In 118 BC, Rome founded its first colonia (veteran's town) in Gaul at Narbo Martius (Narbonne). Its province of Transalpina, later renamed Narbonensis (today's Provence), extended from the Maritime Alps westward to the Pyrenees, and north to Lake Geneva. After the Cimbric Wars, Germano-Celtic uprisings that occurred between 109-101 BC, regular Roman trade and organization became more secure.
Between about 120-60 BC, many of the central Gallic cultural regions bordering Transalpina to the north, including Arverni, Bituriges, Aedui, Sequani, and Helvetii had begun to organize themselves into rudimentary state governments, undoubtedly influenced by their proximity to the Roman province. Each civitas, or individual Gallic polity, elected a chief magistrate whom the Romans monitored to prevent the possibility of a dictatorship. Various Gallic civitates began issuing their own coins to help facilitate trade. Civitates were divided by Gauls into smaller units (pagi), each having at least one trade center at oppida (hillforts), and many urban centers began to prosper from trade with the south. Such administrative zones were later retained under Roman rule. Bibracte, the somewhat remotely located capital of the Aedui (later replaced by Autun), became one such successful Gallic oppidum. Here, trade thrived on the distribution of Roman wine. Quantities of amphora from long-distance trade shows Gaul was becoming integrated into the Roman economic system by the early 1st century BC .
Caesar and the Gallic Wars (58-50 BC): Soon after Caesar became consul of Cisalpine Gaul in 59 BC, he also gained command of Transalpine Gaul, the province comprising the southern coast of France and the lower Rhône Valley. A year later, he began eight successive campaigns in Gaul and Britain known as the Gallic Wars. To the north and west were lands considered barbarian, collectively called Gallia Comata, or "long-haired Gaul," which contained large parts of modern France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. Caesar's opening to his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars that "Gaul is divided into three parts" refers specifically to cultural subdivisions within Gallia Comata. Furthest north were the Belgae, north and west of the Marne and Seine rivers. Next mentioned were the Aquitani, living between the Garonne river and the Pyrenees Mountains. The largest group, the Celtae, inhabited the remainder of Gallia Comata (fig.1). Archaeological investigation has supported Caesar's original cultural separation between the Celtae, Belgae and Aquitani (Cunliffe 1988). A further tripartite regional subdivision, however, can also be made within Caesar's large central area of the Celtae, into Armorican Gaul, eastern Gaul, and central Gaul. Effective native resistance in Gaul ended after 52 BC when the leader Vercingetorix was defeated by Caesar at Alésia. Three years later, during the Roman Civil War, Caesar captured the Greek cities of Massalia and St.-Blaise, and in 46 BC was formally declared triumphant in Gaul.
Augustan Administration of Gaul: Full-scale integration of Gaul into the Roman system began with the census of 27 BC. Over the next fifteen years, Augustus and his legions stabilized frontiers and reorganized Gaul's boundaries by building roads, establishing a system of tax-collection, and founding colonies at strategic locations. Gallia Cisalpina was broken up into three small provinces of Alpes Maritimae, Alpes Cottiae and Alpes Poeniae, plus a section added to Italy.
Extensive information taken from the census allowed the boundaries of the civitates to be more standardized. Throughout Gaul, new cities from Augustodonum Aeduorum (Autun) to Augusta Treverorum (Trier) were founded as local administrative centers. In Narbonensis, new cities that joined Narbo Martius included Forum Julii (Fréjus) in 49 BC, Arelate (Arles) in 46 BC, and Baeterrae (Béziers) in 36 BC. Outside of Narbonensis, Romanization was slower, with only two coloniae besides Lugdunum immediately founded: Noviodunum (Nyon) on Lake Léman; and Raurica (Augst) on the Rhine. In many cases, such as the locally effective pagi units, the Gallic civitas or native state was simply incorporated into the Roman system of government. Roman immigrants soon populated the towns alongside many natives who were given full rights of citizenship. The standard blueprint for a Roman town (fig.2: Narbonne) included a grid plan, based on an axis of two main streets, cardo (north-south) and decumanus (east-west), enclosed by a wall. At the town center was a forum or market, a law court basilica, a curia or meeting hall, often a horreum or grain warehouse, and the Capitolium for official state worship of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Sophisticated public amenities included aqueducts and bath complexes, plus the social entertainments of theater and amphitheater. Deep-rooted native elements such as Gallic religious cults, however, persisted in temples which often combined Celtic and Roman gods including Mercury.
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