Central Gaul, Aedui tribe, AR Quinarius

The Aedui were one of the most powerful Celtic tribes of central Gaul, based in what is now Burgundy, and were important allies of Rome well before Julius Caesar’s conquest. By 121 BC they had been recognised by the Romans as “brothers” and allies, but their rivalry with neighbouring tribes, especially the Sequani and Arverni, helped create the political crisis that Caesar later used to intervene in Gaul in 58 BC.

An especially interesting fact is that the Aedui capital, Bibracte, became a key place in Caesar’s Gallic campaigns: it was near there that he defeated the Helvetii in 58 BC, and Bibracte later served as an important administrative and political centre. Archaeology has shown it was a major oppidum with evidence of long-distance trade, including large quantities of Roman wine amphorae, showing that the Aedui were already deeply connected to Mediterranean commerce before the Roman conquest.