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The Volcae in the 2nd century BC were a large and powerful nation of Gaul.
Overview
They mainly lived in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, and occupied the district between the Garonne River (Garumna), the Cévennes (Cebenna mons), and the Rhône River (or even farther to the east in earlier times), corresponding roughly to the old province of Languedoc. They were divided into two tribes, the Arecomici on the east and the Tectosages (whose territory included that of the Tolosates) on the west, separated by the Hérault River (Arauris) or a line between the Hérault River and the Orbe River (Orbis). The Volcae were free and independent, had their own laws, and possessed the jus Latii. The chief town of the Tectosages was Toulouse (Tolosa); of the Arecomici, Nîmes (Nemausus); the capital of the province and residence of the governor was Narbonne (Narbo Martius). It was said that there was an early settlement of Volcae Tectosages near the Hercynian Forest (Hercynia Silva) in Germany; Tectosages was also the name of one of the three great communities of Gauls who invaded and settled in Asia Minor in the country called after them Galatia.
Etymology
Some believe that the name Volcae is related in some manner to the English word "folk", derived from Proto-Germanic *fulka "people" or "host". This is dubious, since it would imply a loan from Germanic to Celtic. Another posibility would be derivation from PIE ulkwos "wolf" (c.f. Russian volk). This is also unlikely, since the expected P-Celtic form of the word would be volp-. A more likely suggestion is a derivation from PIE *velk, a word for water or dampness (Old Irish failc "bathe"; cognate to English wallow, welkin c.f. Volga), according to which the Volcae would have been the "river people" [http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb16.html. The Proto-Germanic sound change that changed Volcae into *walha is known as Grimm's law, so that the contact between the Volcae and the early Germanic tribes would have occurred before that sound change, in the later 1st millennium BC.
The Volcae are consequently believed to have originally been settled north-east of the Rhine, in what is now western and central Germany in the basin of the Weser River where there are toponyms of supposed Celtic origin. Julius Caesar mentioned the Volcae Tectosages as a Celtic tribe which still remained in western Germany. For some time, the Volcae would have blocked Germanic expansion southwards. It is consequently not surprising that it became the generic name for Celts and later also for the Romans, contained in Wales, Wallachia, Wallonia, and walnut (see also Etymology of Vlach).
Volcae Arecomici
The Volcae Arecomici of their own accord surrendered to the Roman Republic in 121 BC, after which they occupied the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis (the area around modern day Narbonne), the southern part of Gallia Transalpina. They held their assemblies in the sacred wood of Nemausus, the site of modern Nîmes.
Volcae Tectosages
The territory of the Volcae Tectosages lay outside the Roman Republic, to the southwest of the Volcae Arecomici. From the 3rd century BC, the capital city of the Volcae Tectosages was Tolosa (modern Toulouse), which was incorporated into the Roman Republic as part of the province of Gallia Aquitania with the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar in 52 BC.
References
"Volcae"