Gaul+Traditions

__** Gaul Tradition **__
By :Madison Kennnedy

__Who are the Gauls?__
 The Gauls controlled modern-day France and parts of Belgium, Western Germany, and northern Italy and originally came from the East (Asia), which is where most of their customs originated. The Gauls did not separate from their original group of peoples in Asia until they began to move westward. The Gauls were the first to separate from there original group, which is probably why they did not have a written language like most groups that came from the same base. In Gaul, there were two groups of people, the Aquatani and the Ligures, living there as well but they were not of gallic blood. The two nations with Gallic blood were the Galli and the Iberians, they are believed to be related because they sharedcustoms that were different from those of the Germans, Italians, and the Iberians. The two groups were different from each other as well. The Gauls derived from the Galli and overtime became the great warriors that were talked about and respected by the Romans.  The Gauls were characteristically tall and imposing and were excellent fighters because of this. Most of their customs, such as the way they dress and their habits, were much different from Roman customs. The Romans did not understand their way of like and said that they were Wild, Naked people who collected heads, which is true, and cannibalized their victims, which probably isn’t true. The Gauls were great warriors that carried big swords and large shields. They traveled in large cavalries and could do a lot of damage to other armies, especially at the beginning of battle. The Gauls would overwhelm their opponent with their strength and numbers, which is why they earned respect from theRomans as fighters.



__What was their religion?__
The Gauls believed in many gods and Goddesses. The Gauls also practiced a form of [|animism], and gave human characteristics to things in nature like streams, montains, trees and animals. It was also not uncommon for the Gauls to worship animals as well. One of the most sacred animals in Gallish culture was the [|boar]. Caesar once wrote about the Gauls that “They worship as their divinity, Mercury in particular, and have many images of him, and regardhim as the inventor of all arts, they consider him the guide of their journeys and marches, and believe him to have great influence over the acquisition of gain and mercantile transactions. Next to him they worship Apollo, and Mars, and Jupiter, and Minerva; respecting these deities they have for the most part the same belief as other nations: That Apollo averts diseases, that Minerva imparts the invention of manufactures, that Jupiter presides over wars. To him, when they have determined to engage in battle, they commonly vow those things which they shall take in war. When they have conquered, they sacrifice whatever captured animals may have survived the conflict…” (Caesar, 6.17) According to Caesar, a big part f the Gauls customs and religion focused on scarifies.

__How did the Gauls live?__
 The Gauls were divided into several tribes ruled by a landed class. There were around 66 tribes in Gaul. Individual kings ruled over different tribes, and occasionally one king would gain the alliance of several kings and rule over them. But overall, the Gauls were independently ruled and were not really a single nation ruled by one king or leader. The only time this was the case was when the Gauls had to go up against a big nation in war such as when they fought against the Romans. The Gauls did have a sense of territorial ethnicity; the Romans said that there were sixteen separate territorial nations of Gauls. Which were divided into a series of pagi, which were military units that were made up of soldiers who had voluntarily united together.  The Gauls had a very fluid [|ethnic identity] and classified themselves first by their clan or small kinship group. This fundamental group was then clustered into different larger identities of their tribe. The main political structures were mainly formed around different tribes. There is really no way to connect all the different ethnic identities of the Gauls into one big ethnic group. The priestly Druid class controlled the Gauls, but the druids were not the only political force. They did however control the religion over the Gauls and also controlled when the Gauls went to war. Interestingly, they also guarded secrets over their order and had control over the Gaulic people. Overall, the political structure of the Gauls was very complex and had many different sectors and components.  The Gauls spoke a language called Gaulish or Gallic before they were taken over by the Romans and then spoke Vulgar Latin. According to Caesar there were also two other languages in Gaul during the Gallic wars. These two other languages were Germanic and Aquitanian. Gaulish was already spoken in Gaul long before the Gaulic tribes came to Gaul in 6th century b.c  The Gauls were a very complex society and played an interesting role in Roman history as well as in their own history.

__**Bibliography **__
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; letter-spacing: -1pt;">Caesar, Caius Julius. “Julius Caesar’s War Commentaries: De bello gallico (Gallic Wars): Book 6.” [] (21 April 2011).

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 23px;">Gantz, Jeffrey, Trans. Early Irish Myths and Sagas. By Various Authors. New York: Penguin Books, 1981.

<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 0in;">"Gaul." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <[]>. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 0in; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">

<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 24pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;">"Gauls." //Home Page//. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. <http://www.rome4thcentury.org/gauls.htm>. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 24pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Anthon, Charles. "A Classical Dictionary: Containing ..." //Google Books//. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. <http://books.google.com/books?id=3iQQAAAAYAAJ>.

<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 0in;">"Google Images." //Google//. Theancientweb.com. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.theancientweb.com/images/explore/France_Gauls.jpg>.