What happened to the Gauls?

[Anthony]

You have to be careful with that. "Roman" is not an ethnic term, at least since the early 1st century BC. It's a cultural, political and legal identity which united people of different ethnic backgrounds. It's more like me saying I'm European.

and it was not only the upper classes calling themselves "Romans" but the lower classes as well, especially in the "byzantine" empire you mentioned. People actually forgot pretty soon about their "gallic" or "briton" or "spanic" origin.

This isn't totally true. Britons oftened identified themselves as Britons against the Saxons, and in their church liturgy defined between themselves and the Romans (which they term anyone in Gaul, but for some Armoricans after a point (early Bretons) who were either Irish or Brythonic). Galaecians identified more readily with the Irish (who claimed their descent from Galaecians) that even today some Galaecians embrace Gaelic culture (though so do some other Spaniards and Portugeuse, but that would be due to the influx of Irish nobility and their tribes after the 'Flight of the Earls'; there are Irish Spaniards, Portugeuse, and Mexicans who have their origin from that event). It isn't even 'forgot pretty soon'. The Britons were quite notable in their disparity from others, including Romans, particularly when the Irish converted to Christianity. The basis of the Irish Gaelic/Brythonic alliance was that neither was 'Roman nor German, but yet Christian', enticing Irish mercenaries to aide against the Saxons. They certainly considered themselves 'Roman' in a respect, but that they 'forgot' their background is completely false; they certainly did not, and used it as leverage later. However, on the same coin, they considered themselves Roman enough to once consider themselves heirs of the empire. However, 'forgot' of their origin is patently false.