Celtic Kingdoms: Notable Groups (inc. Tribes and Subtribes)

1200 BCE - 450 BCE - Hallstatt Culture (All Facts)

• Dominated central and western Europe by 600 BCE

• Comprised of Celtic chieftains who were influenced by eastern culture, who, like those cultures, became reliant on the horse

  • However, these horses that run freely across the steppes are rare in this region and only the privileged few keep them

  • These people immortalized these horses in the carving of their furniture

  • These Celtic aristocrats liked to be buried in their wagons, with harnesses and bits beside them

• The warlike leaders of these people feasted freely and drank wine imported from Greece and Rome, although they slept on animal skins in crude houses

• The hilts of their swords were decorated with fine geometric patterns

• Characterized by their bronze urns which they used in their houses that were decorated in the Veneto-Illyrian style

• Characterized by their pottery - finer than their jewelry - with its decorative circles, lozenges, chevrons, and hatching

500 BCE - 15 BCE - La Tene Culture (All Facts)

• Evolved seamlessly from and was successor to the Hallstatt Culture

  • Formed from peoples having rebelled against many Celtic rulers for their greed

    • These Celtic rulers’ lack of mitigation concerning social inequalities and tensions led to the large growths and movements in population

    • The older centers of Celtic thus lost their power in Burgundy and southern Germany by the 400’s BCE

    • Fortresses like the Heuneburg in Bavaria were overrun, looted, and razed to the ground

    • Sculptures were violated

    • Dynasties were overthrown

• Located near Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland

• Characterized by

  • widespread use of Iron for tools including long, double-edged iron swords

  • heavy necklaces of solid gold and bronze

  • artistic decorations derived from native, Etruscan, and south Russia sources

  • fantastic stylized works of animal art

• Based on developing warrior societies whose members

  • launched raids to capture slaves

  • ventured into Italy and Anatolia, where they clashed with Greeks and Romans

  • ended up as mercenaries in Greek armies

• Would eventually evolve into the Celts

Celts (All Other Facts) 

• Were a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of the namesake language

  • Lived north and west of the Alps

    • They established direct trading contacts with the Greek colonies of the western Mediterranean by 600 BCE

  • Lived from Bohemia to Burgundy by 520 BCE

    • They were part of a military aristocracy which

      • controlled the trade routes between Europe and the Mediterranean

      • built fortifications at strategic points, usually on hilltops

Celts (Technology) 

• Mastered iron manufacture, which was once a Hittite military secret, by 700 BCE

  • After the Hittite Empire’s collapse, they eventually learned how to make iron and adopt the strong and cheap iron-making method, which would eventually be used more widely

  • Initially consisted of a rising class of unscrupulous warriors who seized economic and political power via the emergence of the iron sword

    • Their blades of knives and long slashing swords were ground sharper - and therefore deadlier - than ever

Celts (Economy)

• They traded heavily with the Greeks and Etruscans in which

  • They gave raw materials like tin and amber

  • They received luxury items, art works, and wine

    • These added to the considerable wealth and lifestyles of their princes

Celts (Religion)

• Tribe unified by language but also by religion

• They believed in rebirth after death

• They worshipped various gods

• Their priesthood, the Druids, had the greatest power

  • Were the educators of the young

  • Had the power to order human sacrifices

Celts (Burials)

• Their tribe chieftains built up riches in hilltop palaces throughout Europe

  • Their wealth was buried along with them, in the form of gold and bronze objects and other precious possessions including

    • The Greek “Krater of Vix”

      • Was five feet high

      • Its neck was decorated in relief with warriors

      • Its lid was decorated in relief with chariots

      • Its handle was a statuette of a young woman, with a gold diadem on her head

    • Greek Bronze Cauldrons

    • Etruscan Bronze Vases

    • Clay Athenian Cups

Celts / Gauls (All Other Facts)

• Composed of many different groups / tribes throughout the different regions of Gaul (Ancient France), Italy, Iberia (Ancient Spain), and England; all of these groups:

