Furor Celticus: A Gallic Timeline

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I shall continue then,aiming at 50 CE and see where it goes from there.

And yeah, I have to work on my maps. Don't get me wrong, I do love a good-looking map, properly vectorial and all, but it take so long each time...

I have a few things to say. First of all, I await your new map eagerly (take your time if you need to). Second, I am intrigued by this so called "Red Torch" rebellion. Thirdly, Gosh darn it, you destroyed Portugal! I am upset. Lastly, I think you should hire a screenwriter and make a call to HBO. After the Game of Thrones debacle, I think a nice alternate history show like what yours might be would be the ticket to heal all wounds, and kind of forget writers who kind of forgot how to do their jobs. The Edorix-Carantia situation seems promising.

Well, I did have a project to write in-universe stories to post in the Writer's forum, but nothing that got past the synopsis status so far.

Most month names end in -ember or -uary. I’d rename July to Quintember and August to Sextuary (since Sextember would sound too much like September).

Apparently, Quintilis and Sextilis are how you're suppose to translate them in English

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar#Republican_calendar
 
Most month names end in -ember or -uary. I’d rename July to Quintember and August to Sextuary (since Sextember would sound too much like September).
Apparently, Quintilis and Sextilis are how you're suppose to translate them in English

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar#Republican_calendar

OTL this months do not needed an English translation so they have none... Surely the ends in -ember and -uary are pretty ASB as the other months have them as derivation of their original Latin names...
So you need something who adapt the end -tilis and I think who Quintly and Sextly are the most logical choices... I know who they sound a little weird but at least they are etymologically correct.
 
I think Vercingetorix successor will want to conquer the roman holding in the south to get access to the mediteranean sea.
 
Vive la France.. I mean la Gaulle... wait there is no French
Or Jaille - although Gaul would have to be conquered by Rome in order to be called Jaille given that it's due to Romance language evolution. I read somewhere that a native, non-romanized Gaul would be called Galathia. I don't know why.
 
Interlude 2: Gaul in 2 BCE
Interlude 2: Gaul at the death of Vercingetorix


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The Arverni control has extended in the South with the subjugation of Aquitania and the acquisition of Volcaes territories. In the North, the Armorican confederation went defunct: with the slow decline of the Aulerci and no strong leadership to rally behind, they fell into the Arverni's orbit. The Remi regional control collapsed definitively in 10 BCE following their inability to defend themselves against the Marcomanni invasion. The Atrebates and Treveri remain two strong regional powers with loyal allies, and the numerous German tribes are still a danger for all.
 
Part XVI: The Heirs
Part XVI: The Heirs

(Gaul, 2 BCE – 15 CE)



No one knows what he can do until he tries. – Publius Syrus



In all of history, the death of a hegemonic and undisputed leader is always a problem for the successor. He leaves behind boots too big to fill, and a bar set high, too high sometime to reach. Edorix, now aged 48, recognized new High King by the Conglennos, knew he had to detach himself from the shadow of a father already elevated to legend status. For the people of Gaul to stay under one rule – Arverni rule – he must leave no place to dissent. He started the first year of his reign with a heavy-handed repression of a Remi revolt in 1 BCE, decimating the local elite and mass deporting the survivors. For Edorix, usually described as a “joyful and emotional man”, was certainly not complacent or weak-willed.



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Portrait of Edorix in the Greco-Roman style probably realized during his lifetime.



He pursued his father’s long running strategy, securing the tip of Armorica by sponsoring pro-Arverni leaders among the Osismii and turning them into a local power. He maintained pressure on the Treveri by associating closely with the Eburones and Marcomanni. Threats from the Germanic tribes were still present: despite the settlement of the Marcomanni and associated people, there were always would-be raiders from beyond the Hycernian forests crossing the border into Sequania. Edorix subsidized the Sequani leaders to erect fortified strongholds for permanent posting of Braers units and spent a lot of money extending the paved road toward Vesontio. Edorix maintained good relationship with Rome, although his forays in northern Hispania, a territory the Romans were eyeing for its rich silver deposits, and his support to the Cantabri people, were considered interferences.

