View source for Gallia Narbonensis

{{Short description|Roman Empire province from 121 BC to the 5th century AD}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
| native_name            = {{big|{{aut|Provincia Gallia Narbonensis}}}}
| conventional_long_name = Province of Gallia Narbonensis
| common_name            = Gallia Narbonensis
| subdivision            = [[Roman province|Province]]
| nation                 = the [[Roman Empire]]
| era                    = [[ancient history|Antiquity]]
| capital                = [[Narbo Martius]]
| title_leader           = 
| image_map              = Roman Empire - Narbonensis (125 AD).svg
| image_map_caption      = The province of Gallia Narbonensis within the Roman Empire in 125 AD
| coordinates            = {{Coord|44.0000|N|4.0000|E|source:wikidata_type:adm1st_region:FR|display=title,inline}}
| life_span              = 
| year_start             = 121 BC<ref name=maddy>{{citation |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=Contours of the World Economy 1–2030&nbsp;AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC&pg=PT41 41] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2007 |isbn=9780191647581 }}.</ref>&nbsp;
| event_start            = Conquest of the [[Averni]] & [[Allobroges]]
| year_end               = &nbsp;462
| event_end              = Conquered by the Visigoths & Burgundians after the murder of Emperor [[Majorian]].
| today                  = {{Plainlist|
* [[France]]
* [[Italy]]
* [[Monaco]]
}}
| s1                     = Visigothic Kingdom
}}
[[File:Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png|thumb|300px|The Roman Provinces in Gaul around 58&nbsp;BC; the coastline shown here is the modern one, different from the ancient coastline in some parts of the English Channel.]]
[[File:Gaul in the Time of Caesar.jpg|thumb|Gallia Narbonensis can be seen in the south of modern-day France as a Roman province.]]

'''Gallia Narbonensis''' ([[Latin]] for "Gaul of [[Narbonne]]", from its chief settlement){{refn|group=n|The name is also variously expressed as '''Narbonese''' or '''Narbonnese Gaul''', '''Narbonian Gaul''', and '''Narbonensian Gaul'''.}} was a [[Roman province]] located in [[Occitania (administrative region) | Occitania]] and [[Provence]], in [[Southern France]]. It was also known as '''Provincia&nbsp;Nostra''' ("Our Province"), because it was the first [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] province north of the [[Alps]], and as '''Gallia&nbsp;Transalpina''' ("Transalpine Gaul"), distinguishing it from [[Cisalpine Gaul]] in [[Northern Italy]]. It became a Roman province in the late 2nd century BC. Gallia Narbonensis was bordered by the [[Pyrenees|Pyrenees Mountains]] on the west, the [[Cévennes]] to the north, the [[Alps]] on the east, and the [[Gulf of Lion]] on the south; the province included the majority of the [[Rhone]] catchment. The western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as [[Septimania]]. The province was a valuable part of the [[Roman Empire]], owing to the [[Greek colonisation|Greek colony]] and later Roman Civitas of [[Massalia]], its location between the Spanish provinces and Rome, and its financial output.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Bunson|first=Matthew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5tic2VunRoC&dq=Gallia+Narbonensis&pg=PA230|title=Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire|date=2014-05-14|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1027-1|language=en}}</ref>

==Names==
The province of ''Gallia Transalpina'' ("Transalpine Gaul") was later renamed ''Gallia Narbonensis'',<ref name=":0" /> 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&nbsp;BC. The name Gallia Narbonensis most likely originates in the Augustan era. Its first recorded use was in a [[Roman censor|census]] conducted by [[Gnaeus Pullius Pollio]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Bowman|first1=Alan K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZLW4-wba7UC&dq=Gallia+Narbonensis&pg=PA471|title=The Cambridge Ancient History|last2=Champlin|first2=Edward|last3=Lintott|first3=Andrew|date=1996-02-08|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-26430-3|language=en}}</ref> The Romans had called it ''Provincia Nostra'' ("our province") or simply ''Provincia'' ("the province").<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Riggsby|first=Andrew M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MI8_OpVaF7wC&dq=Transalpine+Gaul&pg=PA30|title=Caesar in Gaul and Rome: War in Words|date=2006-07-01|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-71303-1|language=en}}</ref> The term has survived in the modern name of [[Provence]] for the eastern part of the area (French ''[[Provence]]'', Occitan ''Provença''), now a [[region of France|region]] of France.