  • Shared many of the same cultural attributes

  • Spoke the Celtic language (language made them who they were)

  • Functioned as independent nations, which:

    • Made their own treaties

    • Issued their own coinage

  • Some of these groups had writing including

    • The Lepontic Language System

    • The Iberian Script

    • The Ogham Alphabet

• Characterized by

  • Housing: Settlements that consisted of a large town dominated by a hill fort called an “Oppidum”

  • Government

    • Decentralized

      • Each people was governed by a kind or council of warrior aristocrats or oligarchs

  • Art

    • Stylized and abstract forms

    • Complex curvilinear patterns

    • Decapitated Heads

    • Very individualistic

    • Contrasted the Greco-Roman standard of structure according to established models

• Invade Italy in 500 BCE

  • Rome was very scared of them

  • They were real examples of Barbarians

• Attack Rome via raiding party in 390 BCE

• Sent raiding parties from Northern Italy down during the summer to the southern parts of Italy

Celts / Gauls (Religion) 

• Polytheistic

• Administered by a class of priests called “Druids”

  • Carried out rituals such as divination and sacrifice to the gods

    • Shrines are located in isolated places such as groves of trees and “sacred pools”

• Accounts of their religion include

  • Possible engagement in human sacrifice

  • Belief in reincarnation

  • Large amounts of poetry that had to be memorized

  • Having a role in the culture’s judicial processes

Celts / Gauls (Economy) 

• Characterized by agriculture and metalwork

  • The metalwork was highly prized

  • Characteristic metalwork included

    • “Torques” (neck rings)

    • “Fibulae” (brooches)

    • Weapons

    • Jewelry

  • Imports such as

    • Athenian Pottery

    • Baltic Amber

    • African Ivory

  • Maintenance of extensive trading networks in Europe and Asia

Celts / Gauls (Warfare) 

• Engaged in conflict often

• Undisciplined

  • Battles began when they shouted insults at the enemy, working themselves up in a fury and charging

  • Very individualistic, unlike Greco-Roman warfare being organized and disciplined (exemplified by phalanxes)

• Had metal torques forged around their necks

  • The only way to remove one was to decapitate a slain warrior

    • This practice made them famous

  • Some fought naked, attributing magical powers to the torque for protection

  • Were “headhunters”

    • If one defeated an enemy in battle, they would cut off their head, put it up on their shelf, to show how brave they were

• Primary weapon: long slashing sword

• Fighters made themselves look more terrifying before battle by smearing wet lime into their hair to make it stand straight back when it dried

• Would jump up and down naked, shaking their swords, and charge directly into the enemy and the Greeks and Romans would just head into the other direction terrified

• Influenced Greco-Roman art, which depicted many of them dying such as “The Dying Gaul”

• They were unstoppable in their first few years of existence, but that soon gave way

• 390 BCE - Sacked Rome via their undisciplined charge and howling voices

Celts / Gauls (Gender Roles) 

• Gender Roles

  • Women

    • Were free to have sexual affairs like the men

    • Were able to participate in war and government

  • Men

    • Preferred male lovers over female lovers

      • Might reflect male bonding rituals similar to those used by the Greeks

Gauls (All Facts) 

• Group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period

• Began to use Iron, their namesake city flourished as a trading center for Western Europe

  • There, Etruscans, Phoenicians, and Greeks imported jewels, weapons, ceramics, wine amphorae, and bronze objects and loaded their ships with goods for export throughout the Mediterranean world

Gauls (Roman Empire) 

• Citizens who became accultured to the Roman Empire in many ways including

  • Abandoning their mustaches and beards for shaving

  • Abandoning their traditional breeches for togas

• Many of its inhabitants fought with legendary fierceness despite Rome having annexed the namesake region

  • They fought not just militaristically but also culturally in order to try and preserve their own dress and customs

  • Over time, however, they came to accept Roman ways

  • Roman garrisons thus disappeared over time as its population submitted to Roman rule

