Before the Roman province came into existence in about 50 BC, the region was conquered byJulius Caesar during hisGallic Wars. His report, theCommentarii de Bello Gallico, described Belgic Gaul as one of the three parts of Gaul (Tres Galliæ), the other two beingGallia Aquitania andGallia Lugdunensis. Belgica stretched from theMarne andSeine rivers, which Caesar described as a cultural boundary between theBelgae and theCelticGauls. In the north and east it stretched all the way to theRhine.[1] The official Roman province of this name was later created by emperorAugustus in 22 BC, and named after theBelgae, as the largest tribal confederation in the area. However, it also included the territories of theTreveri,Mediomatrici,Leuci,Sequani, and others who Caesar did not explicitly designate as Belgic.
The province was re-organised several times, first increased and later decreased in size.Diocletian brought the northeasternCivitas Tungrorum intoGermania Inferior, joining the Rhineland colonies. The remaining part of Gallia Belgica was divided into Belgica Prima (in the eastern area of the Treveri, Mediomatrici and Leuci, around Luxembourg and the Ardennes), and Belgica Secunda (between theEnglish Channel and the upperMeuse).
The capital of Belgica Prima,Trier, became an important latewestern Roman capital.[2]
Gallia Belgica at the time ofJulius Caesar's conquest ofGaul in 54 BCE
In 57 BC, Julius Caesar led the conquest of northern Gaul, and already specified that the part to the north of the Seine and Marne rivers was inhabited by a people or alliance known as theBelgae. This definition became the basis of the later Roman province of Belgica. Caesar said that the Belgae were separated from the Celtic Gauls to their south by "language, custom and laws" (lingua, institutis, legibus) but he did not go into detail, except to mention that he learnt from his contacts that the Belgae had some ancestry from east of the Rhine, which he referred to as Germania. Indeed, the Belgian tribes closest to the Rhine he distinguished as theGermani cisrhenani. (Strabo stated that the differences between the Celts and Belgae, in language, politics and way of life was a small one.[3]) Modern historians interpret Caesar and the archaeological evidence as indicating that the core of the Belgian alliance was in the present-day northernmost corner of France; theSuessiones,Viromandui andAmbiani as well perhaps as some of their neighbours who lived in the area, Caesar identified as Belgium or Belgica. These were the leaders of the initial military alliance he confronted, and they were also more economically advanced (and therefore less "Germanic" according to Caesar's way of seeing things) than many of their more northerly allies such as the Nervii and Germani Cisrhenani.[4][5]
Apart from the southern Remi, all the Belgic tribes allied against the Romans, angry at the Roman decision to garrison legions in their territory during the winter. At the beginning of the conflict, Caesar reported the allies' combined strength at 288,000, led by theSuessione king,Galba.[6] Due to the Belgic coalition's size and reputation for uncommon bravery, Caesar avoided meeting the combined forces of the tribes in battle. Instead, he used cavalry to skirmish with smaller contingents of tribesmen. Only when Caesar managed to isolate one of the tribes did he risk conventional battle. The tribes fell in a piecemeal fashion and Caesar claimed to offer lenient terms to the defeated, including Roman protection from the threat of surrounding tribes.[7] Most tribes agreed to the conditions. A series of uprisings followed the 57 BC conquest. The largest revolt was led by theBellovaci in 52 BC, after the defeat ofVercingetorix. During this rebellion, it was the Belgae who avoided direct conflict. They harassed the Roman legions, led personally by Caesar, with cavalry detachments and archers. The rebellion was put down after a Bellovaci ambush of the Romans failed. The revolting party was slaughtered.
Map of Roman Gaul with Belgica in orange (Droysens Allgemeiner historischer Handatlas, 1886)
Following a census of the region in 27 BC,Augustus ordered a restructuring of the provinces in Gaul. Therefore, in 22 BC,Marcus Agrippa split Gaul (or Gallia Comata) into three regions (Gallia Aquitania,Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica). Agrippa made the divisions on what he perceived to be distinctions in language, race and community – Gallia Belgica was meant to be a mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples.[8] The capital of this territory wasReims, according to the geographer Strabo, though later the capital moved to modern-dayTrier. The date of this move is uncertain.
