CXL. BOOK ty; these qualities have been transmitted from generation to generation, the soil which they occupied, and which they still possess, has been rendered more productive by their labour, and so long as the progress of improvement continues, France is likely to be the most flourishing country in Europe. Division of the Ro mans. The people of the Celtic race whom the ancients called Gaul under Galli or Valli, were renowned for their conquests more than seven centuries before the epoch which has been assigned to the foundation of Rome. It is unnecessary to indicate the period of their first migration, history has preserved but a confused remembrance of it. It is known that they made several invasions into Italy, and that the Romans, while in the height of their power, employed vast armies to subdue them. Sixty years of war and carnage were hardly sufficient to reduce their country into Roman provinces, which occupied nearly the same space that the kingdom of France does at present. The glory of terminating these expeditions was reserved for Cesar, and it is from the writings of the same person that the Romans derived their knowledge concerning the different nations in that part of Gaul which they called Transalpine (Gallia Transalpina). When the general entered the country, it was inhabited by three principal tribes or nations ; the Celta and Aquitani, who, although they spoke distinct dialects, belonged evidently to the Celtic race, and the Belgo of Germanic extraction, who inhabited the northern part of the country. Gaul was divided into four provinces by Augustus ;* Probus subdivided it into seven,† Diocletian into twelve, Valentinian into fourteen,§ and during the reign of Gratian, the number amounted to seventeen. *Belgium, Celtic Gaul, Aquitaine and Narbonnaise. We + Belgium, the first and second Germany, the Lyonnaise, the Viennoise, Narbonnaise and Aquitaine. The first and second Belgium, the first and second Germany, the Great Sequanaise, the first and second Lyonnaise, Narbonnaise, Viennoise and Aquitaine, to which were added, the Greek Alps, comprehending part of Switzerland and Savoy, and the maritime Alps, or part of Provence and the county of Nice. By the subdivision of Aquitaine into three parts, the first and second Aquitaine and Novempopulania. By the division of the two Lyonnaise into four, and Narbonnaise into two, shall enumerate the inhabitants of the fifteen provinces BOOK which made up the present territory of France.* CXL. The First Narbonnaise, (Narbonensis Prima), formed by First Narthe Roussillon, the greater part of the country of Foix and bonnaise. Conserans, was inhabited by the Sardones, a people probably sprung from an Illyrian colony; and by the Volcæ, divided into the eastern and the western; the former were surnamed the Arecomici, their lands extended to the banks of the Rhone; the latter or the Tectosages, a warlike people, carried their arms into Germany, and founded Ancyra in Ian Asiatic country, which has been called Galatia from its Gallic inhabitants. Narbon The Second Narbonnaise (Narbonensis Secunda), which The second comprehended the greater part of Provence, was inhabited naise. by the Tricorii, a people mentioned by Livy in his account of Annibal's expedition, by the Saluvii or Salyes, a tribe formidable to their neighbours and also by the Oxybii, who distinguished themselves in the wars against the Romans. Within the Maritime Alps, (Alpes Maritima) were con- Maritime Alps. tained part of Dauphiny, Provence and Piemont. The Caturiges, who inhabited the soil of France, disputed with Cesar the passage of their mountains. Novempopulania comprehended the territory of Gascony, NovempoArmagnac, Bearn and Lower Navarre. It was peopled pulania. by the Boii, whom Ausonius calls Picci, because their country abounded with pitch or resin, by the Ausci who inhabied Auch, by the Bigerrones in Bigorre and Berin, who covered themselves in winter with the skins of animals, and lastly, by the Tarbelli and Tarusates, who resisted Cesar and Crassus. The First Aquitaine (Aquitania Prima) was the most First Aquiimportant province of Gaul, in it were comprehended taine. Quercy, Rouergue, Auvergne, Bourbonnais, Marche, Limousin, Velai with Gevaudan, a considerable portion of Languedoc, Berry, and a part of Poitou. It was peopled by the Cadurci, whose principal city was Cahors, by the Arver The Greek Alps formed a part of Savoy, the second Germany will be described in the account of the Netherlands. BOOK Second Aquitania. Viennoise. Great Sequanaise. First Lyonnaise. Second Lyonnaise. ni or inhabitants of Auvergne, the most warlike nation of the Celtic race, by the Lemovices or Limousins, who raised an army of ten thousand men, and by the Bituriges who possessed an extensive territory long before the invasion of Cesar. The Second Aquitaine (Aquitania Secunda) comprehended a part of Poitou, Saintonge, Angoumois, Perigord, Agenois and the rest of Guienne. The inhabitants were the Pictones or Pictavi, the Santones in the territory of Saintes, Coignac and Angouleme, the Petrocorii or ancestors of the Perigourdins, the Meduli in the country of Medoc, the Bituriges-Vivisci or people of Bordelais. Viennoise (Vienensis) including part of Provence, part of Dauphiny, the principality of Orange, part of Languedoc and Savoy together with the territory of Geneva. The inhabitants were the Anatilii on both banks of the Rhone, the Cavares and Allobroges on the right bank of the same river, the Verontii, a warlike people, included by Rome in the number of her allies, and lastly the Helvii. The Great Sequanaise (Maxima Sequanorum) was formed by part of Burgundy, Franche-Comté, Bassigny, Bresse and a portion of Switzerland. All the French part of the same province was included in the territory of the Sequani, from which the Romans imported their best bacon.