07-26-2002, 01:18 AM
I'm probably placing my neck firmly on the chopping block by saying this (yup, I'm talking to you Tim ) but the notion of Germanic Gauls seems quite plausible to me. After all, the only division between Gaul and Germany is the Rhine-- cultural exchange would be inevitable. Also, I think it is evident that there were REAL Germans residing on Gallic land in large numbers. Caesar himself mentions this, stating that after hiring themseves out as mercenaries to the Arverni and Sequani, the Germans developed a liking for the more settled Gallic lifestyle:<br>
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"A contingent of about fifteen thousand had crossed the Rhine; but when the uncivilized barbarians had acquired a taste for residence in Gaul, with its good land and high standard of life, more were brought over, and there were at present about a hundred and twenty thousand of them in the country." (I.31)<br>
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And after all, we have to remember the purpose of Caesar's campaign against Ariovistus-- to prevent the Germans from swallowing up all of Gaul!<br>
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"For the German king Ariovistus had settled in their [the Sequani] territory and seized a third of their land - the best in all Gaul. And now he was bidding them to evacuate another third, because a few months previously he had been joined by twenty-four thousand men of the Harudes, and must find them a home to settle in. In a few years time the whole population of Gaul would be expatriated and all the Germans would migrate across the Rhine."<br>
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I do think that Caesar is exagerating a bit, the concept remains intact-- Germans did live in Gaul.<br>
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<br>
"A contingent of about fifteen thousand had crossed the Rhine; but when the uncivilized barbarians had acquired a taste for residence in Gaul, with its good land and high standard of life, more were brought over, and there were at present about a hundred and twenty thousand of them in the country." (I.31)<br>
<br>
And after all, we have to remember the purpose of Caesar's campaign against Ariovistus-- to prevent the Germans from swallowing up all of Gaul!<br>
<br>
"For the German king Ariovistus had settled in their [the Sequani] territory and seized a third of their land - the best in all Gaul. And now he was bidding them to evacuate another third, because a few months previously he had been joined by twenty-four thousand men of the Harudes, and must find them a home to settle in. In a few years time the whole population of Gaul would be expatriated and all the Germans would migrate across the Rhine."<br>
<br>
I do think that Caesar is exagerating a bit, the concept remains intact-- Germans did live in Gaul.<br>
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