• Its development marked a success for the conciliatory policy adopted by the Roman authorities which offered citizenship rights to local leaders, who, in turn, began to imitate the ways of their Roman occupiers as a result of gaining citizenship

  • Latin was taught widely in higher education, and even ordinary people picked it up from soldiers and traders

  • Its wealthy citizens built Roman villas with their delightful warm baths

  • They worshipped Roman gods and had temples with huge states, through which local artists sought to reproduce the splendors of Greco-Roman work 

  • Local craftsmen there made Roman-style glassware 

Ambrones (All Facts)

• Possible Ancient Celtic tribe from the Jutland that migrated into the eastern Alps around 113 BCE 

• They invaded Rome in the Cimbrian War, winning the Battle of Noreia in 113 BCE and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE losing the war in 101 BCE 

• When they tried to enter Spain after defeating Rome in the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE, they were swiftly expelled from there by the Celtiberians

Teutones (All Facts)

• Possible Ancient Celtic tribe from the Jutland that migrated into the eastern Alps around 113 BCE 

• They invaded Rome in the Cimbrian War, winning the Battle of Noreia in 113 BCE and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE but losing the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BCE to Marius and the Romans and losing the war and being destroyed in the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BCE  

• When they tried to enter Spain after defeating Rome in the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE, they were swiftly expelled from there by the Celtiberians

Cimbri (All Facts)

• Possible Ancient Celtic tribe from the Jutland that migrated into the eastern Alps around 113 BCE 

• They invaded Rome in the Cimbrian War, winning the Battle of Noreia in 113 BCE and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE but losing the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BCE to Marius and the Romans and losing the war and being destroyed in the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BCE  

• When they tried to enter Spain after defeating Rome in the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE, they were swiftly expelled from there by the Celtiberians

• They travelled around the Alps and entered Italy from the Northeast

Catuvellauni (All Facts)

• Celtic tribe from southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest

• Their territory was bordered to the north by the Iceni and Corieltauvi, to the east by the Trinovantes, to the west by the Dobunni and Atrebates, and to the south by the Regni and Cantiaci

• They were led by

  • Cassivellaunus, who

    • Was appointed by them to be supreme commander of the southeastern Britons

    • Led the forces that eventually held out against Julius Caesar and the Romans 

  • Cunobelinus, who 

    • Led the tribe from Verulamium 

    • Moved against the Trinovantes tribe from Essex 

    • Established a capital at Camulodunum (Colchester) 

    • Conquered Kent 

  • Caractacus, who 

    • Led his forces and resisted the Roman conquest of Britain

    • Was eventually taken prisoner at Ludlow

    • Had sought refuge with Cartimandua, Queen of the Yorkshire Birgantes, but she handed him over to the enemy

      • Most of his family was already in captivity

Eburones (All Facts)

• Subtribe of Gauls

• Occupied the land between the Rhine River and Meuse River

• Led by Ambiorix, they revolted against Julius Caesar, destroying a Roman camp and killing all its troops

Nervii (All Facts)

• Belgic Tribe in Northern Gaul

• The core of their territory contained a significant part of modern central Belgium, including Brussels and Mons, as well as stretching southwards to Cambrai in what is now France

• Were defeated by Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars

Veneti (All Facts)

• Gallic tribe that dwelt in Armorica, in the southern part of the Brittany Peninsula, during the Iron Age and the Roman period

• Were defeated by Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars

Helvetti (All Facts) 

• Celtic tribe occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic during the Gallic Wars 

• Were defeated by Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars in the Battle of Bibracte in 58 BCE 

Arverni (All Facts)

• Gallic people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman period

• Led by 

  • Celtillus

  • Vercingetorix

• They defeated Julius Caesar and his forces during the Gallic Wars in the Battle of Gergovia in 52 BCE 

• They were defeated by Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars in the Battle of Alesia in 52 BCE 

Astures (All Facts) 