Modern historians however view the term 'Gaul' and its subdivisions as a "product of faulty ethnography" and see the split of Gallia Comata into three provinces as an attempt to construct a more efficient government, as opposed to a cultural division.[9] Successive Roman emperors struck a balance betweenRomanizing the people of Gallia Belgica and allowing pre-existing culture to survive.
The Romans divided the province into fourcivitates, corresponding generally to ancient tribal boundaries. The capital cities of these districts included modernCassel (replaced byTournai as Menapiancivitas),Bavay (replaced byCambrai as Nerviancivitas),Thérouanne,Arras,Saint-Quentin,Soissons,Reims,Beauvais,Amiens,Tongeren,Trier,Toul andMetz. Thesecivitates were in turn were divided into smaller units, pagi, a term that became the French word "pays".
Roman government was run byConcilia inReims orTrier. Additionally, local notables from Gallia Belgica were required to participate in a festival inLugdunum (modernLyon), which typically celebrated or worshipped the emperor'sgenius. The gradual adoption of Romanized names by local elites and the Romanization of laws under local authority demonstrate the effectiveness of thisconcilium Galliarum.[10] With that said, the concept and community of Gallia Belgica did not predate the Roman province, but developed from it.
The Roman empire in the time ofHadrian (ruled 117-138 AD), showing, in northeasternGaul, theimperial province ofGallia Belgica (Belgium/Picardie/Champagne)Roman roads in Belgium
During the 1st century AD (estimated date 90 AD), the provinces of Gaul were restructured. EmperorDomitian reorganized the provinces in order to separate the militarized zones of the Rhine from the civilian populations of the region.[11] The northeastern part of Gallia Belgica was split off and renamedGermania Inferior, later to be reorganized and renamed asGermania Secunda. This included the eastern part of modernBelgium, the southernmost part of the modernNetherlands, and a part of modern Germany. The eastern part was split off to becomeGermania Superior (parts of western Germany and eastern France) and the southern border of Gallia Belgica was extended to the south. The newer Gallia Belgica included the cities ofCamaracum (Cambrai),Nemetacum (Arras),Samarobriva (Amiens),Durocortorum (Reims),Dividorum (Metz) andAugusta Treverorum (Trier).
In 173, the later emperorDidius Julianus, then governor of Gallia Belgica, had to repel a serious invasion of theChauci, a Germanic tribe that lived along the shores of theWadden Sea at the respective northern and northwestern coast of present-day Netherlands andGermany. The attack occurred in thedrainage basin of the riverScheldt (present-dayFlanders andHainaut). Archaeologists have found evidence that large farms nearTournai and the villageVelzeke (nearGhent) had to be abandoned. Further the capitals in the areas of the former tribes of theAtrebates,Morini and theNervians were either burnt down (Nemetacum (Arras)) or had to be rebuilt in the last quarter of the second century, Colonia Morinorum (Thérouanne) andBagacum Nerviorum (Bavay).[12]
With theCrisis of the Third Century and thepartition of the Empire, Roman control over Gaul deteriorated in the 3rd century. In 260,Postumus became emperor of a breakawayGallic Empire. He proved able to stop the incursions from the Franks. Only in 274 was Roman control restored by the new emperorAurelian in theBattle of Châlons. The cost of this defeat in the long run proved very high indeed. With the Gallic army defeated and not returning to theRhine border, the Franks overran the neighbouring province ofGermania Inferior. TheRhineland (to theRipuarian Franks) and the area between the Rhine and the main road between Boulogne and Cologne, present-day South Holland, Zeeland, Flanders, Brabant and Limburg, the last three in both the present-day Netherlands and Belgium (to theSalian Franks) were de facto lost forever for the Roman empire. This gave the Salian Franks a base from which they could expand some 130 years later, beginning after the disastrous Rhine crossing in 406, to conquer the whole area of the former province of Gallia Belgica and start theMerovingian kingdom.
EmperorDiocletian restructured the provinces around 300, and split Belgica into two provinces: Belgica Prima and Belgica Secunda. Belgica Prima hadAugusta Treverorum (Trier) as its main city, and consisted of the eastern part. The border between Belgica Prima and Belgica Secunda was approximately along theMeuse.
