made themselves conspicuous above the rest of the provincials of Celtic Gaul by their coherence, and their obstinacy in confronting the Teutonic invaders. In the midst of the confusion which followed the downfall of the Roman empire they preserved their freedom, and even asserted the dignity of the Roman name, and resisted the attacks of Clovis with such success as ultimately to be admitted to an honourable and equal union.[1] We might, therefore, expect that the ancient population would be represented in greater purity in Brittany than in those districts which were repeatedly harassed by Frank, Goth, or Burgundian. The present dark Bretons are conterminous with the dark inhabitants of Aquitaine, consequently I should feel inclined to hold that the northern frontier of Iberia extended in ancient times so as to embrace that province. It must, however, be remarked that during the conquest of Britain by the English the defeated Britons emigrated in considerable numbers to Brittany, and were themselves, to some extent, of Iberian derivation.
The broadness of skull which predominates in the inhabitants of the "départements noirs et gris" is considered by Dr. Broca to be a character derived from the Celts, along with others not found in the small, dark, typical Spanish Basques.
The ancient Ligurians are represented by the dark small inhabitants of the Hautes and Basses Alps, who are not distinguishable from the rest of the small dark French peoples. A suggestion, therefore, which we have thrown out in the preceding pages, that they may belong to the same stock as the Iberians, founded mainly on
- ↑ Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, iv. 440.
