The presence of Germanic tribes has been attested in the area covered by the Netherlands since the second century before Christ, when they were taking part in a migration towards the west. This was part of the so-called "Wandering of the Nations" which reached its peak between the third and fifth centuries AD.
The first written source to cover the area of the modern Netherlands and Belgium is the book De bello gallico ["On the Gallic Wars"] by Julius Caesar. Caesar and the Romans invaded Gaul in 57 BC and then went on to conquer the provinces of the Netherlands. For 500 years this region was an outpost of the Roman Empire; Caesar met mostly Celtic tribes here.
With the Romans rose towns and a network of roads. The Romanisation continued systematically, but the Romans never managed to impose their culture completely on the indigenous Germanic tribes.
From 47 AD the Rhine formed the border between the Roman Empire and the Germans. On one side of the river there was a well-organised but ethnically very divided state, and on the other side a conglomeration of tribes with a common language, culture and religion but without overarching institutions.
The Wandering of the Nations, which began in this period and which in the Netherlands affected the Saxons, Frisians and Franks, signified the end of the "pax romana". The Netherlands were gradually Christianised and the Germanic colonisation gained pace. Large parts of Gaul now consisted of a mixture of Romans and Germans. At the end of the Roman Empire, c. 400 AD, chaos reigned in large parts of Europe. Tribal migrations increased and expanded into the great Wandering of the Nations. The Franks emigrated to the south in the direction of Gaul. The Angles and Saxons left for Britain. The Frisians spread their area of influence to the north of the Rhine. The part of the Saxons who stayed behind made Westphalia their centre. The Alemanni left for south Germany, and the west Goths (Visigoths) for Spain, while the east Goths (Ostrogoths) settled in Italy.
