Latin Gallia
Ancient country, Europe, located generally south and west of the Alps , and north of the Pyrenees .
The Gauls north of the Po River harried Rome from с 400 BC; by 181 BC Rome had subjugated and colonized that area of northern Italy they called Cisalpine Gaul. Rome conquered the region known as Transalpine Gaul over the next century. It included most of modern France and Belgium and parts of Switzerland, Germany, and The Netherlands. Julius Caesar completed the conquest of Gaul (see Gallic Wars ) in 58–50 BC; Lugdunum ( Lyon ) became the capital. The entire area was reorganized in the 1st century AD into several provinces, including Narbonensis , Aquitania , {{link=Lugdunensis">Lugdunensis , and Belgica . By AD 260 it had become a centre of unrest; by the 6th century Rome had given up all its Gallic territories.