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Gaul (GALLIA the country)

or GALLIA, the country of the ancient Gauls. It extended at one time from the Pyrenees to the Rhine, and included also a part of Italy. Hence it was divided into Gaul on this side (the Roman side) of the Alps, or Gallia Cisalpina, and Gaul beyond the Alps, or Gallia Transalpina. Latterly the former was regarded quite as part of Italy, and the name Gallia was restricted to Transalpine Gaul, or the country nearly corresponding to modern France . Julius Cæsar, about the middle of the 1st century B. c., found Transalpine Gaul divided into three parts: (1) Aquitania, extending from the Pyrenees to the Garonne, chiefly occupied by Iberian tribes; (2) Gallia Celtica, Celtic Gaul, from the Garonne to the Seine and Marne; (3) Gallia Belgica, Belgic Gaul, in the N., extending to the Rhine.

Cisal