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Caesar begins the conquest of Gaul

58–50 BCE, Gaul. An event.

Where and when

58–50 BCEGaul

about 2,083 years ago

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, Gaul

As governor, Caesar fights the peoples of Gaul for eight years and brings the whole country under Rome. He tells the story himself, in the third person.

All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in our Gauls, the third.

Caesar, The Gallic War 1.1Translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn (1869)Read the full passage (Caesar, The Gallic War 1.1, opens scaife.perseus.org)

Background: Gallic Wars, Wikipedia (opens en.wikipedia.org)

Why it matters

Conquering Gaul let Rome secure the Rhine as a natural border. The wars were a key factor in Caesar's win in the civil war, which ended in the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire.

Based on Wikipedia: Gallic Wars

Conquering Gaul allowed Rome to secure the natural border of the Rhine river.

The Gallic Wars were a key factor in Caesar's ability to win the Civil War and make himself dictator, culminating in the end of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Roman Empire.

Wikipedia, Gallic Wars (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-10-03. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. 63 BCEabout 5 years earlier Cicero exposes Catiline's plot against the Republic Same years
  2. c. 60 BCEabout 2 years earlier Caesar, Pompey and Crassus join forces Same years
  3. 59 BCE1 year earlier Cato dragged to prison, as Plutarch tells it Same years
  4. 58–50 BCEThis momentCaesar begins the conquest of Gaul
  5. 58 BCEAbout the same year Caesar maps Gaul and its peoples Rests on this eventAlso in Gaul
  6. 58–57 BCEBegins this year Cicero in exile, as Plutarch tells it Same years
  7. 55 BCEabout 3 years later Caesar's eagle-bearer leaps in Britain Rests on this event
  8. 55 BCEabout 3 years later Caesar on why he would cross to Britain Rests on this eventAlso in GaulAlso about war and empire
  9. 55–54 BCEabout 3 years later Caesar crosses the sea to Britain Also about war and empire

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