Roman Empire province from 121 BC until 5th century
Gallia Narbonensis
(
Latin
for "Gaul of
Narbonne
", from its chief settlement)
[n 1]
was a
Roman province
located in what is now
Occitania
and
Provence
, in
Southern France
. It was also known as
Provincia Nostra
("Our Province"), because it was the first
Roman
province north of the
Alps
, and as
Gallia Transalpina
("Transalpine Gaul"), distinguishing it from
Cisalpine Gaul
in
Northern Italy
. It became a Roman province in the late 2nd century BC. Gallia Narbonensis was bordered by the
Pyrenees Mountains
on the west, the
Cevennes
to the north, the
Alps
on the east, and the
Gulf of Lion
on the south; the province included the majority of the
Rhone
catchment. The western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as
Septimania
. The province was a valuable part of the
Roman Empire
, owing to the
Greek colony
and later Roman Civitas of
Massalia
, its location between the Spanish provinces and Rome, and its financial output.
[2]
Names
[
edit
]
The province of Gallia Transalpina ("Transalpine Gaul") was later renamed
Gallia Narbonensis
,
[2]
after its newly established capital of
Colonia Narbo Martius
(colloquially known as Narbo, at the location of the modern
Narbonne
), a
Roman colony
founded on the coast in 118 BC. The name Gallia Narbonensis most likely originates in the Augustan era. Its first recorded use was in a
census
conducted by
Gnaeus Pullius Pollio
.
[3]
The Romans had called it
Provincia Nostra
("our province") or simply
Provincia
("the province").
[4]
The term has survived in the modern name of
Provence
for the eastern part of the area (French
Provence
, Occitan
Provenca
), now a
region
of France.
Founding
[
edit
]
By the mid-2nd century BC,
Rome
was trading heavily with the
Greek
colony of Massalia (modern
Marseille
) on the southern coast of Gaul. Massalia, founded by colonists from
Phocaea
, was by this point centuries old and quite prosperous. Rome entered into an alliance with Massalia, by which it agreed to protect the town from local
Gauls
, nearby
Aquitani
, sea-borne
Carthaginians
and other rivals, in exchange for a small strip of land that it wanted in order to build a road to
Hispania
, to assist in troop transport. The Massalians, for their part, cared more for their economic prosperity than they did for territorial integrity.
[
citation needed
]
During this period, the Mediterranean settlements on the coast were threatened by the powerful
Gallic
tribes to the north, especially the tribes known as the
Arverni
and the
Allobroges
. In the First Transalpine War (125?121 BCE),
[5]
the Roman general
Quintus Fabius Maximus (later additionally named Allobrogicus)
campaigned in the area and defeated the Allobroges and the Arverni under king
Bituitus
in the
Battle of the Isere River
. This defeat substantially weakened the Arverni and ensured the further security of Gallia Narbonensis. The area became a
Roman province
in 121 BCE.
[1]
The province had come into Roman control originally under the name
Gallia Transalpina
(Transalpine Gaul), which distinguished it from
Cisalpine Gaul
on the near side of the Alps to Rome.
[
citation needed
]
In this strip of land, the Romans founded the town of Narbonne in 118 BC. At the same time, they built the
Via Domitia
, the first Roman road in Gaul, connecting Gaul to Hispania, and the
Via Aquitania
, which led toward the Atlantic through Tolosa (Toulouse) and Burdigala (Bordeaux). Thus, the Romans built a crossroads that made Narbonne an optimal trading center, and Narbonne became a major trading competitor to Massalia. From Narbonne, the Romans established the province of Transalpine Gaul, later called Gallia Narbonensis.
[
citation needed
]
During the
Sertorian War
(80?72 BCE) against the breakaway state of former Roman senator and general
Sertorius
, Gallia Narbonensis was an important base for military activities. This was an important event in the Romanization of Narbonese Gaul, as it resulted in the Romans organizing the province.
[
citation needed
]
Later history
[
edit
]
Control of the province, which bordered directly on
Italia
, gave the Roman state several advantages: control of the land route between Italy and the
Iberian peninsula
; a territorial buffer against
Gallic
attacks on Italy; and control of the lucrative trade routes of the
Rhone
valley between Gaul and the markets of Massalia. It was from the capital of Narbonne that
Julius Caesar
began his
Gallic Wars
. Caesar rebuilt
Narbo
and built the cities of
Forum Julium
and
Arles
. Julius Caesar also granted many communities in Gallia Narbonensis citizenship.
[4]
In 49 BC, the city of Massalia sided with the Pompeians during the
civil war
. After the war ended, the city of Massalia lost all of its independence and was fully subject to Roman rule.
[6]
In 40 BC, during the
Second Triumvirate
,
Lepidus
was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), while
Mark Antony
was given the balance of Gaul.
[7]
After becoming
Emperor
,
Augustus
made Gallia Narbonensis a
senatorial province
governed by a
proconsul
.
[2]
Emperor
Diocletian
's administrative reorganization of the Empire in
c.
AD
314 merged the provinces Gallia Narbonensis and
Gallia Aquitania
into a new administrative unit called
Dioecesis Viennensis
(Diocese of Vienne) with the capital more to the north in
Vienne
. The new diocese's name was later changed to
Dioecesis Septem Provinciarum
(Diocese of the Seven Provinces), indicating that Diocletian had demoted the word "province" to mean a smaller subdivision than in traditional usage.
Galla Narbonensis and surrounding areas were incorporated into the
Visigothic Kingdom
between AD 462 and 477, permanently ending Roman political control. After the Gothic takeover, the Visigothic dominions were to be generally known as
Septimania
, while to the east of the lower Rhone the term
Provence
came into use.
List of proconsular governors of Gallia Narbonensis
[
edit
]
(This list is based on A.L.F. Rivet,
Gallia Narbonensis
(London: Batsford, 1988), pp. 79, 86f.)
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The name is also variously expressed as
Narbonese
or
Narbonnese Gaul
,
Narbonian Gaul
, and
Narbonensian Gaul
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Maddison, Angus (2007),
Contours of the World Economy 1?2030 AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.
41
,
ISBN
9780191647581
.
- ^
a
b
c
Bunson, Matthew (2014-05-14).
Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire
. Infobase Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-4381-1027-1
.
- ^
a
b
Bowman, Alan K.; Champlin, Edward; Lintott, Andrew (1996-02-08).
The Cambridge Ancient History
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-26430-3
.
- ^
a
b
Riggsby, Andrew M. (2006-07-01).
Caesar in Gaul and Rome: War in Words
. University of Texas Press.
ISBN
978-0-292-71303-1
.
- ^
Webster, Jane (1996). "Ethnographic barbarity: colonial discourse and 'Celtic warrior societies'.". In Cooper, Nick (ed.).
Roman Imperialism: Post-Colonial Perspectives
(PDF)
. School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester. pp. 117?118
. Retrieved
5 April
2023
.
- ^
Ebel, Charles (1976).
Transalpine Gaul: The Emergence of a Roman Province
. Brill Archive.
ISBN
978-90-04-04384-8
.
- ^
Boatwright et al.,
The Romans, From Village to Empire
, p.272
ISBN
978-0-19-511876-6
- ^
CIL
XIV, 2831
Further reading
[
edit
]
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†
Italy was never constituted as a province, instead retaining a special juridical status until
Diocletian
's reforms.
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