408 empires and dynasties: Europe achievement at that time was to convince many of the fractious Celts of Gaul that they should think of themselves as one people and unite to fight for their freedom, and he was made chief of the war effort He learned in an engagement at Noviodunum that his army was no match for the Romans’ superior tactics and discipline in a pitched battle, so he resorted to guerrilla warfare He burned farmlands to deny the Romans access to food Even so, Julius Caesar managed to track down his army and trap it in the fortified town of Alesia, where the Celts starved until they surrendered Vercingetorix was sent to Rome, imprisoned, and publicly humiliated, and in 46 b.c.e he was executed by strangulation These events did not end ambitions for the independence of Gaul Now and then tribes would try to take a stand for Celtic freedom, but little came of their efforts until 259 c.e., when Gaul seceded from the Roman Empire Gaul had three emperors: Postumus (r 259–268 c.e.), Victorinus (r 268–270 c.e.), and Tetricus (r 270–274 c.e.) After seizing power in Gaul in 259 c.e., Postumus declared the existence of the Gallic Empire in 260 c.e In 261 c.e Britain, Spain, and the Germanic territories in central Europe joined Gaul as part of his empire The Gallic emperors defeated attempted invasions by Germanic tribes from outside of Gaul In 274 c.e the Roman emperor defeated Tetricus’s army and ended the Gallic Empire Among the Germanic tribes who periodically attacked Gaul were the Franks In 418 c.e King Pharamond (r 418–428 c.e.) began what became the Merovingian Dynasty (418–751 c.e.) He was succeeded by Clodio (r 428–447 c.e.), who in turn was succeeded by Merovech (r 447–458 c.e.), for whom the dynasty is named When the Huns under Attila attacked the city of Orleans in 451 c.e., the Franks joined the Gauls, and the Goths and the Burgundians, Germanic tribes under the command of a Roman general, rescued the city and later defeated the Huns in battle Merovech was succeeded by Childeric I (r ca 458–482 c.e.) Childeric expanded the power of the Franks in Gaul, but it was his son Clovis I (r 482–511 c.e.) who made the power long lasting through his military prowess, his conversion to Christianity (496 c.e.), and his establishment of the city of Paris his capital In 486 c.e he defeated in battle Syagrius, who was the last official Roman governor of Gaul IBERIA Iberia is the peninsula where Portugal and Spain are now Iberia was settled at least 30,000 years ago by modern humans By 5000 b.c.e West Mediterranean peoples were migrating from the east coast into Iberia Some ethnologists believe that descendants from both these populations still live in Iberia, especially in Portugal and the Basque provinces of northern Spain The Greeks gave them the name Iberians Phoenician merchants were visiting Iberia by 1100 b.c.e., and in the 700s b.c.e the Phoenicians had colonies on the east and south coasts of Iberia Along these coasts cities arose with their own governments, probably out of a desire to protect resources, such as tin mines, that were important in trade These cities were ruled by warriors and priests In the rest of Iberia people lived in small tribes that were often at war with one another About 750 b.c.e the Iberian tribe the Tartessians established the kingdom of Tartessos (called Tarshish in the Bible), probably to protect their rights to copper mines in southern Iberia By 600 b.c.e it encompassed the lower half of the Guadalquivir River and had four cities, Osuna, El Carambolo, Niebla, and the capital, Huelva Tartessos was not only an key source of copper but also an important way station for merchants sailing to the Atlantic coast of Europe and to Britain because its ports were on the Atlantic side from Gibralter In the 200s b.c.e it was conquered by the Carthaginians The first wave of Celtic migration into Iberia from Gaul occurred in the 800s b.c.e A second wave followed in the 600s b.c.e At first the Celts settled in northern Iberia, but during the second wave they spread throughout Iberia, except for the southern and eastern coasts, which remained under the control of native Iberian cities until they were conquered by Carthage in the 200s b.c.e The Celts did not drive out the local tribes but instead mixed with them, creating a group now known as the Celtiberians They were ruled by warriors, and the Celtiberian tribes frequently clashed with one other In the 200s b.c.e the Celtiberians began living in castros, or fortified towns Greeks and Carthaginians often fought over control of the western Mediterranean In 264 b.c.e Rome came to the aid of Greeks in Sicily, beginning the First Punic War (264–241 b.c.e.), which Carthage eventually lost Having lost much of its influence among the Mediterranean’s islands, Carthage compensated by conquering the southern and eastern coasts of Iberia Carthage tried to conquer the Celtiberians of the interior but was mostly unsuccessful; however, through diplomacy, Carthage built alliances among the Celtiberians, allowing Carthaginians some control over events in central Iberia During the Second Punic War (218–201 b.c.e.) the Carthaginians used Iberia as a landing ground for their armies, and for this reason Rome invaded Iberia, inflicting defeats on the Carthaginians and winning allies Still, many Iberians resisted Roman rule, and Rome did not have complete control of Iberia until 19 b.c.e Thereafter the peoples of Iberia adopted Latin as their primary language and adopted the Roman way of life The Germanic tribes the Suevi and the Vandals invaded Gaul in 405 c.e., but another Germanic tribe, the Visigoths, drove them out They fled to Iberia The Suevi numbered about 60,000 and chose to settle in northwestern Iberia The Vandals conquered part of southwestern Spain, which came to be called Andalusia, in reference to the Vandals The Visigoths were a well-organized tribe that had adopted many Roman customs Their king Ataulphus (r 412–415 c.e.), cooperating with the Romans, overcame the Suevi and drove most of the Vandals out of Iberia in 411 c.e The Vandals fled to North Africa The Visigoths ruled Iberia as their kingdom from 412 to 711 c.e Kingship was not hereditary Instead, the warrior elite elected the member of the royal family whom they considered most fit to lead them Many Visigoths became farmers, but the warriors were the nobility, serving as knights They spoke