Gaul facts for kids
Gaul (Latin: Gallia) was the name given in ancient times to the area of Western Europe that included northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. Many Celtic tribes lived in the region and were known by the Romans simply as "Gauls".
In English, the word Gaul (French: Gaulois) may also mean a Celtic inhabitant of that region, although the expression may be used for all ancient speakers of the Gaulish language as well. In this way, "Gaul" and "Celt" are sometimes used in the same sense.
Gauls under Brennus attacked Rome with the Battle of the Allia (390 BC).
Trivia
- In Greek, modern-day France is called Γαλλία (same as the Latin Gallia) and the term for a Gaulish person is Γαλατία (Galatia).
Images for kids
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Map of Roman Gaul (Droysens Allgemeiner historischer Handatlas, 1886)
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Gauls in Rome
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Soldiers of Gaul, as imagined by a late 19th-century illustrator for the Larousse dictionary, 1898
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A map of Gaul in the 1st century BCE, showing the relative positions of the Celtic ethnicities: Celtae, Belgae and Aquitani.
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Expansion of the Celtic culture in the 3rd century BC.
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Massalia (modern Marseille) silver coin with Greek legend, 5th–1st century BC.
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Gold coins of the Gaul Parisii, 1st century BC, (Cabinet des Médailles, Paris).
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Roman silver Denarius with the head of captive Gaul 48 BC, following the campaigns of Julius Caesar.
See also
In Spanish: Galia para niños