The Arverni have been maintaining contacts in Cantabria since the 20s BCE. There, they mediated a peace between the Cantabri confederation and their southern neighbours the Vaccaei and the Turmodigi. The Vaccaei were allied to Rome, and the Cantabri, with their constant raids, threatened to set the region ablaze. The Romans’ control over central Hispania had been badly shaken during the civil war, emboldening those mountaineer tribes, but Agrippa’s good management had re-strengthened Roman presence at the turn of the century. Rome would soon be looking for a reason to invade and seize the silver mines. To insure the survival of a buffer state should the Cantabri cause their own demise with one raid too many, Edorix reported his effort on the Autrigones and Varduli, whose territories sat at “one of the four gates of Gallia” and secured their cooperation. His envoys visited the Astures in the west, a Celtiberian people living in harsh highlands who also resorted to raiding for their survival and succeeded in interesting them in sea trade: wine and tin for gold and silver.

However, the High King’s private life didn’t follow a steady route. From his campaigning days beyond the Rhine, Edorix had kept a German captive, Leurta, who gave him an illegitimate son, Vercatos. He sent the kid into the foster care of his uncle Vercassivellaunos’ family but was still enamoured with the woman enough he refused to dismiss her despite Vercingetorix’ pressure. With the fulfilment of his promised marriage to Cotulia, a Pictone princess, he consented to separate but still gifted Leurta with a personal estate, albeit outside the Nemossos’ limits. Now that his father was dead, nothing prevented Edorix from bringing her back. He had enough political clouts to not alienate a pillar of the Empire like the Pictones, but his Devil-may-care attitude sometime had the best of him. It led once to tense negotiations on waterway tariffs in 5 CE and a hotly debated wine tax in 6 CE.

Wine was the new gold. At the turn of the first century, the Arverni empire experienced an agricultural revolution. First, the grapes culture took off, Gallic wine outsold Roman wine thanks to the superiority of Gallic wooden barrels over amphoras for conservation and transport. Second, the introduction of three-crops rotations and water powered mills, two Roman imports, boosted food production between 10 BCE and 15 CE. Coupled to continued internal peace, it led to an important population boom.



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Remnant of a 1st century winery in the Liger valley (left) and a model of Roman type watermill (right)



Arrangements during the Conglennos facilitated population movements and resettlement within the Empire. The new territories of Armorica saw a sudden growth: Darioriton, the former capital of the Veneti, nearly doubled in size in ten years. New towns blossomed on the northern coast, fed by the northern oceanic trade, killing the last remnant of piracy in the area. And yet, one person believed more could be achieved: Carantia.

After the peace, the woman who once personally led an eighty thousand men strong force in a high-stakes fight against the Germans was relegated to administrative and religious duties, a mild acknowledgement or her skills. She was still, however, a charismatic figure with consequent wealth and influence at her fingertip. In 3 CE she received and embassy of the Darini people of Hibernia. Encircled by enemies in their homeland, they had undertaken a perilous journey to ask the High King to lend the help of his mighty warriors, and Carantia saw an opportunity. Hibernia was then considered the modest corner of the Celtic world. A sparsely populated frontier, dotted with hilltop forts, who saw a new wave of migrants every century. Carantia, “who longed for command”, sponsored the ply of the Darini, at the condition they repaid in land for the Arverni to colonize.



They went to the Darini, who were grieving, for their lands were fertile and their people fair, but also surrounded by many enemies and usurpers, who killed their sons and daughters, and would not leave the Darini at peace. So Carantia told them that should they made her Queen, she would kill all their enemies’ sons and daughters, and bring all their kin under one banner. – The Cycle of Érainn



She would gather funds and ships for the expedition and enlisted two men for the task of raising an army: Ducarios, her own son from her second marriage, and Vercatos. Vercatos was then an adult man looking for his place within the elite, but his lopsided lineage made it hard for him to climb the ladder, while Cotulia’s own children were on the fast track for leadership. He gladly accepted his aunt’s offer, and their association would have consequences down the line.

There was no shortage of candidates to migration: a lot of people in Eastern Gaul were displaced by the recent invasions, and the end of the Roman Civil War put a lot of veteran back into civilian life looking to resettle. To this group joined Germans drifters, and if stories are true, even Roman deserters. Edorix consented to loan 1500 braers.

In Spring 5 CE, Carantia boarded a ship in Burdigala, the first of 200 that would sail past the Armorican peninsula, toward Hibernia.
 
I can see a Verrix rising who will be hegemonic enough to conquer all of Gaul. All of it? Yes. Of course. Right to the Rhine. I suspect that this burst of conquests will be much swifter and brutal than Vercingetorix's.
I didn't know that the Marcomanni had emerged at this point. I thought they still called themselves Suevi. Shows what I know.
 
