GAUGUA, goulgwa. See GUAGUA.
GAUL (Lat. Gallia). The name given by the Romans to that portion of Western Europe which is in the main identical with France, al though extending beyond the bounds of the mod ern State. In the earliest times this region, bounded by the Atlantic, the Rhine, the Alps, the Mediterranean, and the Pyrenees, was inhabited by the Gauls, who had overrun the territory, and had brought under control the earlier peoples, such as the Ligurians, along the southern coast line, and the Iberians, who had subjugated the southwestern section and are represented by the Basques of modern days. The Greeks founded Massilia (Marseilles), a Phocoean colony, about B.C. 600. They called the people Ke?.rat, either, as Thierry suggests, extending the name of one tribe to the entire race, or using a generic term to indicate the collective Celtic people. Later the Greeks named the country raXarla, and the Romans spoke of the Galli and of Gallia. These words are cognate with the native title Gaelfaclicl, which means `the land of the Gauls,' and which designated the territory above defined, but did not include the two islands known as Albion or Albin, the White Island, and Erin (Eli or Jar = the West), the Isle of the West, which were in habited by the same race.
Julius Caesar is the first writer who enlightens us in regard to this people. He speaks of Gaul as being divided among the three peoples, the Belgm, the Aquitani, and the Galli, or, "as they are known in their own tongue," Celtu. The Belgfe dwelt on the north with the Seine as their southern boundary, the Aquitani in the south be tween the Garonne and the Pyrenees, while the Celts dwelt between them. All these differed in language, customs, and laws. This description is substantially correct, although Cesar does not mention all the races of Gaul, nor does he rec ognize the fact that the Aquitani were really distinct in race from the Belgu and Celts, who were closely related. The Aquitani were Iberian in stock, and this racial difference was indicated by marked differences in temperament and physi ' cal characteristics. The Gauls were tall, of light complexion, sociable in disposition, given to fight ing in large numbers, while the Aquitani were dark, reserved in disposition, and fond of fighting in small bands, traits which are found among the Basques to-day.
acsar mentions numerous tribes belonging to the three nations distinguished by him. Such
were the Helvetii, the Sequani, and the Aedui along the Rhone and Saone, and the Arverni (modern Auvergne) among the mountains (Ce vennes) ; along the Loire the Namnetes, Se nones, and Carnutes, and between the Loire and the Seine the Armorican or maritime tribes, such as the Veneti. The Bellovaci, Suessiones, Nervii, and Morini were tribes of the Delp.
The part the Gauls played in the ethnic dis tribution of the early peoples of Europe was remarkable. In their nomadic history they wan dered far and wide throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. From their home in Western Europe they spread to Britain, invaded Spain, swarmed over the Alps into Italy, and, extending their con quests to the Tiber, burned Rome (B.c. 390). Other tribes of Gaul traversed Eastern Europe and Asia Minor, ravaged Macedonia and Thes saly, passed through Thermopylae, and pillaged Delphi. In B.C. 241, meeting with Attains, King of Pergamus, they were driven back into the mountain district near the Halys River, and there they established the independent principal ity of Galatia, or Gallo-Grmeia, which be came a power among the peoples of Asia. This represents the first period of their history. The second is the history of their settlements in various parts of the world, and the develop ment of their peculiar institutions, influenced as they were by environment and modified by the introduction of foreign elements. Thus in Phrygian Galatia the Gallic civilization was combined with those of Greece and Phrygia, and in Italy their manners and customs were affected by their contact with the Romans. Fi nally, in the struggle to maintain their freedom, they met the Romans on every side. As Thierry says: "The Gauls and Romans followed each other over the earth to decide the old quarrel of the Capitol." It was the long conflict between a ferociously active but undisciplined people and the sturdy, disciplined prowess of the Romans. The northern part of Italy, because of the early invasion of the Gauls, was termed by the Romans Gallia Cisalpina, i.e. 'Gaul this side of the Alps,' as viewed from Rome. This territory was also known as Gallia Citerior, to distinguish it from Gallia Transalpina or Gallia Ulterior. Here the contest was waged for centuries, the Romans gradually pushing their sway up to the Alps and establishing colonies in the Gallic towns.