Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/227

 968 GALLIA TRANS His uncle ClaudioH, who saccceded Caius, was born at Lagdannm, on the day in which the altar at Lug- dnnum was dedicated to Augustus. (Sneton. Claud. c. 2.) This learned pedant and imperial fool wished to extirpate the old Gallic religion, and he commenced a furious persecution of the Druids. His biographer (Sueton. Claud, c. 25) says that he completely abo- lished the religicMi of the Druids. Augustus had gone no further than to forbid Roman citizens em- bracing this superstition. Pliny ascribes the extir- pation of Druidism to Tiberius Caesar; but what- ever these emperora may have intended to do, they did not succeed. Claudius was the first Rmnan emperor who set foot in Britun. Anlus Plautius, his general, was already there, and engaged in active warfare. The emperor lauded at Hassilia, whence he went by land to Gcsoriacnm, aftenranls Bononia (^Boulogne), and from Boulogne he crossed the straits. Boulogne became from this time a Roman port, and the usual place of embarkation for Britain. Claudms crossed the Thames with his army, and took Camalodunum, the town of king Cunobelin. He was only sixteen days in Britain, and on his return he had a triumuh for the victories which bis general had gained. (Dion Cass. Ix. 19 23.) It was probably when Claudius was in Gallia that the chief persons (primores) of Gallia Comata, ** having," as Tacitus says (Atm. xi. 23) " long ago had treaties with Rome (foedera) and the Roman civitas, claimed the privilege of obtaining the honores at Rome." This passage of Tacitus has sometimes been misunder- stood. The " civitas ** had not been given to any of the states of Gallia Cumata ; but some of the chiefs had obtained the Roman civitas, as we have seen in ' the examples of Floi-us and Sacrovir. But it appears from this passage, that it was not the complete civitas, for they had not Access to the high offices at Rome and the senate ; and yet the Roman ** civitas " implies both the 6u£fragium and the honores. The ^ suffragium " was indeed nothing now ; and the " honores " were only a name ; but it was something for a Gaul to have the title of praetor and consul, and a seat in the Roman senate. CUudius made a speech to the senate, which is a singular mixture of pedantry and good sense. He supported t^e claim of the Gallic chiafs by the universal practice of Rome of admitting foreigners into the senatorial body ; and the first instance that he mentions was that of his Sabine ancestor, Clausus, the progenitor of the Claudia Gens. Ho observed that the Galli were already mingled with the Romans by sameness of manners, arts, and marriage ; and he argued that it was better they should bring their gold and wealth to Rome than keep it to themselves. The wealthy Gallic nobles often visited Rome, and some of them resided there. The empenv thought it better to attract to Rome the rich men of the pro- vinces than to keep them away. A senatus con- sultum followed the speech of the princeps ; and the senate in the city" (senatorum in urbe jus). " This,** adds Tacitus, *' was granted in respect of their ancient foedus, and because they were the only Gallic people that had the title of fi-atemity vrith the Roman people*' (a. d. 48). It is not said if other Gtillic peoples, after the Aedui, obtained access to the senate. Probably we may conclude that they became admissible. But this was purely a personal distinction, conferred at the pleasui-e of the emperor 'on such rich Galli as chose to reside in Rome. The Provincia, the first part of Gallia in which GALLIA TRANS. the Romans fixed themselves, became, under th* Empire, completely Italian in language, in nmi^ ners, and in civility ; and the parts of Gallia Co- mata nearest to it soon showed the eflfects of this proximity. The younger Pliny (£/>. ix. 11) atatfea that there were booksellers at Lugdnnnm in his time, and he was glad to hear that they sold his books. The language and litemtnre of Rome sood extended beyond the limits of the Naxixxieosis; for Latin waM the language of administrattoo, and of tiie nDBwroos " negotiatores " and " mercatores *' who covered the country. It was also the language of moat of the legionary soldiers. The great nobles leaned it as a matter of course: for their ambition was to live al Rome, and intrigue in poblic affairs. Jolins Afri- canus, a Santon, was invohred in the rain of Sejanns at Rome (Tac. Atm. vL 7): and Valerius Asbticn*, twice consul, and a man who claimed the merit of having pUuined the death of Caligula, was a natiTe of Vienna ( Ftenne) on the Rhine; but whether be was of pure Roman blood, for Vienna was a ooknia, or Gallic, does not appear. (Tac. Ann, xi. 1.) From Gallia came the bk>w which struck do«n the emperor Nero. C. Julius Vindex, the go t ema g of Lugdunensis, an Aquitanian by descent, and a Roman senator through his father, hated NciUy whose infamous debaucheries he had been witness of at Rome. He stirred up the Galli of his pro- vince (a. d. 68) to insurrection, not against the Romans, but against a sanguinary tyrant whom ha despised. The conspirators fixed on Ser. ^ilpicios Galba, then governor of Hispania Tarraoooensia, as the successor of Nero, the first example of a Roman emperor being named on a fbrugn soil. Galba hesi- tated, and with good cause; for the legions of Gallia had the power in their hands, and they were di- vided. Lugdnnum was the only lai^ city that coa- tinued faithful to Nero (Tac. HuL i. 51), who had given 4,000,000 sesterces to restore it when it was burnt (Tac. Ann. xvi. IS); but its rival and neigh- bour, Vienna, was on Galba's side. The legions on the Rhine had not yet declared themselves, and the states in their neighbouriiood waited for the dedska of the troops. Verginius Rufus, who commanded in the Upper Germania, felt or affected respect for the Roman senate, and would not support an election made by insurgents. He entered the country of the Sequani, who had declared for Galba, and laid saega to Vesontio {Btian^on). Vindex, with the fbR» that he had collected, hurried to defend the place, and, though the two generals had an interview, and are supposed to have come to terms, their men fell to blows, and the army of Vindex was roated. Vindex ended his life by his own sword. Galba had now declared himself, and advanced into the Narbonensis; Rufus, in the meantime, kept his men in suspense. The news of the death of Nero decided the fortune of Galba. The messengen from the Roman senate met him at Narbonne^ and urged him to hasten to Rome, where -he was eageriy ex- pected. (Pint GaUMf ell.) The new emperor belied the hopes that were formed of hb moderation and prudence. He punished the Gallic peopka which had not deckred far him; he deprived some of thdr territory, imposed on them heavier taxes, and even destroyed their fortifications. (Tac HitL L 8; Sueton. Galba, c. 12.) Plutarch {Galba, c. 18) speaks of the Gallic partisans of Vindex c^taining the " civitas," and Tacitus {Hitt. i. 8) has the same; but, whatever the historians mean by this civitas, it was a name and nothing more. When Tadtos adds.
 * ' the Aedui were the first who obtain«i admission to