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70-740: Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire . It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context. The well-studied meld of cultures in Gaul gives historians a model against which to compare and contrast parallel developments of Romanization in other less-studied Roman provinces . Interpretatio romana offered Roman names for Gaulish deities such as

140-411: A Pretorian Guard , one of whose officers was the future Gallic emperor Victorinus . The chief members of Postumus's administration, such as Victorinus and Tetricus , appear to have been drawn from his power base in northern Gaul, and indeed the entire administration rapidly became Gallicized. Postumus represented himself as the restorer of Gaul ( Restitutor Galliarum ) and the bringer of security to

210-542: A Roman province may be too broad a canvas to generalize. One characteristic of cultural Romanization was the creation of many hundreds of Roman coloniae in the territory of the Roman Republic and the subsequent Roman Empire. Until Trajan , colonies were created by using retired veteran soldiers, mainly from the Italian peninsula, who promoted Roman customs and laws, with the use of Latin . About 400 towns (of

280-451: A Romanizing effect upon the native communities. This thought process, fueled though it was by early 20th century standards of imperialism and cultural change, forms the basis for the modern understanding of Romanization. However, recent scholarship has devoted itself to providing alternate models of how native populations adopted Roman culture and has questioned the extent to which it was accepted or resisted. One additional reason behind

350-518: A golden opportunity to move against Gallienus in 268. Aureolus, the general who was in command of Mediolanum (Milan) in Gallienus's interest, rebelled and ultimately declared for Postumus. The city of Mediolanum and its north Italian and Raetian hinterland would have been critical to Postumus if he planned to march on Rome. For whatever reason, Postumus failed to support Aureolus, who was defeated by Gallienus and besieged inside Mediolanum. Before

420-544: A luxurious Roman villa called the Domus of Vesunna , built round a garden courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded peristyle enriched with bold tectonic frescoing, has been handsomely protected in a modern glass-and-steel structure that is a fine example of archaeological museum-making (see external link). Lyon , the capital of Roman Gaul, is now the site of the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon (rue Céberg), associated with

490-535: A short while before being overthrown by Victorinus , Postumus's erstwhile colleague in the consulship and tribune of the praetorian guard. In the meantime, the Gallic Empire lost Hispania. Postumus's coinage has been of particular interest to numismatists, in light of the high quality and relative abundance of his coin issues. His ‘Labours of Hercules’ series is particularly renowned, as are several aurei which carry full-face portraits of Postumus instead of

560-407: A show of reluctantly enforcing this command, thus inviting his troops to instead throw off their allegiance to Gallienus. The troops accordingly proclaimed Postumus emperor and besieged Colonia, trapping Saloninus and Silvanus. After breaching the walls of the city, Postumus had Silvanus and Saloninus killed, although his supporters later claimed that it was the native Gauls who were responsible for

630-712: A temple to the Capitoline triad: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, the deities venerated in the temple of Jupiter Best and Biggest on the Capitol in Rome. Livius It has been estimated that at the beginning of the empire, about 750,000 Italians lived in the provinces. Julius Caesar , Mark Antony and Augustus settled many of their veterans in colonies: in Italy, and the provinces. The colonies that were established in Italy until 14 BCE have been studied by Keppie (1983). In his account of

700-464: Is clear, however, is that Postumus was not overtly separatist and did not revive the 1st-century dream of an independent Galliarum imperium . (See Julius Sabinus and revolt of the Batavi .) The forms, titles, and administrative structures of Postumus's principate remained conventionally Roman. For four years Gallienus was too distracted by Germanic invasions and other usurpers in the east to address

770-526: The numen of Augustus , came to play a prominent role in public religion in Gaul, most dramatically at the pan-Gaulish ceremony venerating Rome and Augustus at the Condate Altar, near Lugdunum , annually on 1 August. Gregory of Tours recorded the tradition that after the persecution under the co-emperors Decius and Gratus (250–251), the future Pope Felix I sent seven missionaries to re-establish

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840-619: The Alans . The Gaulish language is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture. The last record of spoken Gaulish deemed to be plausibly credible was when Gregory of Tours wrote in the 6th century (c. 560–575) that a shrine in Auvergne which "is called Vasso Galatae in the Gallic tongue" was destroyed and burnt to

