Historic Map : Dufour Map of Gaul or France in Ancient Roman Times, 1860, Vintage Wall Art

This is a beautiful and scarce 1860 elephant folio map of Gaul or France in ancient Roman times issued by A. H. Dufour. It covers from the English Channel south as far as the Pyrenees Mountains and Hispania. It includes the modern day nations of France, Luin xembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The map is beautifully color coded and numbered with a key in the upper right quadrant identifying the 17 provinces under the Roman Emperors.

Gaul was the ancient name of a region of Western Europe which comprises of modern day France, Luin xembourg, Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine. It also included most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy and parts of Netherland. After the Gallic Wars of 58-51 BC, all of Gaul came under the control of the Romans. It continued to remain under Roman control for almost 500 years before it fell to the Franks in AD 486. The Gallic Wars are believed to have been fought primarily to provide Caesar with wealth and popularity and to boost his political career rather than being a defensive action as described by Caesar. The campaigns are described by Caesar in his book Commentarii de Bello Gallico.

This map was prepared by Auguste-Henri Dufour and engraved by Charles Dyonette for publication plate no. 5 in Armand Le Chevalier's 1860 edition of Atlas Universel, Physique, Historique et Politique de Geographie Ancienne et Moderne.