Salian Franks

The Salian Franks, or Salians, sometimes referred to by the Latin word Salii or Sali, were a Frankish people who lived in what is now the Netherlands in the 4th century. They are only mentioned under this name in historical records relating to this one period, when they came into conflict with Roman forces led by Julian the Apostate in 358 AD, during the period when Julian ruled in Gaul as Caesar, under his cousin the emperor Constantius II. In modern times scholars have also traditionally used the term "Salians" to refer to the much later Franks who became the rulers of much of present day northern France in the 5th century - at first under the leadership of Chlodio.