910-593: The Aquitanian language , which may have been the parent language of Basque , and parts of the coast near Marseille spoke Ligurian with some Greek-speaking colonies on the Mediterranean coast, notably including Massilia . In the northeastern zone of Belgica , there may have been some presence of Germanic languages , but that is disputed. During the late empire, there was some settlement in Gaul by tribes speaking Germanic or Eastern Iranian languages , such as

980-740: The Crisis of the Third Century , from 260 to 274, Gaul was subject to Alamannic raids during a civil war. In reaction to local problems, the Gallo-Romans appointed their own emperor, Postumus . The rule over Gaul, Britannia and Hispania by Postumus and his successors is usually called the Gallic Empire although it was just one set of many usurpers who took over parts of the Roman Empire and tried to become emperor. The capital

1050-719: The Fondation Pierre Gianadda , a modern museum of art and sculpture shares space with Gallo-Roman Museum centered on the foundations of a Celtic temple. Other sites include: Romanization (cultural) Acculturation proceeded from the top down, with the upper classes adopting Roman culture first and the old ways lingering longest among peasants in outlying countryside and rural areas. Hostages played an important part in this process, as elite children, from Mauretania to Gaul , were taken to be raised and educated in Rome. Ancient Roman historiography and traditional Italian historiography confidently identified

1120-580: The Franks and Alemanni in 262 and 263; following his victory over them in 263, his coin-types celebrated peaceful themes such as Felicitas Augusti for some time. After having spent much of the last four years pushing the Franks out of Gaul, Postumus then recruited Frankish troops to fight against other Franks, probably dispersed within existing Roman army units. Scholars continue to debate whether Postumus originally intended to dislodge Gallienus from Rome or

1190-519: The Franks , would develop into Merovingian culture instead. Roman life, centered on the public events and cultural responsibilities of urban life in the res publica and the sometimes luxurious life of the self-sufficient rural villa system, took longer to collapse in the Gallo-Roman regions, where the Visigoths largely inherited the status quo in 418. The Gallo-Roman language persisted in

1260-530: The Gallo-Italic languages and the Rhaeto-Romance languages . Latin epigraphy in Gaul has peculiarities such as the occasional variant ⟨ Ꟶ ⟩ instead of ⟨H⟩ . Roman culture introduced a new phase of anthropomorphized sculpture to the Gaulish community, synthesized with Celtic traditions of refined metalworking, a rich body of urbane Gallo-Roman silver developed, which

1330-654: The Gallo-Romance dialects which include French and its closest relatives. The influence of substrate languages may be seen in graffiti showing sound changes that matched changes that had occurred earlier in the indigenous languages, especially Gaulish. The Vulgar Latin in the North of Gaul evolved into the langues d'oïl and Franco-Provencal , and the dialects in the South evolved into the modern Occitan and Catalan tongues. Other languages held to be Gallo-Romance include

1400-682: The Greeks . Romanization was largely effective in the western half of the empire, where native civilizations were weaker. In the Hellenized east, ancient civilizations like those of Ancient Egypt , Anatolia , the Balkans , Syria , and Palestine effectively resisted all but its most superficial effects. When the Empire was divided, the east, with mainly Greek culture, was marked by the increasing strength of specifically Greek culture and language to

1470-654: The Iberian Peninsula , Gaul , southern Germany and Dalmatia . Romanization in most of those regions remains such a powerful cultural influence in most aspects of life today that they are described as "Latin countries" and "Latin American countries". That is most evident in European countries in which Romance languages are spoken and former colonies that have inherited the languages and other Roman influences. According to Theodor Mommsen , cultural Romanization

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1540-489: The Rhaeto-Romance languages , Occitano-Romance languages and Gallo-Italic languages . Gaul was divided by Roman administration into three provinces, which were subdivided during the later 3rd-century reorganization under Diocletian , and divided between two dioceses, Galliae and Viennensis, under the Praetorian prefecture of Galliae. On the local level, it was composed of civitates , which preserved, broadly speaking,

1610-507: The Rhine . Amid the chaos of an invasion by the Alamanni and Franks , and spurred on by news of the defeat and capture of Valerian, the army in Gaul revolted and proclaimed Postumus emperor. The trigger was their defeat in 260 of a Juthungian army which was returning from Italy laden with prisoners, even though they had been repulsed by Gallienus at Mediolanum ( Milan ). Under

1680-721: The Vandal and Gothic interlopers. Other bishops drew the faithful to radical asceticism. Bishops often took on the duties of civil administrators after the contraction of the Roman imperial administration during the barbarian invasions of the 5th century by helping fund building projects and even acting as arbiters of justice in the local community. Miracles attributed to both kinds of bishops, as well as holy men and women, attracted cult veneration , sometimes very soon after their death. A great number of locally venerated Gallo-Roman and Merovingian saints arose from 400 to 750. The identification of

