Galba ('' fl.'' mid-1st century BC) was a

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

(''rex'') of the Suessiones, a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

polity of

Belgic Gaul Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In 50 BC, af ...

, during the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homel ...

. When

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

entered the part of

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

that was still independent of Roman rule in 58 BC, a number of

Belgic Belgic may refer to: * an adjective referring to the Belgae, an ancient confederation of tribes * a rarer adjective referring to the Low Countries or to Belgium * , several ships with the name * Belgic ware Aylesford-Swarling pottery is part of a ...

polities formed a defensive alliance and acclaimed Galba commander-in-chief. Caesar recognizes Galba for his sense of justice (''iustitia'') and intelligence (''prudentia'').

Etymology of name

Galba as a Roman ''

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

'' is associated with a branch of the '' gens

Sulpicia Sulpicia was the author, in the first century BCE, of six short poems (some 40 lines in all) written in Latin which were published as part of the corpus of Albius Tibullus's poetry (poems 3.13-18). She is one of the few female poets of ancient Ro ...

''. Although the most famous bearer is the Emperor Galba in the 1st century AD, a

Servius Sulpicius Galba Servius Sulpicius Galba may refer to: * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 144 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 108 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC), assassin of Julius Caesar * Galba, born Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman emperor fro ...

also served under Caesar in Gaul. Suetonius says that in

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...

''Galba'' means "fat" (compare

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

''golb'', "paunchy, fat"), and ''Galba'' is usually regarded as Celtic in origin.Xavier Delamarre, entry on ''galba'', ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance, 2003), p. 174. See also D. Ellis Evans, ''Gaulish personal names: a study of some Continental Celtic formations'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967), pp. 293, 297, 349. Since physical fitness was a requirement of Gallic fighting men, who might be fined if they reported for duty overweight, the Celtic name is likely either to have lost the connotations of its original meaning, or in regard to a king to refer to "fat times" or prosperity.

References

{{Reflist 1st-century BC rulers in Europe Gaulish rulers Barbarian people of the Gallic Wars