==Founding==
The Greek colony of [[Massalia]] was founded in approximately 600 BC, by which the Hellenisation of Celtic Gaul began.{{Sfn|Rivet|1988|p=9}} The Roman involvement in the so-called transalpine Gaul occurred in 218 BC; according to [[Livy]], the Romans tried to establish the alliance against [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] in Gaul and Spain, but gained no success.{{Sfn|Rivet|1988|p=27}} [[Hannibal]] led the Carthaginian forces and routed the local Gallic tribes, crossing the [[Rhône]]. Massalia had already formed an alliance with Rome,{{Sfn|Rivet|1988|p=17}} which agreed to protect the town in exchange for supplying vital information and providing the fleet as Rome needed.{{Sfn|Rivet|1988|p=32}} Rome also demanded Massalia a small strip of land in order to build a road to Hispania, to assist in troop transport.{{Sfn|Rivet|1988|p=43}} The Romans therefore landed their troops on Massalia to protect the city. After Rome held territories in Hispania, the Romans left control of the route to the city, causing praetor Lucius Baebius to be killed by the [[Ligures]] while en route to Hispania in 189 BC.{{Sfn|Rivet|1988|p=32}}

During this period, the Mediterranean settlements on the coast were threatened by the powerful [[Gauls|Gallic]] tribes to the north, especially the tribes known as the [[Arverni]] and the [[Allobroges]]. In the First Transalpine War (125–121 BCE),<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Cooper |editor-first=Nick |last1=Webster |first1=Jane |date=1996 |title=Roman Imperialism: Post-Colonial Perspectives |chapter=Ethnographic barbarity: colonial discourse and ‘Celtic warrior societies’. |url=https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/3726/B9A9B5F3-E4C0-4CB5-93E8-8EE443D06EED.pdf |publisher=School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester |pages=117–118 |access-date=5 April 2023}}</ref> the Roman general [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus|Quintus Fabius Maximus (later additionally named Allobrogicus)]] campaigned in the area and defeated the Allobroges and the Arverni under king [[Bituitus]] in the [[Battle of the Isère River]]. This defeat substantially weakened the Arverni and ensured the further security of Gallia Narbonensis. The area became a [[Roman province]] in 121 BCE.<ref name="maddy" /> 

The province had come into Roman control originally under the name '''Gallia Transalpina''' (Transalpine Gaul), which distinguished it from [[Cisalpine Gaul]] on the near side of the Alps to Rome.{{cn|date=April 2023}} 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.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

During the [[Sertorian War]] (80–72 BCE) against the breakaway state of former Roman senator and general [[Quintus Sertorius|Sertorius]], Gallia Narbonensis was an important base for military activities. This was an important event in the Romanization of Narbonese Gaul, as it resulted in the Romans organizing the province.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

==Later history==
Control of the province, which bordered directly on [[Italy (Roman Empire)|Italia]], gave the Roman state several advantages: control of the land route between Italy and the [[Iberian Peninsula]]; a territorial buffer against [[Gaul|Gallic]] attacks on Italy; and control of the lucrative trade routes of the [[Rhône]] valley between Gaul and the markets of Massalia. It was from the capital of Narbonne that [[Julius Caesar]] began his [[Gallic Wars]]. Caesar rebuilt [[Narbonne|Narbo]] and built the cities of [[Fréjus|Forum Julium]] and [[Arles]]. Julius Caesar also granted many communities in Gallia Narbonensis citizenship.<ref name=":2" /> In 49 BC, the city of Massalia sided with the Pompeians during the [[Caesar's Civil War|civil war]]. After the war ended, the city of Massalia lost all of its independence and was fully subject to Roman rule.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ebel|first=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbwUAAAAIAAJ&q=Transalpine+Gaul|title=Transalpine Gaul: The Emergence of a Roman Province|date=1976|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=978-90-04-04384-8|language=en}}</ref>

In 40 BC, during the [[Second Triumvirate]], [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]] was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), while [[Mark Antony]] was given the balance of Gaul.<ref>Boatwright et al., ''The Romans, From Village to Empire'', p.272 {{ISBN|978-0-19-511876-6}}</ref>

After becoming [[Roman emperor|Emperor]], [[Augustus]] made Gallia Narbonensis a [[senatorial province]] governed by a [[proconsul]].<ref name=":0" /> By the late first century BCE, the traditional hilltop village pattern in Gallia Narbonensis had largely disappeared. In its place emerged a new settlement framework, probably shaped by the relative peace and security during the early imperial period: the countryside was dotted with small farms, as defensible elevated sites were no longer essential.<ref>{{Citation |last=Morley |first=Neville |title=Slavery Under the Principate |date=2011 |work=The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 1: The Ancient Mediterranean World |volume=1 |pages=270 |editor-last=Bradley |editor-first=Keith |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-slavery/slavery-under-the-principate/647C25DFE34A68277B2A467E20842DF2 |access-date=2025-08-26 |series=The Cambridge World History of Slavery |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84066-8 |editor2-last=Cartledge |editor2-first=Paul}}</ref> 

Emperor [[Diocletian]]'s administrative reorganization of the Empire in {{circa|lk=no|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, Isère#Roman Vienne|Vienne]].  The new diocese's name was later changed to ''[[Septem Provinciae|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 [[Visigoths#Visigothic Kingdom|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.