1750-613: The Arab   (244–249) Reign of Decius   (249–251) Reign of Trebonianus Gallus   (251–253) Reign of Aemilianus   (253) Reign of Valerian and Gallienus   (253–260) Reign of Gallienus   (260–268) Reign of Claudius Gothicus   (268–270) Reign of Aurelian   (270–275) Reign of Tacitus   (275-276) Reign of Probus   (276-282) Reign of Carus   (282-283) Reign of Carinus   (283-285) Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus ( fl. 259–269)

1820-463: The Empire, Latin had to compete with Greek , which largely kept its position as lingua franca and even spread to new areas. Latin became prominent in certain areas around new veteran colonies like Berytus . The local customary laws were supplanted in part by Roman law , with its institutions regarding property and inheritance. Typically-Roman institutions, such as public baths , the imperial cult and gladiator fights, were adopted. Gradually,

1890-545: The Gallic nations to participate in Roman magistracy. The request having been accepted, the Gauls decided to engrave the imperial speech on bronze. In Metz , once an important town of Gaul , the Golden Courtyard Museums displays a rich collection of Gallo-Roman finds and the vestiges of Gallo-Roman baths, revealed by the extension works to the museums in the 1930s. In Martigny , Valais , Switzerland, at

1960-475: The Gallic tongue" was destroyed and burnt to the ground. Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French, with effects including loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes, and influences in conjugation and word order. The very existence of Romanization is a source of contention among modern archaeologists . One of

2030-470: The Roman Empire) are known to have possessed the rank of colonia. During the empire, colonies were showcases of Roman culture and examples of the Roman way of life. The native population of the provinces could see how they were expected to live. Because of this function, the promotion of a town to the status of "Colonia civium Romanorum" implied that all citizens received full citizen rights and dedicated

2100-674: The Romanization and the Hellenization of the native Semitic peoples . Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe also contributed to the de-Romanization of the Balkans, and the rapid demographic spread of the Slavs was followed by a population exchange, mixing and language shift to and from Slavic . Postumus Year of the Six Emperors   (238) Reign of Gordian III   (238–244) Reign of Philip

2170-521: The achievements of his long reign, Res Gestae Divi Augusti ( The Deeds of the Divine Augustus ), Augustus stated that he had settled 120,000 soldiers in twenty colonies in Italy in 31 BCE, then 100,000 men in colonies in Spain and southern Gaul in 14 BCE, followed by another 96,000 in 2 BCE. Brian Campbell also states "From 49 to 32 BCE about 420,000 Italians were recruited", which would thus be

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2240-435: The advantage over Postumus, but while Gallienus was besieging a city in Gaul (perhaps Augusta Treverorum ), he was wounded and forced to withdraw. After this, Gallienus was occupied with crises in the rest of his empire and did not confront Postumus again. By the end of 265, Postumus's coin issues were triumphantly commemorating the victory over Gallienus, and the festivities celebrating his quinquennalia continued into

2310-576: The ancient authors, who declared that he restored the security that the provinces had enjoyed in the past. So successful was he in the task of stabilizing his domain that the coins issued by Postumus were of better workmanship and higher precious metal content than coins issued by Gallienus. His control of the Spanish and British mining regions was presumably crucial in this regard, as was his employment of master minters who would have come into Gaul with Gallienus. Postumus fought successful campaigns against

2380-570: The bishop and the civil prefect, who operated largely in harmony within the late-imperial administration. Some of the communities had origins that predated the 3rd-century persecutions. The personal charisma of the bishop set the tone, as 5th-century allegiances for pagans and Christians switched from institutions to individuals. Most Gallo-Roman bishops were drawn from the highest levels of society as appropriate non-military civil roads to advancement dwindled, and they represented themselves as bulwarks of high literary standards and Roman traditions against

2450-488: The boundaries of the formerly-independent Gaulish tribes, which had been organised in large part on village structures, which retained some features in the Roman civic formulas that overlaid them. Over the course of the Roman period, an ever-increasing proportion of Gauls gained Roman citizenship . In 212, the Constitutio Antoniniana extended citizenship to all free-born men in the Roman Empire. During

