Quote Originally Posted by The Celt
@Caractos:Yes there was an Roman break away empire that called itself the "Gallic Empire". However, this was more about political backing than cultural recognition. The Imperator that rebelled was named Postumus(Marcas Cassianius Latinius)and for awhile he adopted the title "RESTITVTOR GALLIAR(um?)" which means "The Restorer of the Gauls". But, after awhile he changed that motto to "ROMA AETERNA" along with "RESTITVTOR ORBIS" among others so he really didn't relate to the Gauls that much though he might have been one himself he was very romanized.
I agree with you (about the political backing vs cultural indentifaction as reason for its inception). But in reference to the topic of the thread i thought it would be an important example to illustrate that the gauls didn't dissapear they just became romanised. Though i think the fact that Postumus chose "Restorer of the gauls" is evidence enough for a substantial amount of cultural/ethnic identification-- no matter how romanised they had become. The fact that he changed his motto probably had something to do with the fact that he was Emperor of more than just gauls as apposed to the fact that he didn't identify with gauls.