Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/226

 QAUIA TBANS, to that which protected all the other finmtien of the empire. Plinj (it. 17) and Ptolemy (u. 9) include the Leoci, Lingonee, Sequani, and Helvetit in Belgicu, which waa true for their time ; but it is not known when thia change wa« made. The commander in Belgica and on the Bheniiih frontier had not only the Belgica of Augustus under him, but the four peoples which have just been mentioned. Thus Celtica was a second time reduced in its extent, the fitBt reduction being that made by Augustus. Bat Trsnealpine (UlUa still consisted of four great divi- Bioos,-»Narboiiensis, Aquitania, Celtica, a^ Belgian These are the divuions in the geography of Ptolemy. But he places in Belgica, or, as he calls it, KcA>to. yaXMria BcAyunf, two subdiviiiims,— Germania In- fiurior (i^ im(t«), and Germania Superior (^ Ayt). His Germania Inferior extended along the Rhine from the sea to the river Obrincus ; but we do not know what river Ptolemy means. The southern limit, however, is fixed by the towns that he men- tions. Mqguntiacum (Maint) is the furthest town to the south. From the Obrincus southward he enu- mentes, in Germania Superior, the Nemetes, Van- giones, Tribooci, and Rauraci. The Tribucci were on the Gallic side in Caesar's time ; the other three tribes came over afterwards. The most southern town in Ptolemy's Germania Superior wss Augusta Baurscorum (A%iff$t a little higher up the Rhine than Basilia (Bdle), The Germaniae, in fact, were peopled by transplanted Germanic peoples, who were under a military government This will explain Pliny« when he says that Belgica extended from the Schelde to the Seiae t he means that the part be- tween the Schelde and the Rhine was occupied by Germanic peoples. The establishment of the Ger- maniae belongs to the time of Augustus. They an mentioned by Tacitus (^Atm. iii. 41, iv. 73); but Dion Cassius (liii. 18, Iv. 23) assigns the forma- tion of the Germaniae to Augustus. We learn from Tacitus that Drusus and Germanicus had the command both of Belgica and the Germaniae. At a later period (^Atm. xiii. 53) he speaks of Aelius GraciUs, as legatus of Belgica, and of L. Vetus, as oommanduig in the Germania Superior. Vetus (a. d. 59) wished to join the Sa&ne and the MohI by a canal, in order that there might be a water com- municatim between the Mediterranean and the North Sea, up the Rhone and the Sa£n«% and down the Mo$el and the Rhine. Gracilis would not let Vetus bring his legions into his province of Bel* gica; and the canal was not made. The Germaniae then had at this time a distinct administration ; but t his division existed, as it appears from other passages, even in the time of Tiberius. Three Alpine provinces are mentioned. On the authority of Dion Cassius (liv. 24), it is said that AngustoB formed the Alpes BiUritimae into a ]in>vinoe. In A. d. 63 Nero certainly gave them the Latinitas or Jus Latii (Tacit. Ann, xv. 32) ; «nd in a. D. 69 they formed a province, for they were then governed by a procurator (Tacit. Hist, U. 12). The Alpes Cottiae formed a kingdom under Cot<- tius, an Alpine chief, imtil the time of Nero, who made this country into a province. (Sueton. Nero^ c 18.) It consisted of fourteen communities, and ooenpied a tract on both sides of the Alps. The chief place was Segusio (JSmm) on the Italian side. The Alpes Penninae are mentioned as a province under the later Empire. 6AIXU TRAKS. 967 In the Geography of Ptolemy all these parts of the Alps are included in Italy. They were not united to Gallia until after the time of Oonstantine, as some modem writers maintain. At the very commencement of the administiation of Tiberius, the successor of Augustus, Gallia gave a sign of what might be expected from the legions of the Rhine, who were then distributed in two camps, an upper and a lower. Germanicus, the nephew of Tiberius, was busied with the census of the Galliae when the news arrived of the death of Augustus. (Tac ^fin. i. 31.) The soldiers on the Rhine were dissatisfied ; they broke out into mutiny, and Ger- manicus with great difficulty reduced them to obe- dience. Some of them would have had him assume the imperial power, the first indication that is men- tioned of the legions assuming to name a successor to the power uf Augustus. In ▲. d. 21 there was a rising in Gallia headed by Julius Florus among the Treviri, and Julius Sacrovir among the Aedui, those brothers of the Roman people, who were their most uncertain friends. (Tac Ann iii. 40.) Both these men were Galli of noble rank, and Roman citizens, a personal distinction that had been conferred on some of their ancestors, after Roman fashion, fw their ser- vices, which means their fidelity to Roman interests. The taxation, the heavy rate of interest with which they were loaded, and the tyranny of their governors, were the alleged causes of this rebellion of the GallL Both oommuuities and individuals, under Roman d(»ninion, were always complaining of debt. We do not know what particular contributioDs oppressed the Gallic states; but it seems probable that the great works undertaken by the towns, probably by the order of the governors, may have been one cause of debt Temples and other public buildings rose up all over the country, and must have cost immense sums. Works of moro direct public utility also, such as bridges, roads, and aqueducts, of which there aro so many traces in France, could not have been ac- complished without a very large expenditure. The Romans embellished and improved Uie country, but the people paid dear for it. Gallia not only had to supply all its own expenditure, but to fm-nish con- tributions to the empire. This rising, which, if the beginning had been more successful, might have ended in a general rebellion, had no results. The Andecavi, and Turonii or Turones, m the Loire, who were the first to begin, were soon put down. Florua did not succeed in stirring up the Treviri, though he made a beguming in true Gallic style by mur- dering some Roman **negotiatores;" these men of money, who settled themselves in every place where gain was to be got A body of debtors and clients, as they are called, — ^needy dependents, — fled into the Ardaine9f a country which in some parts, even at the present day, is no bad place of refuge. Another Julius, named Indus, also a Trevir, and an enemy of Florus, helped to put down the rising, which ended by Florus killing himself. Among the Aedui the matter was more serious. Sacrovir was defeated by the Roman commander C. Silius, near Augustodunnm, in a pttdied battle. He retired to his vilU with his most faithful adherents, and there he died by his own hands. His men killed one another ; and the house, which they had set on fire, omsumed them all. This is a sample of Gallic desperation, which is a part of the national character. Caius Caesar, named Caligula, the successor of Tiberius, went into Gallia, but be did nothing except exhibit his madness and brutality at Lugdonum. 3<) 4