These three great regions were subdivided into many states, called _civitates_--an expression which, in the “Commentaries,” is synonymous with _nations_[64]--that is, each of these states had its organisation and its own government. Among the peoples mentioned by Cæsar, we may reckon twenty-seven in Belgic Gaul, forty-three in Celtic, and twelve in Aquitaine: in all, eighty-two in Gaul proper, and seven in the Narbonnese. Other authors, admitting, no doubt, smaller subdivisions, carry this number to three or four hundred;[65] but it appears that under Tiberius there were only sixty-four states in Gaul.[66] Perhaps, in this number, they reckoned only the sovereign, and not the dependent, states. 1. _Belgic Gaul._ The Belgæ were considered more warlike than the other Gauls,[67] because, strangers to the civilisation of the Roman province and hostile to commerce, they had not experienced the effeminating influence of luxury. Proud of having escaped the Gaulish enervation, they claimed with arrogance an origin which united them with the Germans their neighbours, with whom, nevertheless, they were continually at war.[68] They boasted of having defended their territory against the Cimbri and the Teutones, at the time of the invasion of Gaul. The memory of the lofty deeds of their ancestors inspired them with a great confidence in themselves, and excited their warlike spirit.[69] The most powerful nations among the Belgæ were the Bellovaci,[70] who could arm a hundred thousand men, and whose territory extended to the sea,[71] the Nervii, the Remi, and the Treviri. 2. _Celtic Gaul._[72] The central part of Gaul, designated by the Greek writers under the name of _Celtica_, and the inhabitants of which constituted in the eyes of the Romans the Gauls properly so named (_Galli_), was the most extensive and most populous. Among the most important nations of Celtic Gaul were reckoned the Arverni, the Ædui, the Sequani, and the Helvetii. Tacitus informs us that the Helvetii had once occupied a part of Germany.[73] These three first peoples often disputed the supremacy of Gaul. As to the Helvetii, proud of their independence, they acknowledged no authority superior to their own. In the centre and south of Celtic Gaul dwelt peoples who had also a certain importance. On the west and north-west were various maritime populations designated under the generic name of _Armoricans_, an epithet which had, in the Celtic tongue, the meaning of maritime. Small Alpine tribes inhabited the valleys of the upper course of the Rhone, at the eastern extremity of Lake Lémon, a country which now forms the Valais.