allia Narbonensis

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Provincia Gallia Narbonensis
Province of the Roman Empire
121 BC[1]5th century ?
Location of Gallia Narbonensis
The province of Gallia Narbonensis within the Roman Empire, c. 117 AD
Capital Narbo Martius
Historical era Antiquity
Established 121 BC[1]
Visigothic conquest 5th century
Today part of France
Italy
Monaco

The Roman Provinces in Gaul around 58 BC; note that the coastline shown here is the
modern one, different from the ancient coastline in some parts of the English
Channel

The Roman Province of Gallia Narbonensis in 20 BC

Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for Gaul of Narbonne, from its chief settlement)[n 1] was
a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France.
It was also known as Provincia Nostra (Our Province), from its having been the
first Roman province north of the Alps, and as Gallia Transalpina (Transalpine
Gaul), distinguishing it from Cisalpine Gaul in northern Italy. It became a Roman
province in the late 2nd century BC. Its boundaries were roughly defined by the
Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Cvennes and Alps to the north and west. The
western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as Septimania.

Contents [hide]
1 Names
2 Founding
3 Later history
4 List of Proconsular governors of Gallia Narbonensis
5 Notes
6 References
7 Further reading
Names[edit]
The province of Gallia Transalpina (Transalpine Gaul) was later renamed Gallia
Narbonensis, after its newly established capital of Colonia Narbo Martius
(colloquially known as Narbo, at the location of the modern Narbonne), a Roman
colony founded on the coast in 118 BC. The Romans had called it Provincia Nostra
(our province) or simply Provincia (the province). The term has survived in the
modern French and Occitan names of the eastern part of the area (French Provence,
Occitan Provena), now a rgion of France.

Founding[edit]
By the mid-2nd century BC, Rome was trading heavily with the Greek colony of
Massalia (modern Marseille) on the southern coast of Gaul. Massalia, founded by
colonists from Phocaea, was by this point centuries old and quite prosperous. Rome
entered into an alliance with Massalia, by which it agreed to protect the town from
local Gauls, nearby Aquitani, sea-borne Carthaginians and other rivals, in exchange
for a small strip of land that it wanted in order to build a road to Hispania, to
assist in troop transport. The Massalians, for their part, cared more for their
economic prosperity than they did for territorial integrity.

In this strip of land, the Romans founded the town of Narbonne in 118 BC. At the
same time, they built the Via Domitia, the first Roman road in Gaul, connecting
Gaul to Hispania, and the Via Aquitania, which led toward the Atlantic through
Tolosa (Toulouse) and Burdigala (Bordeaux). Thus the Romans built a crossroads that
made Narbonne an optimal trading center, and Narbonne became a major trading
competitor to Massalia. From Narbonne, the Romans established the province of
Transalpine Gaul, later called Gallia Narbonensis.

During this period, the Mediterranean settlements on the coast were threatened by
the powerful Gallic tribes to the north, especially the tribes known as the Arverni
and the Allobroges. In 123 BC, the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus (later
additionally named Allobrogicus) campaigned in the area and defeated the Allobroges
and the Arverni under King Bituitus. This defeat substantially weakened the Arverni
and ensured the further security of Gallia Narbonensis.

Later history[edit]
Control of the province, which bordered directly on Italia, gave the Roman state
several advantages control of the land route between Italy and the Iberian
peninsula; a territorial buffer against Gallic attacks on Italy; and control of the
lucrative trade routes of the Rhne valley between Gaul and the markets of
Massalia. It was from the capital of Narbonne that Julius Caesar began his Gallic
Wars.

The area became a Roman province in 121 BC,[1] originally under the name Gallia
Transalpina (Transalpine Gaul). The name distinguished it from Cisalpine Gaul on
the near side of the Alps to Rome. In 40 BC, during the Second Triumvirate, Lepidus
was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), while
Mark Antony was given the balance of Gaul.[2]

Emperor Diocletian's administrative reorganization of the Empire in c.?AD 314

merged the provinces Gallia Narbonensis and Gallia Aquitania into a new
administrative unit called Dioecesis Viennensis (Diocese of Vienne) with the
capital more to the north in Vienne. The new diocese's name was later changed to
Dioecesis Septem Provinciarum (Diocese of the Seven Provinces), indicating that
Diocletian had demoted the word province to mean a smaller subdivision than in
traditional usage.

Galla Narbonensis and surrounding areas were incorporated into the Visigothic
Kingdom between AD 462 and 477, permanently ending Roman political control. After
the Gothic takeover, the Visigothic dominions were to be generally known as
Septimania, while to the east of the lower Rhone the term Provence came into use.