The Tribes
How many Celtic tribes were there in Gaul?
Strabo’s Geography (2.4.3) describes some 28 Gallic tribes that lived along the Rhone, Saone and Seine Rivers and several borders of Gaul. He mentions them in this order:
- beginning with the Segusiavi of Lugdunum
- Aedui with their hillfort or oppidum at Bibracte
- Sequani who were at loggerheads with their Aedui neighbours
- Helvetti who lived near the Swiss Alps
- Mediomatrici close to the Rhine and Germanic tribes
- Lingones just west of the Sequani in central Gaul
- Leuci just north of the Lingones
- Strabo returns to Lugdunum area to describe the Allobroges to the east of Lugdunum
- Arverni and Canutes to the west of Lugdunum are added
- Trebocchi and Treveri both in the north of Gaul get a brief mention
- Many others follow too such as the Nervii, Senones, Remi, Atrebatii, Eburones, Menapii, Morini, Bellovaci, Ambiani, Suessiones, Caleti ,Parisii, Meldi and the Lexovii.
Strabo and other ancient sources’ tribal descriptions are mainly based on geographical and ethnic terms. Caesar divided Gaul into three ethnic tribal groups: Celtae, Aquitani and Belgae.
Augustus was to use Caesar’s ethnic/territorial tribal divisions as the basis of his reorganisation of Gaul in 27 B.C. into the so-called ‘Trois Gaules’ or Three Gauls: Lugdenensis, Aquitania and Belgica. The Roman civitas (capital) of the Three Gauls was Lugdunum. Here the 60 tribes of Gaul were proclaimed. Their council met annually to elect priests especially to the Altar of Augustus and Rome that was inaugurated in 12 B.C.
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