Concept in Definition ABC

Something that impressed Julius Caesar of the Gauls - and so he left recorded in his famous bookThe Gallic War-the fortified towns of him were located in places of easy defense, the oppida (plural of oppidum).

A oppidum It is a fortified town typical of Celtic culture, especially in Central Europe and present-day France.

Always upright in easily defensible locations, on high ground to be able to dominate the surroundings and place their attackers at a lower level to be able to counter their attack, they may or may not be inhabited.

Thus, and while some of these oppida they housed a city inside, sheltered by its walls, others were mere fortresses, without civil houses inside, comparable to medieval castles.

The differences between oppida of different peoples and tribes, is due to the fragmentationpolitics of the Celtic peoples, who despite sharing a culture and, many times, common religious beliefs, were politically divided.

The oppida not only respond to defensive needs.

The birth of the industry, such as the forge, as well as the Commerce with other Celtic peoples and from beyond space cultural Celtic (like the Italic cities or the Greek polis) necessitate the emergence of urban structures.

These, in addition, must be protected, taking into account the character warlike of the Celtic tribes, who also fought among themselves.

The oppida They were protected by a wall built with earth and stones, elements combined with wooden beams.

Julius Caesar was impressed by the provision from the ramparts of Bibracte, a great oppidum Gallic, and so he wrote it down in The Gallic War.

The heyday of the oppida It was, from the 2nd century BC. C, until the Romans conquered Gaul.

The Celts, pushed by the Germans and conquered by the Romans, would languish in Europe, and would only maintain their presence in a part of the British Isles (the Welsh, Scottish and Irish languages ​​have Celtic roots), although in the territory of these islands there is no oppidum outstanding.

The most important examples that have come down to us from the architecture of the oppida, or of which we have abundant enough clues to reconstruct them, are Bibracte (Burgundy, France), Manching (Bavaria, Germany), and Alesia (also in Burgundy), although there are examples minors.

Photo: Fotolia - Philetdom