Switzerland in The Roman Era - Switzerland Prior To The Roman Conquest

Switzerland Prior To The Roman Conquest

Switzerland did not exist as a political or cultural entity prior to the emergence of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Middle Ages, but its core territories within the natural borders of the Alps to the South and East, Lake Geneva and the Rhône to the west and the Rhine to the north were recognized as a contiguous territory by Julius Caesar.

This area – the Swiss plateau – was settled principally by Celtic peoples, of which the five tribes of the Helvetii were the most numerous, but which also included the Rauraci in north-west Switzerland centered on Basel, the Allobroges around Geneva, and the Nantuates, Seduni and Veragri in the Valais. Additionally, the Lepontii, a people of Celtic origin, settled in the Ticino, and the Raetians controlled the Grisons as well as large areas around it.