Now and then tribes would try to take a stand for Celtic freedom, but little came of their eff orts until 259 c.e., when Gaul seceded from the Roman Empire.. Britain, Spain, and the Germ
Trang 1achievement at that time was to convince many of the
frac-tious Celts of Gaul that they should think of themselves as
one people and unite to fi ght for their freedom, and he was
made chief of the war eff ort He learned in an engagement at
Noviodunum that his army was no match for the Romans’
su-perior tactics and discipline in a pitched battle, so he resorted
to guerrilla warfare He burned farmlands to deny the
Ro-mans access to food Even so, Julius Caesar managed to track
down his army and trap it in the fortifi ed town of Alesia,
where the Celts starved until they surrendered Vercingetorix
was sent to Rome, imprisoned, and publicly humiliated, and
in 46 b.c.e he was executed by strangulation
Th ese events did not end ambitions for the independence
of Gaul Now and then tribes would try to take a stand for
Celtic freedom, but little came of their eff orts until 259 c.e.,
when Gaul seceded from the Roman Empire Gaul had three
emperors: Postumus (r 259–268 c.e.), Victorinus (r 268–270
c.e.), and Tetricus (r 270–274 c.e.) Aft er seizing power in Gaul
in 259 c.e., Postumus declared the existence of the Gallic
Em-pire in 260 c.e In 261 c.e Britain, Spain, and the Germanic
territories in central Europe joined Gaul as part of his empire
Th e Gallic emperors defeated attempted invasions by Germanic
tribes from outside of Gaul In 274 c.e the Roman emperor
de-feated Tetricus’s army and ended the Gallic Empire
Among the Germanic tribes who periodically attacked
Gaul were the Franks In 418 c.e King Pharamond (r 418–428
c.e.) began what became the Merovingian Dynasty (418–751
c.e.) He was succeeded by Clodio (r 428–447 c.e.), who in
turn was succeeded by Merovech (r 447–458 c.e.), for whom
the dynasty is named When the Huns under Attila attacked
the city of Orleans in 451 c.e., the Franks joined the Gauls,
and the Goths and the Burgundians, Germanic tribes under
the command of a Roman general, rescued the city and later
defeated the Huns in battle
Merovech was succeeded by Childeric I (r ca 458–482
c.e.) Childeric expanded the power of the Franks in Gaul, but
it was his son Clovis I (r 482–511 c.e.) who made the power
long lasting through his military prowess, his conversion to
Christianity (496 c.e.), and his establishment of the city of
Paris his capital In 486 c.e he defeated in battle Syagrius,
who was the last offi cial Roman governor of Gaul
IBERIA
Iberia is the peninsula where Portugal and Spain are now
Ibe-ria was settled at least 30,000 years ago by modern humans
By 5000 b.c.e West Mediterranean peoples were migrating
from the east coast into Iberia Some ethnologists believe that
descendants from both these populations still live in Iberia,
especially in Portugal and the Basque provinces of northern
Spain Th e Greeks gave them the name Iberians Phoenician
merchants were visiting Iberia by 1100 b.c.e., and in the 700s
b.c.e the Phoenicians had colonies on the east and south
coasts of Iberia Along these coasts cities arose with their own
governments, probably out of a desire to protect resources,
such as tin mines, that were important in trade Th ese cities
were ruled by warriors and priests In the rest of Iberia people lived in small tribes that were oft en at war with one another About 750 b.c.e the Iberian tribe the Tartessians estab-lished the kingdom of Tartessos (called Tarshish in the Bible), probably to protect their rights to copper mines in southern Iberia By 600 b.c.e it encompassed the lower half of the Gua-dalquivir River and had four cities, Osuna, El Carambolo, Niebla, and the capital, Huelva Tartessos was not only an key source of copper but also an important way station for mer-chants sailing to the Atlantic coast of Europe and to Britain because its ports were on the Atlantic side from Gibralter In the 200s b.c.e it was conquered by the Carthaginians
Th e fi rst wave of Celtic migration into Iberia from Gaul occurred in the 800s b.c.e A second wave followed in the 600s b.c.e At fi rst the Celts settled in northern Iberia, but during the second wave they spread throughout Iberia, except for the southern and eastern coasts, which remained under the control
of native Iberian cities until they were conquered by Carthage
in the 200s b.c.e Th e Celts did not drive out the local tribes but instead mixed with them, creating a group now known as the Celtiberians Th ey were ruled by warriors, and the Celtiberian tribes frequently clashed with one other In the 200s b.c.e the
Celtiberians began living in castros, or fortifi ed towns.
Greeks and Carthaginians oft en fought over control of the western Mediterranean In 264 b.c.e Rome came to the aid
of Greeks in Sicily, beginning the First Punic War (264–241 b.c.e.), which Carthage eventually lost Having lost much of its infl uence among the Mediterranean’s islands, Carthage compensated by conquering the southern and eastern coasts of Iberia Carthage tried to conquer the Celtiberians of the inte-rior but was mostly unsuccessful; however, through diplomacy, Carthage built alliances among the Celtiberians, allowing Car-thaginians some control over events in central Iberia During the Second Punic War (218–201 b.c.e.) the Carthaginians used Iberia as a landing ground for their armies, and for this rea-son Rome invaded Iberia, infl icting defeats on the Carthagin-ians and winning allies Still, many IberCarthagin-ians resisted Roman rule, and Rome did not have complete control of Iberia until
19 b.c.e Th ereaft er the peoples of Iberia adopted Latin as their primary language and adopted the Roman way of life
Th e Germanic tribes the Suevi and the Vandals invaded Gaul in 405 c.e., but another Germanic tribe, the Visigoths, drove them out Th ey fl ed to Iberia Th e Suevi numbered about 60,000 and chose to settle in northwestern Iberia Th e Vandals conquered part of southwestern Spain, which came to be called Andalusia, in reference to the Vandals Th e Visigoths were a well-organized tribe that had adopted many Roman customs
Th eir king Ataulphus (r 412–415 c.e.), cooperating with the Romans, overcame the Suevi and drove most of the Vandals out of Iberia in 411 c.e Th e Vandals fl ed to North Africa
Th e Visigoths ruled Iberia as their kingdom from 412 to
711 c.e Kingship was not hereditary Instead, the warrior elite elected the member of the royal family whom they considered most fi t to lead them Many Visigoths became farmers, but the warriors were the nobility, serving as knights Th ey spoke
408 empires and dynasties: Europe