 Julius Caesar in "De Bello Gallico" identified some gods worshipped in Gaul by using the names of their nearest Roman god rather than their Gaulish name, with Caesar saying "Mercury" was the god most revered in Gaul.The Irish god Lug identified as "samildánach" led to the widespread identification of Caesar's Mercury as Lugus and thus also to the sacred cockerel, the Gallic rooster, as an emblem of France.Its association with France dates back from the Middle Ages and is due to the play on words in Latin between "Gallus", meaning an inhabitant of Gaul, and "gallus", meaning rooster, or cockerel.