Nina Droff 12:17 p.m., February 01, 2023
On the occasion of the release of the new opus of the saga of Asterix and Obelix at the cinema this Wednesday, February 1, the editorial staff of Europe 1 looked into the origin of the term "Gallic", far from the image of a united people fighting the Romans, as in the comics by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.
What is a "Gaul" really?
For the release of the new film in the Asterix and Obelix saga, the two most famous Gauls worldwide, Europe 1 asked itself the question.
And the answer is not so obvious.
First of all, it turns out that Gaulish is "Gaulish" for the Romans, since they refer to themselves as "Celts".
They are not a united people but rather hundreds of small independent tribes, settled throughout Western Europe since the 5th century BC.
And contrary to the clichés, their way of life was just as developed as that of the Greeks and Romans.
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Inventors and craftsmen
They were educated, especially in the field of astrology and agriculture.
It was even the Gauls, therefore Celts, who invented the ancestor of the combine harvester.
They do not carve menhirs, but rather fashion high-quality weapons and jewelry and weave fine linen clothing, highly prized in the markets of Rome.
Question: do they slap the Romans and feast on wild boar?
Well no.
But there is still one thing that Goscinny and Uderzo's comic strip is right about: the Gauls love banquets.
These public feasts make it possible to honor political figures and share a moment of communion with the whole tribe.