France

===Antiquity (6th century BC – 5th century AD)===
{{Main|Gaul|Celts|Roman Gaul}}

In 600 BC, [[Ionia]]n [[Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul|Greeks]] from [[Phocaea]] founded the [[Greek colonisation|colony]] of [[Massalia]] (present-day [[Marseille]]), on the shores of the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. This makes it France's oldest city.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1TmVvMwmo4C&pg=RA1-PA754 |title=The Cambridge ancient history |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-521-08691-2 |page=754 |access-date=23 January 2011}}; {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8cA8hymTw8C&pg=PA62|title=A history of ancient Greece|author=Claude Orrieux|page=62|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=1999|access-date=23 January 2011|isbn=978-0-631-20309-4}}</ref> At the same time, some Gallic Celtic tribes penetrated parts of eastern and northern France, gradually spreading through the rest of the country between the 5th and 3rd century BC.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, p. 29.</ref>

[[File:Maison_Carree_in_Nimes_(16).jpg|thumb|alt=Maison Carrée temple in Nemausus Corinthian columns and portico|The [[Maison Carrée]] was a temple of the [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman]] city of [[Nemausus]] (present-day [[Nîmes]]) and is one of the best-preserved vestiges of the [[Roman Empire]].]]
Around 390 BC, the Gallic [[Tribal chief|chieftain]] [[Brennus (leader of the Senones)|Brennus]] and his troops made their way to [[Roman Italy]] through the [[Alps]], defeated the Romans in the [[Battle of the Allia]], and besieged and [[ransom]]ed Rome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cornelius Tacitus, The History, BOOK II, chapter 91 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0080:book=2:chapter=91 |website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> The Gallic invasion left Rome weakened, and the Gauls continued to harass the region until 345 BC when they entered into a formal peace treaty with Rome.<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.18.19</ref> But the Romans and the Gauls would remain adversaries for the next centuries, and the Gauls would continue to be a threat in Italy.<ref>Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, p. 325</ref>

Around 125 BC, the south of Gaul was conquered by the Romans, who called this region {{Lang|la|[[Gallia Narbonensis|Provincia Nostra]]}} ("Our Province"), which over time evolved into the name [[Provence]] in French.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=13 July 1953 |title=Provence in Stone |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77 |magazine=Life |page=77 |access-date=23 January 2011}}</ref> [[Julius Caesar]] conquered the remainder of Gaul and overcame a revolt carried out by the Gallic chieftain [[Vercingetorix]] in 52 BC.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 44–45.</ref> Gaul was divided by [[Augustus]] into Roman provinces.<ref name="c53">Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 53–55.</ref> Many cities were founded during the [[Roman Gaul|Gallo-Roman period]], including [[Lugdunum]] (present-day [[Lyon]]), which is considered the capital of the Gauls.<ref name="c53" />

From the 250s to the 280s AD, Roman Gaul suffered a serious crisis with its [[Limes (Roman Empire)|fortified borders]] being attacked on several occasions by [[barbarian]]s.<ref name="c77">Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 76–77</ref> Nevertheless, the situation improved in the first half of the 4th century, which was a period of revival and prosperity for Roman Gaul.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 79–82.</ref> In 312, Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]] [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|converted to Christianity]]. Subsequently, Christians who had been persecuted increased rapidly across the entire Roman Empire.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, p. 81.</ref> But from the beginning of the 5th century, the [[Migration Period|Barbarian Invasions]] resumed.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, p. 84.</ref> [[Teutons|Teutonic]] tribes invaded the region from present-day Germany, the [[Visigoths]] settling in the southwest, the [[Burgundians]] along the Rhine River Valley, and the Franks in the north.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 84–88.</ref>