2520-420: The broken and scattered Christian communities: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturninus to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Martial to Limoges and Austromoine to Clermont . In the 5th and the 6th centuries, Gallo-Roman Christian communities still consisted of independent churches in urban sites, each governed by a bishop . Christians experienced loyalties that were divided between

2590-520: The command of Postumus and Marcus Simplicinius Genialis , the Roman army crushed the Juthungi, and Postumus proceeded to distribute the captured spoils to the legions he commanded. Saloninus, on the advice of his praetorian prefect Silvanus (who had coordinated Roman policy in Gaul alongside Postumus), demanded the transfer of the recovered booty to his residence at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium ( Cologne ). Postumus assembled his army and made

2660-603: The conquered would see themselves as Romans. The process was supported by the Roman Republic and then by the Roman Empire . The entire process was facilitated by the Indo-European origin of most of the languages and by the similarity of the gods of many ancient cultures. They also already had trade relations and contacts with one another through the seafaring Mediterranean cultures like the Phoenicians and

2730-578: The detriment of the Latin language and other Romanizing influences, but its citizens continued to regard themselves as Romans. While Britain certainly was Romanized, its approximation to the Roman culture seems to have been smaller than that of Gaul. The most Romanized regions, as demonstrated by Dott. Bernward Tewes and Barbara Woitas of the computing center of the Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, were Italy,

2800-465: The different processes involved with a "civilization of barbarians". Modern historians take a more nuanced view: by making their peace with Rome, local elites could make their position more secure and reinforce their prestige. New themes include the study of personal and group values and the construction of identity, which is the personal aspect of ethnogenesis . The transitions operated differently in different provinces; as Blagg and Millett point out even

2870-530: The diocesan administration with the secular community, which took place during the 5th century in Italy, can best be traced in the Gallo-Roman culture of Gaul in the career of Caesarius , bishop and Metropolitan of Arles from 503 to 543. (Wallace-Hadrill). Before the Roman incursion, most of Gaul spoke Celtic dialects that are now considered to be the Gaulish language with considerable variation . The south-western region that would later become Gascony spoke

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2940-584: The emperor Valerian to the position of imperial legate of Germania Inferior . Postumus was evidently in favour at court, and, according to König, was granted an honorary consulship. By 259, Valerian was campaigning in the east against the Persians, while his son and co-emperor Gallienus was preoccupied with the situation on the Danubian frontier . Consequently, Gallienus left his son, Saloninus , and military commanders, including Postumus, to protect

3010-489: The end of summer in 268, Gallienus was assassinated, and his successor, Claudius II , captured and killed Aureolus. At the same time, a sequence of events began which would end Postumus's rule in Gaul. Postumus assumed his fifth consulship on 1 January 269, but the army in Germania Superior raised a usurper in early 269. Laelianus , one of Postumus's top military leaders and the governor of Germania Superior,

3080-465: The extinction of all aspects of native cultures even when there was extensive acculturation. Many non-Latin provincial languages survived the entire period while sustaining considerable Latin influence, including the ancestor languages of Welsh, Albanian , Basque and Berber . Where there was language replacement, in some cases, such as Italy, it took place in the early imperial stage, while in others, native languages only totally succumbed to Latin after

3150-416: The fall of the Empire, as was likely the case with Gaulish. The Gaulish language is thought to have survived into the 6th century in France, despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture. The last record of spoken Gaulish deemed to be plausibly credible was when Gregory of Tours wrote in the 6th century ( c.  560 –575) that a shrine in Auvergne which "is called Vasso Galatae in

3220-525: The first approaches, which now can be regarded as the "traditional" approach, was taken by Francis Haverfield . He saw this process beginning in primarily post-conquest societies (such as Britain and Gaul ), where direct Roman policy from the top promoted an increase in the Roman population of the province through the establishment of veteran colonies. The coloniae would have spoken Latin and been citizens of Rome following their army tenure (See Roman citizenship ). Haverfield thus assumes this would have

3290-462: The following year. Very little troubled the reign of Postumus from 265 to 268; archaeological evidence, such as it is, points to a general return to peace and normalcy. In 266, Postumus became consul for the fourth time, taking as his colleague Marcus Piavonius Victorinus , a Gallic noble who was also a senior military officer; his selection to such a high-profile position may be seen as an attempt to broaden Postumus's base of support. The year 268 saw

3360-402: The ground. Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French, with effects including loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes, and influences in conjugation and word order. The Vulgar Latin in the region of Gallia took on a distinctly local character, some of which is attested in graffiti, which evolved into