The eastern part of Gallia Belgica, especially the valley of theMoselle became very prosperous in the fourth century, particularly in the decades thatAugusta Treverorum (Trier) was the capital of theWestern Roman Empire. The Roman poetAusonius wrote a famous poem on theMosella.
The Provinces of Gaul,c. 400 ADThePorta Nigra ofTrier, capital of Gallia Belgica, constructed between 186 and 200 AD
Around 350 SalianFranks who were already living in Batavia were settled inTexandria. Texandria was most likely for a large part overlapping with the area now known as theKempen.
Eventually, in 406, a large alliance among theVandals,Alans andSuebi, under great pressure from theHuns, after first having been defeated by the Ripuarian Franks in the neighbourhood of Cologne in Germania Inferior, successfullycrossed the Rhine in the neighbourhood of present-dayKoblenz and entered Gallia Belgica by way of the Moselle valley. They subsequently destroyed large parts of Gallia Belgica, before eventually moving on toHispania (present-daySpain). This invasion and the accompanying widespread destruction broke the backbone of Roman power in at least the northern part of Gallia Belgica. After this invasion the Franks were able to conquer valuable agricultural land south of theVia Belgica, the very important main road between Cologne and Boulogne, that had been the backbone of Roman defense strategy between 260 and 406.
In 452, a major battle was fought at theCatalaunian fields (between the Seine and the Moselle). A coalition of Romans, Visigoths and Franks fought an army led by the legendary Hunnic leaderAttila. The outcome of this battle itself was inconclusive, but as a consequence of this battle the Huns and their allies left the area of Gallia Belgica, where they had plundered nearly all major cities, except Paris.
After theWestern Roman Empire had already collapsed in Galla Belgica for some time the Gallo-Roman "Kingdom of Soissons" (457–486) managed to maintain control over the area aroundSoissons. The Franks however emerged victorious and Belgica Secunda in the 5th century became the center ofClovis'Merovingian kingdom. During the 8th century in theCarolingian Empire the former area of Gallia Belgica was split intoNeustria (roughly Belgica Secunda, main citiesParis,Reims) andAustrasia (roughly Belgica Prima andGermania Inferior, main citiesTrier,Metz,Cologne). After the death ofCharlemagne's son,Louis the Pious, the Carolingian Empire was divided by theTreaty of Verdun in 843. The three sons of Louis the Pious divided his territories into three kingdoms:East Francia (the forerunner of modernGermany),West Francia (west of theScheldt river) a part of which (Ile de France), from the middle of the 10th century became the kernel of modernFrance, andMiddle Francia which was succeeded byLotharingia. Though often presented as the dissolution of the Frankish empire, it was in fact the continued adherence toSalic patrimony. Lotharingia was divided in 870 by theTreaty of Meerssen under West and East Francia.
The nameBelgica continued to be used for theLow Countries as the Latin language name of the entire territory until the modern period. In the 1500s, the region was divided between the independentBelgica Foederata or thefederal (northern)Netherlands and theBelgica Regia or theroyal (southern) Netherlands under theHabsburgian crown.Belgica Foederata continued to be used from 1581 up to the French Revolution. Even after that, theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands, created in 1815 was still known asRoyaume des Belgiques, and it was only with the 1831 separatist revolution where the rebels took the this name for their new country that it ceased to be used for the entirety of the region.
^Gaius Julius Caesar.The Conquest of Gaul. Trans. S. A. Handford (New York: Penguin, 1982), 1.1.1: "Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen, a Belgis Matrona et Sequana diuidit."
^Gallia Belgica by Edith Mary Wightman. Books.google.be. Retrieved on 2013-09-07.
As found in theNotitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed anddioceses established byDiocletian,c. 293. Permanentpraetorian prefectures established after the death ofConstantine I. Empire permanently partitioned after 395. Exarchates ofRavenna andAfrica established after 584. After massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the remaining provinces were superseded by thetheme system in c. 640–660, although inAsia Minor and parts of Greece they survived under the themes until the early 9th century.
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