* The First Lyonnaise (Lugdunensis Prima) was made up of Lyonnaise, Beaujolais, Forez, and a part of Burgundy, Nivernais, Franche-Comte and Champagne. It was inhabited by two powerful nations, by the Ambarri, who, during the reign of the Ancient Tarquin, sent colonies into Italy, and by the Edui, the allies of the Romans before the invasion of Cesar into Gaul; they were governed by a president or elective chief, who was not permitted to leave the territory of the republic. The Second Lyonnaise (Lugdunensis Secunda) comprehended Normandy, French Vexin and the greater part of Perche. It contained nine different tribes, and a resemblance still subsists between their names and the names of different parts of the country. The Caletes inhabited the Strabo, Book IV. chap. 3. 2. country of Caux; the Eburovices, the territory of Evrenx; the Lexovii, Lizieux; the Saii, Seez; the Baiocasses, Baycux; the Venelli, Valogne; the Avrincatæ, Avranches; the Veducasses, the city of Vieux, now a small village near Caen; and the Veliocasses, Vexin. BOOK CXL. onnaise. The people of the Third Lyonnaise, (Lugdunensis Ter- Third Lytia), were the Redones in the territory of Rennes, the Veneli in Vennes, a wealthy and commercial people, the Mamnetes in Mantes, the Arvii on the banks of the Arve; a feeder of the Sarthe, the Cennomani, in the country round Mans, the Andecavi in the territory of Angers. Thus it appears that the province was made up of Brittany, Maine, Anjou and Tourraine. onnaise. As to the Fourth Lyonnaise (Lugdunensis Quarta), six Fourth Lydifferent tribes were settled in Beauce, the isle of France, Brie, a part of Champagne, Burgundy, Nivernais, Gatinais and Orleanais; these tribes were the Carnutes in Chartrain, the Parisii round Paris, the Meldi in the territory of Meux, the Tricasses in the neighbourhood of Troyes, the Seriones who inhabited Sens and Auxerre, and sent armed colonists into Italy; lastly the Aureliani in the territory of Orleans. The First Belgium (Belgica Prima) was formed by the Eirst Beldutchy of Luxembourg, part of the territory of Treves gium. and the province of Gueldre. It was partly inhabited by the Treveri, a people that have been already mentioned, and also by the Carisi of whom some account shall be given in the chapter on the Netherlands. The people in the French part of the province were the Mediomatrici who inhabited Messin, the Verodunenses in the country round Verdun, and the Leuci who possessed a considerable territory, including Bar, Toul and part of Lorraine. The Second Belgium (Belgica Secunda) was the country Second Belgium. of the brave and proud Nervii, they inhabited part of the Netherlands, Hainault and Cambresis; the Morini, an industrious people, who carried on a trade in linen, occupied part of Picardy and French Flanders. The Ambiani in the territory of Amiens, were renowned for their cavalry: The Bellovaci were settled in Bauvaisis. The Sylvanectes possessed Valois or the country round Senlis. The Suessiones BOOK CXL. First Germany. Celtic Language. Govern were a powerful people in Soissonnais and Champagne. The Reni inhabited the territory of Reims and Laon, and the Catalani, the country round Chalons. The First Germany (Germania Prima) extended along both banks of the Rhine; besides those who resided in the French part of the province, it was peopled by the Treveri and Nemetes, the Vangiones, Tribocci and different tribes that have been already mentioned in the account of the Bavarian circle on the Rhine; but the Tribocci were also settled in the neighbourhood of Strasburg and Saverne, while the Rauraci, the allies of the Helvetii, inhabited the districts round Neuf-Brissac. Different dialects were spoken by the tribes or nations that made up the Celtic race. Some persons amongst them, more learned than the rest, appear to have been acquainted with the Greek characters; it is probable, however, that the Veneti and other tribes called Armorican, because they lived near the sea,* adopted the written characters of the Phenicians in consequence of their commercial intercourse with that people. As to the Irish Celts, it is supposed that they made use of distinct characters. The Gaelic still spoken in several parts of the British islands,} may be divided into several branches or dialects, one of which is the Kumbre or Celto-Belgic, traces of it may be discovered in Flanders and the kingdom of the Netherlands. The peasants in Brittany speak the Breyzad or Low-Breton, of which the dialects are not fewer than four, -the Leonard, used in the neighbourhood of St. Pol de Leon, the Trecorian spoken by the people of Treguier, the Cornish in the territory of Quimper Corentin, and the Vennetan in the territory of Vannes. Celtic Gael formed a vast federative state, consisting of ment of the petty republics, in which the governments were different; in some the chiefs were elected for a limited period, in Celts. From the Breton word Armorik, compounded of the preposition ar on or above, and morik, a diminutive of mor, which signifies the sea. † See the account of England. There are not more than twenty-two letters in the Breyzad; among them may be remarked the nasal n, the j, the liquid I of the French, and the German ch. See the Atlas Ethnographique by Adrian Balbi. |