The city of Bruges wasn't established until the 12th C. CE. The area was fortified by Baldwin I, Count of Flanders in the 9th C. CE to protect against Viking raids. Before that, towards the end of the Roman period, Flanders was the area occupied by the Franks before they spread into the rest of Gaul (France). During the Roman period, it was the northeastern portion of Gaul, and before that, populated by the Celtic tribe of the Belgae. Julius Caesar remarked in his "Gallic Wars" that the Belgae were the bravest of the Gaulish people.