Gallia Narbonensis - Later History

Later History

Bordering directly on Italy, control of the province gave the Roman state several advantages, such as control of the land route between Italy and the Iberian peninsula; a buffer against attacks on Italy by tribes from Gaul; and control of the lucrative trade routes of the Rhone valley, over which commercial goods flowed between Gaul and the trading center of Massalia. It was from the capital of Narbonne that Julius Caesar began his Gallic Wars.

The area became a Roman province in 121 BCE, originally under the name of Gallia Transalpina (Transalpine Gaul). This name was chosen to distinguish it from Cisalpine Gaul, the part of Gaul on the near side of the Alps to Rome. In 40 BCE, during the Second Triumvirate, Lepidus was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), while Mark Antony was given the balance of Gaul.

Emperor Diocletian's administrative reorganization of the Empire in c. 314 CE merged Gallia Narbonensis with Gallia Aquitania into a new province called Dioecesis Viennensis (Diocese of Vienne) with the capital far to the north in Vienne. The new province's name was later changed to Dioecesis Septem Provinciarum (Diocese of the Seven Provinces), as the word "province had been demoted in Diocletian's reforms to mean smaller subdivisions than traditional usage.

Galla Narbonensis and surrounding areas were incorporated into the Visigothic Kingdom between 462 and 477 CE, permanently ending Roman political control.