The Celts

The Celts

The ancient celts  were various population groups living in several parts of Europe north of the Mediterranean region from the Late Bronze Age onwards. Given the name Celt by ancient writers, these tribes often migrated and so eventually occupied territories from Portugal to Turkey. Although diverse tribes the ancient Celts spoke the same language and maintained the same artistic tradition which is characterised by the use of idiosyncratic flowing lines and forms. Celtic languages are still spoken today in parts of the British Isles and northern France.

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GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD

Ancient writers gave the name Celts to various population groups living across central Europe inland from the Mediterranean coastal areas. Most scholars agree that the Celtic culture first appeared in the Late Bronze Age in the area of the upper Danube sometime around the 13th century BCE.

CELTIC WARFARE

Celtic warriors were known for their long hair and imposing physique. They are depicted in Greek art with their distinctive long shields (wooden panels covered in decorated hide) and long swords. Such was the respect for Celtic warriors that Hellenistic kings who defeated Galatian armies were given the title of soter, meaning ‘saviour’. Although Galatian armies were almost always defeated by their more disciplined and better-equipped enemies in single battles, once conquered, they did fight successfully as mercenaries in many Hellenistic and Roman armies.

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CELTIC LANGUAGES

The Celtic language is a branch of the Indo-European language family. Scholars have divided Celtic languages into two groups: Insular Celtic and Continental Celtic. The latter group was no longer widely spoken after the Roman imperial period, and the only surviving examples of it are mentions in the works of Greek and Roman writers and some epigraphic remains such as pottery graffiti and votive and funerary stelae. The best documented of this group is Gaulish.  

The Insular Celtic group of languages are two: British or Brittonic (Breton, Cornish, and Welsh) and Goidelic (Irish and its medieval derivatives, Scots Gaelic and Manx). Brittonic was spoken in all of Britain in the Roman period. From it evolved Cumbrian (extinct since medieval times), Cornish (no longer spoken after the 18th century CE but recently revived), Breton (likely introduced by 5th-century CE British settlers and not connected directly to Gaulish), and Welsh, which is still spoken today. The earliest evidence of Goidelic-Irish dates to the 5th century CE, and it later evolved into Middle Irish (c. 950 – 1200 CE) and, thereafter, morphed again into Modern Irish, which is still spoken today.    

Information by: http://www.ancient.eu

Celtic Women 

Celtic women were distinct in the ancient world for the liberty and rights they

enjoyed and the position they held in society. Compared to their counterparts in Greek,

Roman, and other ancient societies, they were allowed much freedom of activity and

protection under the law. The Iron Age Celts were nevertheless a patriarchal people and for the most part men had the ultimate power in politics and the home. Despite this, ancient Celtic women remain an inspiring example of womanhood from the past.

Women's roles in public life.

Though public life among the Iron Age Celts was largely the domain of men,

women managed to play a prominent role as well. They seem not to have been

systematically excluded from any occupation. Women could become druids, including

priestesses, poets, and healers. They could conduct business without the consent or

involvement of their husbands. They could serve as diplomats; in fact, a woman acted as

ambassador in establishing the treaty between the Carthaginian general Hannibal and the 

Celtic ruler Volcae during a march against Rome. Plutarch wrote in the second century

that there was a long-standing tradition among the Celts of women acting as mediators or

judges in political and military disputes. They were also known to have played a similar

mediating role in their own tribal assemblies. 

Information by; http://www.celtlearn.org/pdfs/women.pdf

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Druids

Druids were people in ancient Britain and France who served a wide variety of roles — “philosophers, teachers, judges, the repository of communal wisdoms about the natural world and the traditions of the people, and the mediators between humans and the gods.”

They offered human sacrifices for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids preferred to sacrifice criminals, they would choose innocent victims if necessary.

Druidic rites were held in clearings in the forest. Sacred buildings were used only later under Roman influence.

Picture and information by: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Druid  http://www.livescience.com/45727-druids.html

Caratacus

Caractacus was a king and tribal leader of the ancient Britons during the Iron Age and ruler of the Catuvellaunui, a powerful British tribe.  He was the son of a Celtic king named Cunobeline and ruled Briton from 43-50 AD.  Caractacus is associated with the expansion of his tribe’s territory with his apparent success being a catalyst for the Roman invasion of Britain.  When the Romans launched their invasion in the summer of 43 AD they attempted to absorb it into the Roman empire.  While other tribes in Britain, such as the Dobunni, submitted to the Romans, Caractacus fought fiercely for the independence of his people.

When the Emperor Claudius launched an invasion of Britain, it was a massive undertaking and intervention which would ultimately lead to more than 350 years of Roman control.  Four legions supported by auxiliary troops made up an invasion force of more than 40,000 men.  Despite what must have seemed like overwhelming Roman strength, there was strong native resistance.  The land that is now Britain wasn't fully conquered until nearly 40 years after the initial invasion and even then, Rome never fully succeeded in conquering and subduing all of the peoples.  There was always a need for a significant military presence to control the threat from unconquered tribes and the vast majority of the populace would remain relatively untouched by Roman civilization.  

Information and picture by: http://www.ancient-origins.net/