...Whether the Belgae were of Celtic or Germanic origin, or a combination of both, is unclear. Caesar's sources informed him "that the greater part of the Belgae were sprung from the Germanic peoples, and that, having crossed the Rhine at an early period, they had settled there, on account of the fertility of the country".Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 2.4 He also says that the Germanic people who lived to the west of the Rhine were allied to the Belgae,Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 2.3 and describes four of the tribes who made up the Belgic alliance, the Eburones, Condrusi, Caerosi and Paemani, as Germanic. The later historian Tacitus records that the Nervii and Treveri were also eager to claim Germanic rather than Gaulish origin.Tacitus, Germania 28 On the other hand, most of the Belgic tribal and personal names recorded are identifiably Gaulish, including that of Ambiorix, a leader of the Eburones, one of the tribes named as Germanic. , even though Strabo mentions their presence (Belgae) up to the Loire. The Romans were not precise in their ethnography of northern barbarians: by "Germanic" Caesar may simply have meant "originating east of the Rhine" (Germani cisrhenani), with no distinction of language intended. It seems that, whatever their Germanic ancestry, at least some of the Belgic tribes spoke a variety of the Gaulish language by Caesar's time Koch, J.T. Celtic Culture: A historical encyclopedia (2006) ISBN 1-85109-440-7. It is possible that the Germanic-Gaulish language border crossed through Belgium then about as the Dutch-French language border does today. Read full entry

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