After Massilia was created as a trading post in Gaul, Greek culture and goods came to Gaul.  Pottery, iron, corn, and slaves were the primary goods traded between Gaul and Greece.  By the third century, Massilia imported Italian pottery and lamps, as well as Hellenistic bronze.  Some Gallic tribes, especially in Massilia, started imitating the Greek coins, so they could buy goods using money instead of goods.  Rome started trading with the Gauls through Massilia as well.  Rome mostly exported wine to the Gauls, who quickly became infatuated with it, and would pay high prices for an amphora of wine.  The main good that Romans desired from Gaul was slaves, which were often prisoners of war.  The price of wine became so high that Gaul paid for one amphora of wine with one slave.  Trade with the Greeks and Romans was important for many Gaul tribes because clan leaders were expected to give their clan gifts of wine or gold coins.  There was a group of Gauls that migrated towards Asia Minor and settled in Galatia which is in modern Turkey.  They received this land in 278 B.C. when they assisted King Nicodemus I of Bithynia in suppressing his younger brother’s rebellion.  They attacked surrounding areas but were defeated frequently.  Eventually they became mercenaries for other tribes. 

 

  The Gauls sacked Rome in 390 B.C. because Roman envoys broke the law of nations by taking up arms against the Gauls.  In response, Gaul attacked Allia and sacked the city.  A Roman garrison at Capitoline held out, and when the two sides were discussing terms, Marcus Furius Camilius attacked and took Capitoline.  Gaul retaliated by attacking and sacking Rome.  The Romans developed a fear of the Gauls since their attack which would have an effect on them for the next few hundred years.  In 284 the Cisalpine Gauls kept migrating closer to central Italy towards Milan.  In response, Rome defeated the tribe of Insubres and created colonies to protect themselves from future attacks.  The Ebro treaty signed in 225 B.C. has been interpreted by some scholars as a response to the threat of the Gauls.  The treaty said that the Carthaginians would not cross Ebro in arms.  In addition to the Ebro Treaty, Romans perfored human sacrifices in 218, 216, and 114 B.C. in which they buried alive a man and woman from Gaul and a man and woman from Greece.  These may have been signs that Rome was worried about another Gallic attack.

 

  Before the start of the Gallic War, three of the Gallic tribes, the Aedui, Sequani, and Arverni, were fighting amongst themselves.  These battles weakened the Gauls’ defense when Caesar invaded.  In 58 B.C. defeated the Helvetii and Suevi tribes.  A year later, after hearing of disunity between the tribes of Belgae in northern Gaul, Caesar attacked and conquered all eleven tribes of Belgae individually.  The Nervii and Aduactuci almost defeated Caesar in 57 B.C., but he eventually conquered them as well.  In 54 B.C. Dumnorix of Aedui tried to take a stand against Caesar but was quickly destroyed.  The only rebellion that had some success came in 52 B.C.  Vercingetorix, the leader of the Arverni tribe, used guerilla warfare because he understood that the Gauls could not compete with the Romans in standard warfare.   In addition to this, he employed a scorched earth strategy to prevent the Romans from taking any of the Gaul strongholds.  This policy did not work because the Bituriges tribe did not destroy their main Oppidum, which the Romans quickly captured.  His biggest mistake came when he deviated from guerilla warfare and allowed his cavalry to engage in a large conflict with the Romans.  His army was then driven back to Alesia which was in central Gaul.  The Romans set up siege lines along the city and barricaded any goods from coming into the city.  Vercingetorix tried to send the children and women out of Alesia, but Caesar did not allow them to pass.  When reinforcements came for Vercingetorix, he attacked Caesar’s army, but the Roman lines held strong.  Vercingetorix eventually surrendered because his army was starving.