Gaul summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Gaul.

Gaul, Latin Gallia, 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 the region known as Transalpine Gaul over the next century. It included most of modern France and Belgium and parts of Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Julius Caesar completed the conquest of Gaul (see Gallic Wars) in 58–50 bce; Lugdunum (Lyon) became the capital. The entire area was reorganized in the 1st century ce into several provinces, including Narbonensis, Aquitania, Lugdunensis, and Belgica. By 260 ce it had become a centre of unrest; by the 6th century Rome had given up all its Gallic territories.

Map showing the countries of Europe with national capitals and surrounding bodies of water, including the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.

Europe Summary

Europe, second smallest of the world’s continents, composed of the westward-projecting peninsulas of Eurasia (the great landmass that it shares with Asia) and occupying nearly one-fifteenth of the world’s total land area. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Atlantic

Julius Caesar Summary

Julius Caesar was a celebrated Roman general and statesman, the conqueror of Gaul (58–50 bce), victor in the civil war of 49–45 bce, and dictator (46–44 bce), who was launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated by a group of nobles in the Senate House on the Ides of