Lintott, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Ancient History
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521264303.017
Available formats
×