3430-410: The highly-Romanized governing class is examined by R.W. Mathisen, the struggles of bishop Hilary of Arles by M. Heinzelmann. Into the 7th century, Gallo-Roman culture would persist particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into Occitania , Cisalpine Gaul , Orléanais , and to a lesser degree, Gallia Aquitania . The formerly-Romanized northern Gaul, once it had been occupied by

3500-426: The issuing of the 'Labours of Hercules' series of gold coins in honour of Postumus's favourite god. A sudden debasement of the coinage later that year shows that Postumus was facing increasing financial difficulties, due perhaps to a disruption of silver production in the Spanish mines or the need to buy off an increasingly discontented army. Such discontent was probably due to Postumus's failure to take advantage of

3570-560: The murders. Later he erected a triumphal arch to celebrate his victory. Postumus was immediately recognized as emperor in Gaul (except perhaps for the province of Gallia Narbonensis ), Germania Superior and Inferior , and Raetia . By 261, Britannia, Narbonensis and Hispania also acknowledged him as emperor, possibly after an expedition to Britain in the winter of 260–261. He established his capital in northern Gaul, probably at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium or Augusta Treverorum ( Trier ), and furnished his government with many of

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3640-759: The northeast into the Silva Carbonaria , which formed an effective cultural barrier with the Franks to the north and the east, and in the northwest to the lower valley of the Loire , where Gallo-Roman culture interfaced with Frankish culture in a city like Tours and in the person of that Gallo-Roman bishop confronted with Merovingian royals, Gregory of Tours . Based upon mutual intelligibility , David Dalby counts seven languages descended from Gallo-Romance: Gallo-Wallon , French , Franco-Provençal (Arpitan), Romansh , Ladin , Friulian , and Lombard . However, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing

3710-518: The provinces ( Salus Provinciarum ) on some of his coins; prior to 10 December 261, he also took the title of Germanicus maximus , a title he earned after successfully defending Gaul against the Germans. His principal objective in assuming the purple appeared to be the restoration and defence of the Rhine frontier and the surrounding area, a task that he approached with vigour, earning the admiration of

3780-637: The remains of the theater and odeon of Roman Lugdunum . Visitors are offered a clear picture of the daily life, economic conditions, institutions, beliefs, monuments and artistic achievements of the first four centuries of the Christian era . The "Claudius Tablet" in the Museum transcribes a speech given before the Senate by the Emperor Claudius in 48, in which he requests the right for the heads of

3850-466: The romanization process was the "Spread of Catholicism ". Christianity actually is centered in Rome, and believes that a Roman Bishop is the supreme head of Christianity: the spread of Roman Catholicism corresponds with the spread of a Latinized "Western" cultural mindset and generally of the spread of the Romance languages, all based on Latin. Roman names were adopted by some, and the Latin language

3920-411: The situation to his north and west, but in 265 he launched a campaign to defeat Postumus. His first attempt failed when Postumus managed to escape from a precarious situation due to the carelessness of Gallienus's cavalry commander Aureolus . Aureolus was punished with demotion, eventually leading him to turn against Gallienus in 267. A second campaign, led by Gallienus himself, also seemed to have

3990-494: The smith-god Gobannus , but of the Celtic deities, only the horse-patroness Epona penetrated Romanized cultures beyond the confines of Gaul. The barbarian invasions began in the late 3rd century and forced upon Gallo-Roman culture fundamental changes in politics, economic underpinning and military organization. The Gothic settlement of 418 offered a double loyalty, as Western Roman authority disintegrated at Rome. The plight of

4060-734: The three Gauls were bound together in a network of Roman roads , which linked cities. Via Domitia (laid out in 118 BC), reached from Nîmes to the Pyrenees , where it joined the Via Augusta at the Col de Panissars . Via Aquitania reached from Narbonne , where it connected to the Via Domitia, to the Atlantic Ocean through Toulouse to Bordeaux . Via Scarponensis connected Trier to Lyon through Metz . At Périgueux , France,

4130-553: The town of Deuso, located in or near Batavian territory and likely to be identified with modern-day Diessen ; it has been hypothesized that Postumus himself was born in Deuso. From these relatively obscure provincial origins, Postumus would have risen through the ranks of the army until he held command of the Roman forces "... among the Celts". What his precise title was is not definitely known, though he may plausibly have been promoted by