• Hispano-Celtic inhabitants of the northwest area of Hispania that now comprises almost the entire modern autonomous community of the Principality of Asturias, the modern province of León, and the northern part of the modern province of Zamora (all in Spain), and eastern Trás os Montes in Portugal

• Suppressed by Augustus around 26 BCE

Cantabri (All Facts)

• Hispano-Celtic tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first millennium BCE

• Suppressed by Augustus around 26 BCE

Salassi (All Facts)

• Gallic tribe that dwelt in the upper valley of the Dora Baltea river, near present-day Aosta, Aosta Valley, during the Iron Age and the Roman period

• Were defeated by Terentius Varro Murena and his Roman forces around 25 BCE

Treveri (All Facts)

• Gallic Tribe that inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle in modern day Germany from around 150 BCE until their displacement by the Franks

• Led by Julius Florus, they revolted against the Romans due to due high taxes and the Roman ban on Druidism but were defeated by Gaius Silius and the Romans in 21 CE

• They supported Gaius Julius Civilis in his “War of Liberation” or Batavian Revolt in 69 CE

Aedui (All Facts)

• Gallic tribe that inhabited what is now the region of Burgundy during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

• Led by Julius Sacrovir, they revolted against the Romans due to due high taxes and the Roman ban on Druidism but were defeated by Gaius Silius and the Romans in 21 CE

Trinovantes (All Facts) 

• Celtic tribe of pre-Roman Britain

• Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in modern-day Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, and included lands now located in Greater London

• They were bordered to the north by the Iceni, and to the west by the Catuvellauni

Brigantes (All Facts) 

• Ancient Celtic Tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England

• They were led by 

  • Queen Cartimandua

• They were defeated by

  • Cerialis and his Roman forces in 74

• Hadrian’s Wall was meant to keep them separated from the Selgovae and Novoantae tribes in order that they did not organize and revolt against Rome

• They revolted against Rome in 142 in Yorkshire

  • Following their incursions into Rome, they forced the Romans to abandon the Antoine Wall of 143 and retreat to Hadrian’s Wall

Iceni (All Facts)

• Ancient Celtic Tribe in Eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era

• Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the west, and the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes to the south

• They were led by

  • Boudicca, who

    • Was eventually defeated by Paulinus and his Roman forces in 61

• They were defeated in 48 by Scapula and his Roman forces

Lingones (All Facts) 

• Gallic tribe of the Iron Age and Roman periods

• They dwelt in the region surrounding the present-day city of Langres, between the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica 

Silures (All Facts)

• Ancient Celtic tribe occupying what is now south-east Wales and perhaps some adjoining areas

• They were bordered to the north by the Ordovices, to the east by the Dobunni, and to the west by the Demetae

• They were defeated by Frontinus and his Roman forces in 77

Caledonians (All Facts)

• Celtic tribal confederacy that lived in what is now Scotland during the Iron Age and Roman eras

• They were defeated by Agricola and his Roman forces at Mount Graupius in 83

• Were blocked off from the Roman Empire by Hadrian’s Wall, which was completed in 130

• Successfully defended themselves against Septimius Severus and the Romans up to 211 

Picts (All Facts)

• Celtic tribe that lived in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Early Middle Ages

• They were defeated by Agricola and his Roman forces in 83

Selgovae (All Facts) 

• Celtic tribe of the late 100s CE who lived in what is now Kirkcudbrightshire and Dumfriesshire, on the southern coast of Scotland

• Hadrian’s Wall was meant to keep them separated from the Brigantes and Novoantae tribes in order that they did not organize and revolt against Rome

Novoantae (All Facts)

• Celtic tribe that lived in what is now Galloway and Carrick, in southwesternmost Scotland

• Hadrian’s Wall was meant to keep them separated from the Brigantes and Selgovae tribes in order that they did not organize and revolt against Rome

Britons (All Facts) 

• Celtic Tribe which checks the Wessex Kingdom and Saxons in the Battle of Badon, in which they defeated the Saxons