Belgae

Territory: Northeastern Gaul and later also Southern Britain

The Belgae was not a tribe in itself, but a group of tribes, living in north-eastern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine and later also attested in Britain. The Belgae had made their way across the English Channel into southern Britain in Caesar's time. Caesar tells us they had first crossed the channel as raiders, only later settling on the island.

Based on the development of imagery on coins found, it seems likely that, by the time of the Roman conquest, most of the tribes of south-eastern Britain were Belgic or at least ruled by a Belgic aristocracy. The later civitates (administrative divisions) of Roman Britain included one bearing the name of the Belgae, whose towns included Magnus Portus (Portsmouth) and Venta Belgarum (Winchester).

It is possible that a branch of the Belgae also settled in Ireland, represented by the historical Builg and the mythological Fir Bolg.

Julius Caesar divides the people of Gaul into three groups, the Aquitani, the Galli (who in their own language were called Celtae) and the Belgae, all of whom had their own customs and language. He noted that the Belgae, being furthest from the developed civilisation of Rome and closest to the Germans, were the bravest of the three.

Caesar claims that most of the Belgae were descended from tribes who had long ago crossed the Rhine from Germania. However most of the tribal and personal names recorded are identifiably Celtic. It is also said that the Belgae were descendants of Trebata, the legendary founder of Trier (oldest German city in south-west Germany). The city of Trier was founded by the Assyrians around 2000 BC, lead by Trebeta, the son of the great Assyrian King Ninus.

Tribes who belonged to the Belgae included the Remi, Bellovaci, Suessiones, Nervii, Atrebates, Ambiani, Morini, Menapii, Caleti, Veliocasses and Viromandui. Caesar says one tribe, the Atuatuci, were descended from the Germanic Cimbri and Teurones, and describes four others, the Condrusi, Eburones, Caerosi and Paemani, as German tribes (although Ambiorix, a later leader of the Eburones, has a Celtic name). Other tribes that may have been included among the Belgae were the Leuci, Treveri, Tungri and Mediomatrici.

The Remi were the most prominent tribe of the Belgae and their capital, Durocortum (modern Reims in France), became the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica.

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