4200-556: The traditional Roman legislative and executive structures. Apart from the position of emperor , he immediately assumed the office of consul alongside a colleague, Honoratianus . Like his imperial predecessors, he became the pontifex maximus of the state and assumed tribunician power each year. He is thought to have established a senate , perhaps on the basis of the Council of the Three Gauls or provincial councils, and

4270-540: The upheavals of the 3rd and the 5th centuries motivated hiding away in hoards , which have protected some pieces of Gallo-Roman silver, from villas and temple sites, from the universal destruction of precious metalwork in circulation. The exhibition of Gallo-Roman silver highlighted specifically Gallo-Roman silver from the treasures found at Chaourse (Aisne), Mâcon (Saône et Loire), Graincourt-lès-Havrincourt (Pas de Calais), Notre-Dame d'Allençon (Maine-et-Loire) and Rethel (Ardennes, found in 1980). The two most Romanized of

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4340-520: The veteran (citizen) stock that was largely sent to the provinces (colonies) during Augustus. The Lex Calpurnia, however, also allowed citizenship to be granted for distinguished bravery. For example, the 1,000 socii from Camerinum after Vercellae 101 BCE (Plutarch Mar. XXXVIII) and the auxiliary (later Legio XXII Deiotariana ) after Zela , got Roman citizenship. By the time of Augustus, the legions consisted mostly of ethnic Latins/Italics and Cisalpine Gauls. However, Romanization did not always result in

4410-416: Was Trier , which was used as the northern capital of the Roman Empire by many emperors. The Gallic Empire ended when Aurelian decisively defeated Tetricus I at Chalons. The pre-Christian religious practices of Roman Gaul were characterized by syncretism of Graeco-Roman deities with their native Celtic , Basque or Germanic counterparts, many of which were of strictly local significance. Assimilation

4480-419: Was a Roman commander of Batavian origin, who ruled as emperor of the splinter state of the Roman Empire known to modern historians as the Gallic Empire . The Roman army in Gaul threw off its allegiance to Gallienus around the year 260, and Postumus assumed the title and powers of Emperor in the provinces of Gaul , Germania , Britannia , and Hispania . He ruled for the better part of ten years before he

4550-596: Was content to rule only the western provinces. From the beginning of his usurpation, Postumus had made it clear that his priority was for Gaul, and that he had no immediate intentions to make a bid for Rome. Postumus's power base was Gaul and his main responsibility was the defense of the Rhine provinces. If he marched against Gallienus, then he would be exposing his heartland not only to the Germanic tribes but also potentially to any number of usurpers. Perhaps he hoped to achieve some official recognition from Gallienus; what

4620-477: Was declared emperor in Mogontiacum (Mainz) by the local garrison and surrounding troops ( Legio XXII Primigenia ). Within a few months, Postumus was able to capture Mogontiacum and kill Laelianus. His army wanted to sack the defeated city, and when Postumus tried to restrain them, the soldiers turned on him and killed him. The mutineers set up Marius , a common soldier, as emperor. Marius held sway for

4690-481: Was eased by interpreting indigenous gods in Roman terms , such as with Lenus Mars or Apollo Grannus . Otherwise, a Roman god might be paired with a native goddess, as with Mercury and Rosmerta . In at least one case, that of the equine goddess Epona , a native Gallic goddess was also adopted by Rome. Eastern mystery religions penetrated Gaul early on, which included the cults of Orpheus , Mithras , Cybele and Isis . The imperial cult , centred primarily on

4760-670: Was more complete in those areas that developed a "neolatin language" (like Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian). The same process later developed in the recent centuries' colonial empires. The regions of Levant and Mesopotamia were re-Semiticized by the Arab conquests of the Rashidun and the Umayyad Caliphates and into the Abbasid Caliphate after centuries of Roman rule. The conquests reversed

4830-459: Was murdered by his own troops. Little is known about the early life of Postumus. He has been claimed as being of Batavian origin; certainly his coinage honors deities— Hercules Magusanus and Hercules Deusoniensis—who would have been popular among the Batavians. Hercules Magusanus was probably an interpretatio romana translation of the Germanic deity Þunraz . Deusoniensis may refer to

4900-461: Was spread, which was greatly facilitated by the fact that many cultures were mostly oral (particularly for the Gauls and Iberians ). Anyone who wanted to deal (through writing) with the bureaucracy and/or with the Roman market had to write in Latin. The extent of the adoption is subject to ongoing debate, as the native languages were certainly spoken after the conquests. Moreover, in the eastern half of

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