Galba was a king

King

- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...

 (rex) of the Suessiones

Suessiones

The Suessiones were a Belgic tribe of Western Belgium in the 1st century BC, inhabiting the region between the Oise and the Marne, based around the present-day city of Soissons...

, a Celtic polity

Polity

Polity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...

 of Belgic Gaul, during the Gallic Wars

Gallic Wars

The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...

. When Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

 entered the part of Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

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

Belgae

The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain, and possibly even Ireland...

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

Etymology of name

Galba

Galba (cognomen)

Galba is an ancient Roman cognomen borne by a branch of the patrician gens Sulpicia.The name is sometimes thought to be Celtic in origin, from a root related to Old Irish golb, "paunchy, fat." Suetonius offers four possible derivations, including the Gaulish galba meaning "fat."-Republican...

 as a Roman cognomen

Cognomen

The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...

is associated with a branch of the gens

Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...

 Sulpicia. Although the most famous bearer is the Emperor Galba

Galba

Galba , was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex...

 in the 1st century AD, a Servius Sulpicius Galba

Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC)

Servius Sulpicius Galba, praetor in 54 BC.As legate of Julius Caesar's 12th Legion during his Gallic Wars, he was defeated by the Nantuates in 57 BC. Later, however, angered due to Caesar's opposition to his campaign for the consulship, he joined the conspiracy with Brutus and Cassius, and was...

 also served under Caesar in Gaul. Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

 says that in Gaulish Galba means "fat" (compare Old Irish golb, "paunchy, fat"), and Galba is usually regarded as Celtic in origin. 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.