What is the significance of 'Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres'?

Answer 1

The significance of 'Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres'* is the recognition by Gaul's conqueror, Gaius Julius Caesar [July 13, 100 B.C.E.** - March 5, 44 B.C.E.], of the importance of knowing one's enemy. Caesar based his military campaigns on military intelligence. But that intelligence wasn't just in terms of the skills and weaponry of the enemy. Caesar demanded the complete picture of the culture, the geography, and the military. That first sentence of Caesar's account of his conquest of Gaul in 58 B.C.E. - 52 B.C.E. therefore showed his commitment to complete information about his perceived enemy. It was the introduction to a cultural and political geography of Caesar's enemies. It signified Caesar's recognition of each one of the main, distinct cultural, geographical and political divisions that he needed to understand and subdue in order to conquer all of Gaul. So Caesar then went on to elaborate on each of those divisions in terms of the Belgians in the north, the Celts in the center, and the Aquitanians in the south. *'The English equivalent is 'All of Gaul is divided into three parts'. In the word by word translation, the noun 'Gallia' means 'Gaul', which is modern France. The verb 'est' means '[he/she/it] is'. The adjective 'omnis' means 'all'. The participle 'divisa' means 'divided'. The preposition 'in' means 'in'. The noun 'partes' means 'parts'. The number 'tres' means 'three'. *Before the Christian Era