Why "France"?
About 750,000 B. C. , cave dwellers lived in the land we now know as France. In the year 2000 B.C., Celtic tribes began invading northwest Europe. The Celts migrated from the east to what is now the country of France, and they established numerous territories along the way. The Romans later named these territories Gaul. Today, French schoolchildren are taught to refer to the Gauls as their ancestors.
From 58 B.C. to 51 B.C., Julius Caesar led an army of Roman troops in battle against the Gauls, known as The Gallic Wars. Caesar described this event with his three famous words, "Veni, vidi, vici." (I came, I saw, I conquered.) In reality, it was not as easy as Caesar made it seem. The Gauls put forth a strong resistance under the leadership of an Arverni warrior named Chief Vercingetorix. Although Vercingetorix was executed by the Romans, his leadership and bravery still remain as a source of pride for the French. Gaul became a part of the Roman Empire for the next four hundred years, and the French view this as an integral and proud part of their history.
From 481 to 511 A.D., Clovis served as the leader of a Germanic tribe known as the Franks. This tribe took control of Gaul by defeating the Romans, and they gave the land a new name - France. Clovis is considered to be the first king of France. He adopted Christianity as the religion of the country, and he established a new capital in the city of Paris.
