Bruges, Belgium: Image by Slavisa Grcic on Google Maps
Upon first contact in BCE 58 the local tribes accepted Rome’s outstretched hand. By BCE 56 they had realised its reality. The Coriosolitae, Veneti, Osismi and Namnetes, the Esuvii, Lexovii, Ambiliati and Diablintes, joined with the more distant Morini and Menappi in a massive uprising. These tribes held territories along the coast, they had powerful fleets… and trade links with Britain that were about to be broken.
Rome’s response was effective. While Caesar attacked the rebel coalition on land, a Roman fleet attacked by sea. The alliance fleet of 220 ships relied entirely upon their sails. Alas, during the decisive battle, the wind suddenly failed them.
Caesar claims to have executed the alliance’s councillors and to have sold the remaining rebels into slavery. But apart from the unlikely situation of a total clearance of the coastal strip from the Rhine around to the Loire, the archaeological evidence says otherwise.
149 words written for What Pegman Saw: Bruges, Belgium
A narrative taken from The Bretons (Patrick Galliou and Michael Jones, 1991, available on Amazon) supplemented by relevant articles on Wikipedia, and notes from Barry Cunliffe’s Facing The Ocean (2001) – plus notes acquired over the past two and a half decades of personal research.
The Morini and Menappi occupied what now is Belgium.
crispina kemp 
So then am I to believe Belgans have their roots in Italy? I always thought they were German…
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No, not at all. Not unless you want to equate *conquered* with ethnic cleansing. Though it must be said, the Romans weren’t above that. Plenty of evidence to the effect, and indeed Caesar bragged of it.
Now, I’d say today’s Belgiums share a high %DNA with English, French, German and Netherlanders, for the simple reason the same tribes conquered all… after the Roman withdrew
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Lying politicians are nothing new.
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Absolutely not. I believe it’s part of the definition.
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And I’m sure the wind failing the fleet was taken as a sign by the Romans – they were very keen on omens and auguries I believe, Though I’m sure the local tribes watched the skies, the weather, entrails too. Interesting to read how often the Roman’s foes were mighty, fierce, almost unconquerable … until the Romans arrived of course. But then, who wants to admit to beating an unworthy foe. History is written by the winners – as Churchill said ‘History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.’
Fascinating slice of the past, Crispina
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Caesar was a politician, seeking votes in the senate. His words must be taken with plenty of salt. But unfortunately, his are the only words we have on the subject.
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That’s the thing isn’t it, the reason the Romans loom so large in our consciousness – they were such damned good record keepers.
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While the Celts composed verses. And slay the versifiers and what have you left? Yet much has come down to us by way of folk lore. If we care to trust it
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That’s the thing, isn’t it, the Romans were good at writing things down while many cultures they conquered were still using oral history as a way to communicate their past. And once the line is dead …
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Yet the Romans… and Greeks and others… did record a certain amount as *recounted* by their barbaric neighbours. You just have to allow for biases 🙂
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Read between the chiselled lines of text
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Indeed…. but even that most iconic image of the Dying Gaul was Roman propaganda. I almost cried when I learned that.
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Aye, Caesar accepted all sorts of “submissions” by Gallic tribes in order to look good back in Rome, since he never knew when his enemies would try to move against him. This no doubt explains the repeated rebellions in almost every region of Gaul within a few years of its initial “conquest:” Caesar had gains tokens of submission, but not the substance.
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As far as I remember — not that I lived through those days — he was very good at forging alliances only then to finding reason to trample over the treaty. Cos what does victory make? Victory makes status!
And we can’t blame Caesar for adhering to the ethos of the day.
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And, related techniques:
1. Make an alliance with a deposed chief/king or claimant, then wage war against the tribe. Claudius used this as one of his reasons for invading Britain.
2. Find two groups who are quarreling with each other, then make an alliance with one, which gives you a reason to fight a war against the other. The Romans did this with Saguntum, which was in conflict with Carthage, bringing on the 2nd Punic War.
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Devious bastards, weren’t they. Yet William (who bears that name) who was so keen on Roman tactics, didn’t actually use such devices.
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Great slice of history 🙂
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I thank you. You might guess it was research I’d already done, with the original focus on Britanny.
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An interesting snippet of history. I wonder what the world would have been like if the Roman Empire had never existed?
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Gosh, that’s a hard one. Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Anatolia, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, Aquitania, Etruscans, Celts from Western Atlantic shore through to Phrygia, the Germanic tribes… Yea, how to evaluate the potential effects of Rome on these?
The Celts had what might be seen as an Empire. Without Rome… they might have tried again to occupy the Seven Hills. Perhaps the West would be speaking Irish! Who knows.
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Fascinating!
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🙂
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Fascinating stuff, Crispina. I especially loved the detail where “the wind suddenly failed them.” Makes me wonder how many things could have landed differently but for the weather.
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Oh, I think the Romans still would have conquered. Their war machine had a discipline that the Celts (Gauls) lacked. Although the Germanic tribes slaughtered them in a massive ambush. Aye, and led by a warrior who’d been Roman-trained.
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Interesting history lesson. I wasn’t aware of that background.
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It’s part of research I did for the history of Brittany.
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The thorough research definitely shows.,
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I thank you. It was good to find a reason to use some of it.
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Always a fascinating trip down the historical road with you. The comments were great too!
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That Caesar was a mofo. I listened to a podcast (so yeah, crappy armchair expert, I suppose?), and he seems to have been pretty brutal with the Celts.
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I doubt Caesar was worse than his fellow Romans. By then Rome already had its back to the wall. To keep the empire alive, it must keep expanding, for with expansion came fresh slaves, and booty, and new foreign fields to yield up more grain for the growing popular, and fresh troops for the army. Rome was a machine that had to keep moving, couldn’t sit back on its laurels. The Celts were merely one more unfortunate people. I’ve never been fond of Roman policy.
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