The first Greek influence in Gaul was in Massilia which was created to be a trade outpost.  Phocaea founded the outpost in 600 B.C. in southeast Gaul.  Massilia would become a major city in Gaul and a gateway in which Greek and Roman influences entered the Gaul territories.  In 525 B.C. more Gauls migrated to Massilia, and the city saw an expansion in its population.

 

  The Hallstatt D period gave way to the La Tène I period in the fifth century.  Combining the Hallstatt’s use of geometric patterns with the La Tène’s emphasis on intricate details, underdeveloped and abstract artwork evolved into sophisticated and elaborate metalwork; artistic innovations in the La Tène period greatly impacted the processes that the Gauls used.

 

  Greek influence in southern Gaul became more prevalent in the late 5th century when the Gauls started using Greek techniques for building, agriculture, and manufacture.  In 390 B.C. tensions between the Gauls and the Romans escalated which led to Gaul sacking Rome.

 

  At the beginning of the 3rd century, which was the end of the early La Tène period, cultural and religious changes started occurring.  Culturally, in southern Gaul the Greek alphabet was used to write the native Gaul language.  Sculptures of humans and animals also became more realistic, reflecting the Greek and Roman influences.

 

  Religiously, there became a distinction between the soul and the body.  In 225 B.C. 148,000 Roman soldiers invaded Cisalpine Gaul, which is the region between the Alps and the Pro Valley.  By 222 B.C. the Romans had conquered the territory.  In 218 B.C. Rome sent envoys between southern Gaul and northeast Spain because a Roman ally city, Saguntum, had been defeated by Hannibal.  This caused the Second Punic War.  The Gauls sided with Hannibal because he reached Gaul before the Romans did and because they didn’t want Hannibal to destroy them.  Although most of Gaul sided with Hannibal, Massilia, because the city was heavily influenced by Rome, helped the Romans in the Second Punic War.

 

  For the majority of the third century the Bituriges tribe from central Gaul dominated much of Gaul.  However, in the second century the Arverni tribe, which was located close to Bituriges, was the dominant tribe and were allied with the Allobroges and Aedui tribes.  Fortifying the alliance between Rome and Massilia, the Romans helped Massilia drive out the Ligurians, who was a tribe from present day northwest Italy, in 154 B.C.  Rome again saved Massilia from the Salluvii in 125 B.C.  Four years later, Gallia Norbonensis became a Roman province.  In 121 B.C. the Roman consul slaughtered up to 175,000 Arverni and Allobroges men.

 

  Beginning in 115 B.C. the Germanic tribes of Cimbri and Teutones started migrating south into the Gaul’s territory.  In 113 and 109 B.C. the Romans attempted to drive the Germans out, but both times they lost to the Germans.  Finally in 101 B.C. the Romans slaughtered the Cimbri at Vercellae.  The Gauls for the most part had stayed out of the way of the two armies, but after the Roman victory, the Gauls migrated back to their northern territory.  The Germans continued attacking Gaul between 100-70 B.C., but the Romans did not offer help, which increased the tensions between the Gauls and the Romans.

 

  Julius Caesar invaded Gaul in 58 B.C. which started the Gallic war.  The tribal leader of Arverni, Vercingetorix, tried to unite the Gallic tribes against Caesar in 52 B.C., but ultimately, he failed and Caesar conquered his troops.