Region
Gallia Comata
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Gallia Comata means 'long-haired Gaul', the Roman name for the Gaulish lands conquered by Caesar between 58 and 51 BC, after the custom of their people to let their hair grow long. It stood against 'Gaul in the toga', meaning northern Italy, and 'trousered Gaul' in the south. Cicero played on the contrast: 'I give back toga-wearing Gaul, I demand long-haired Gaul.' On the map the two words lie far apart, at different angles, and only the second is in capitals. Older research read this odd legend as a relic from the map's earliest design, perhaps older than Augustus.