Gallia Belgica

Belgic Gaul
Province of the Roman Empire
22 BC–5th century
Capital	Durocortorum (Reims) Augusta Treverorum (Trier)
Historical era	Antiquity
• Established after the Gallic Wars	22 BC
• Ended with Frankish Kingdoms	5th century

Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany.

Before the Roman province came into existence in about 50 BC, the region was conquered by Julius Caesar during his Gallic Wars. His report, the Commentarii de Bello Gallico, described Belgic Gaul as one of the three parts of Gaul (Tres Galliæ), the other two being Gallia Aquitania and Gallia Lugdunensis. Belgica stretched from the Marne and Seine rivers, which Caesar described as a cultural boundary between the Belgae and the Celtic Gauls. In the north and east it stretched all the way to the Rhine.^[1] The official Roman province of this name was later created by emperor Augustus in 22 BC, and named after the Belgae, as the largest tribal confederation in the area. However, it also included the territories of the Treveri, Mediomatrici, Leuci, Sequani, and others who Caesar did not explictly designate as Belgic.

The province was re-organised several times, first increased and later decreased in size. Diocletian brought the northeastern Civitas Tungrorum into Germania Inferior, joining the Rhineland colonies. The remaining part of Gallia Belgica was divided into Belgica Prima (in the eastern area of the Treveri, Mediomatrici and Leuci, around Luxembourg and the Ardennes), and Belgica Secunda (between the English Channel and the upper Meuse).

The capital of Belgica Prima, Trier, became an important late western Roman capital.^[2]

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Prehistory Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes 4300–2200 BC
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Early history Celtic Luxembourg ~51 BC  • Treveri   Gallic Wars 58–50 BC Roman rule 90 AD–c.500 AD
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Early Modern Spanish rule 1556–1714 Louis XIV's siege 1684 Austrian rule 1714–95 Revolutionary siege 1794–95 French rule 1795–1815  • Peasants' War 1798
19th century Congress of Vienna 1815  • Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 1815– Dutch rule 1815–30  • Reign of Guillaume I 1815-40  • Belgian Revolution 1830–31 Personal union 1839–90  • Treaty of London 1839  • Reign of Guillaume II 1840–49  • Reign of Guillaume III 1849-90  • Luxembourg Crisis 1867 Full independence 1890-
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