Gallia Belgica
For other uses, see Belgica (disambiguation).
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The Roman Province of Gallia Belgica around 58 BCE. |
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The Roman Province of Gallia Belgica around 120 CE. |
Gallia Belgica was a
Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the
Netherlands,
Belgium,
Luxembourg, northeastern
France, and western
Germany. The indigenous population of Gallia Belgica consisted of a mixture of
Celtic and
Germanic tribes, often described as the
Belgae. According to
Julius Caesar, The border between Gallia and Belgica was formed by the
Marne and the
Seine["Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen, a Belgis Matrona et Sequana diuidit.", Commentarii de Bello Gallico] and that with Germania by the
Rhine["Proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt." Commentarii de Bello Gallico] The
Helvetii settlement area became part of Gallia Belgica.
During the 1st century, the provinces of Gaul were restructured. The northern Gallia Belgica was renamed
Germania Inferior, the eastern part
Germania Superior and the southern border of Gallia Belgica was extented to the south. The newer Gallia Belgica included the city of
Reims. This subdivision roughly corresponds to the current borders between the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
The region corresponding to the original province became in the 5th century the center of
Clovis'
merovingian kingdom and during the 8th century the heart of the
carolingian empire. After the death of
Charlemagne's son,
Louis the Pious, the region was divided into the western and middle Francia, the kernels of the modern
France and
Germany.
The area is the historical heart of the
Low Countries, an historical region corresponding roughly to the current
Benelux group of states, the
Netherlands,
Belgium, and Luxembourg as well as the
French Flanders and some part of the
Rhineland.