Part XVII: On Foreign Shores
Part XVII: On Foreign Shores

(Hibernia, 3 CE – 10 CE)



From a mighty seed, two trees can grow. – Serra of Alesia



Sitting at the edge of Europe, Hibernia had been settled since the stone age, but kept receiving newcomers. At the time of Carantia’s arrival, some of the local tribes were very likely earlier transplants from Britain and Gaul, chroniclers like Serra and later Ptolemaeus attest they were basically speaking the same language as the Britanni while other, older residents, notably the Ossari, spoke a tongue less intelligible to the newcomers. The Darini were such people, often visited by Gallic merchants, trading mostly in silver and tin. Hailing from Caledonia, the Darini had split in two generations ago, the largest settling in the North, a region called Ulaid, and the smallest in the South, named Érainn. It was the latter who called for help, and unable to get from their kin, turned to the Arverni.

It is unclear how the conquest unfolded: the only main contemporary source is a collection of texts known as the Cycle of Érainn, copied down many times by many scribes, with modification, additions or omissions. Pragmatically, Carantia would have made the local rulers an offer they could not refuse and took over, that or they subsumed the ailing Darini soon after settling next to them. With a host of heavily armed veteran soldiers and superior organization, she completely overturned the old status quo, uniting the disarrayed tribes of Érainn: the Iverni, the Uterni and the Lucerni were quick to swear allegiance to this new heavyweight, while the Vellabri persisted in raid warfare. For that they were dealt in exemplary manner: guided through their land by their new allies, a detachment of Averni warriors led by Vercatos inflicted a severe defeat to the Vellabri warbands. The Usidiaes were confident in the strength of Casilon (1), one of the best fortified town of Hibernia, but the methodical Carantia had the place surrounded by a double line of defences, a setup reminiscent of the siege of Alesia, and Casilon yielded after 7 months. After that feat, the Gangani, who lived by the Sionna (2) river, also submitted.

The Sionna was vital to Carantia’s long term plan. The fertile valley could easily provide large amount of grain if properly tended, the Arverni princess put her surveyors to the task of drafting the plan of a future colony, and a road that would connect to Corcudon (3), her new citadel in the South. In the span of a few years, from 3 to 6 CE, Carantia scattered her enemies across the hinterland, carving herself a new kingdom. With her son Ducarios married into the local royal line to insure legitimacy, the new Queen of what would soon become the Gallo-Hibernian kingdom of Érainn, maintained an aggressive expansion and subjugation policy, absorbing neighboring Ossari and pushing deep East.


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Extent of the Gallo-Hibernian kingdom of Érainn under Carantia



To the local Hibernians, Carantia was an awe-inspiring figure: tall and emaciated, with a voice ‘used to shout orders in battle’ she reminded them of the Morrigan, a shape-shifting goddess of war and death who sometime appeared as a mature female warrior haunting the battlefield. She became known for unexpected act of mercy as well as sudden anger. In 5 CE, she defeated an alliance of the Coriondi, Briganti, Menapii and Cauci. The Menapii, who were migrants from Belgica, are said to have stood their ground bravely, while the Cauci fled when they heard Carantia was leading the charge. Later, she would spare the villages of the Menapii but burn down those of the Cauci.

Fuelled by the same fire that drove her against the Germans, nothing seemed to stop her advance. By Summer 6 CE, she was besieging the Eblani, masters of one of the largest settlements of the island, when an assembly of the chiefs of Ulaid came to beg for peace, using a distant relationship between some of them and the Darini of Érainn. They met at the Hill of Tara, a place held sacred since the dawn of civilization, judged by the number of Neolithic tombs and structures already present at the time. Carantia offered them “the promise of Gold or Iron”, that is peace and prosperity if they swore allegiance, and total war if they opposed.


Her followers deposed fifty swords on her right side and fifty torcs of gold on her left side. Then she asked each of the assembly of kings to come and pick up a sword if they desired to fight her or a torc they didn’t. – The Cycle of Érainn


The story says they all accepted, and indeed there are no evidences of significant conflict after that episode. The other tribal leaders recognized her as High Queen of Hibernia, taking a large standing stone as their witness. Vercatos, she regarded as a second son, married into the Darini of Ulaid. Her later years were spent consolidating her rule, the “Iron-Hearted Queen of Érainn” held the helm with a solid grip, although toward the end she would become reclusive.


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The Oath Stone of Tara



(1) Cashel

(2) The Shannon river

(3) Cork
 
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