==List of proconsular governors of Gallia Narbonensis==
(This list is based on A.L.F. Rivet, ''Gallia Narbonensis'' (London: Batsford, 1988), pp.&nbsp;79, 86f.)

* [[Gnaeus Pullius Pollio]]—between 18 and 16 BC<ref name=":1" />
* [[Marcus Cincius Saturninus]]—under Augustus
* [[Titedius Labeo]]—under Tiberius
* [[Manius Vibius Balbinus]]—15–17 AD
* [[Torquatus Novellus Atticus]]—30–34
* [[Titus Mussidius Pollianus]]—34–37
* [[Titus Vinius]]—under Nero
* L. V[...]dius Bassus—{{Circa|77}}
* [[Gaius Iulius Cornutus Tertullus]]—before 78
* [[Aulus Larcius Priscus]]—103–109
* [[Marcus Acilius Priscus Egrilius Plarianus]]—118–120
* [[Lucius Aninius Sextius Florentinus]]—{{Circa|124}}
* [[Lucius Aurelius Gallus (suffect consul)|Lucius Aurelius Gallus]]—124–127
* [[Lucius Novius Crispinus Martialis Saturninus]]—144–145
* [[Gaius Seius Calpurnius Quadratus Sittianus]]—before 150
* [[Lucius Cestius Gallus]]—between 165 and 183
* [[Gnaeus Cornelius Aquilius Niger]]—between 138 and 192
* [[Lucius Fabius Cilo|Lucius Fabius Cilo Septiminus Catinius Acilianus Lepidus Fulcinianus]]—between 180 and 192
* ...]dius T.f.—2nd century
* [[Lucius Ranius Optatus Novatus]]—between 197 and 214
* ''Ignotus'', allegedly killed for supporting [[Geta (emperor)|Geta]]—{{Circa|210}}
* ...]us—between 210 and 230
* [[Tiberius Claudius Paulinus]]—216–217
* [[Gaius Aemilius Berenicianus Maximus]]—between 222 and 235
* [[Iulianus (proconsul of Narbonensis)|Iulianus]]—between 222 and 235
* C. Seius Calpurnius Quadratus Sittianus—middle 3rd century<ref>{{CIL|14|2831}}</ref>

== Explanatory notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book|last=Bunson|first=Matthew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5tic2VunRoC&dq=Gallia+Narbonensis|title=Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire|date=2014-05-14|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1027-1|language=en}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Romans, from Village to Empire |last=Boatwright |first=Mary Taliaferro |last2=Gargola |first2=Daniel J. |last3=Talbert |first3=Richard J. A. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-511875-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5CdHVQ4EiMC}}
* {{Cite book |title=Southern France: An Oxford Archaeological Guide |last=Cleere |first=Henry |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-288006-2	 |location=[[Oxford, New York]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=msll03drTekC |series=Ancient society and history}}
* {{Cite book |title=Rome and the Barbarians, 100 B.C.-A.D. 400 |last=Burns |first=Thomas S. |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8018-7306-5 |location=[[Baltimore]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PaRNJOLnRMUC |series=Ancient society and history}}
* {{citation |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=Contours of the World Economy 1–2030&nbsp;AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-164758-1 }}
* {{Cite book |title=Gallia Narbonensis: Southern France in Roman times |last=Rivet |first=Albert Lionel Frederick |publisher=B.T. Batsford |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-7134-5860-2 |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Gallia_Narbonensis.html?id=ldVnAAAAMAAJ}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book 
| chapter-url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.ah5cuq?urlappend=%3Bseq=967
| chapter=Gallia Transalpina
| editor-link= William Smith (lexicographer)
| editor=William Smith
| hdl=2027/hvd.ah5cuq?urlappend=%3Bseq=967
| orig-year=1854
| publication-place=London
| publisher=John Murray
| title-link=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
| title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
| year=1872
}}

{{Roman provinces AD 117}}
{{Late Roman and Byzantine provinces|state=collapsed}}
{{Roman governors}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gallia Narbonensis| ]]
[[Category:120s BC establishments]]
[[Category:121 BC]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC establishments in the Roman Republic]]
[[Category:5th-century disestablishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Former countries in French history]]
[[Category:France in the Roman era]]
[[Category:History of Narbonne]]
[[Category:Provence]]
[[Category:Provinces of Roman Gaul]]
[[Category:Provinces of the Roman Republic]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 5th century]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 2nd century BC]]