Who Were the Ancient Celts?

The Celts. Here they are today. Two thousand years ago, there. Another thousand years before that, there. It's a paradox. We know both a lot and very little about them. They left behind neither a vast empire nor written records, yet their influence is everywhere in European and world culture. Celtic motifs are woven deeply into our cultural fabric, from ancient Irish sagas and the legends of King Arthur to the Lord of the Rings and Asterisk and Obelix. Sometimes, we don't even realize something is Celtic. Other times, we call things Celtic that actually aren't. So who were these people, and what do we truly know about them? Today, we use the term Celts to describe the peoples who have preserved Celtic cultural heritage and language. These include the inhabitants of the British Isles, the Irish, Welsh, Cornish, Manx, and Scots, as well as the Bretons of Western France. Two thousand years ago, Celtic languages were spoken across Europe, from Spain to Transcarpathia, from Ireland to Asia Minor. But the people that we call Celts, a name given by the Greeks, or Gauls, as the Romans called them, never used these names for themselves. These were labels from the outside. What they actually called themselves is unknown, and it's unlikely that the many Celtic tribes saw themselves as one unified people with a single shared identity. Celtic culture traces its roots to the lands north of the Alps, in what is now Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Around the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, the Urnfeld culture spread across much of Europe. This culture was known for its burial traditions, cremating the dead and placing their ashes in distinctive ceramic urns. Then, sometime around the 13th to 12th century BC, a new culture emerged, the Hallstatt culture, considered the first true proto-Celtic civilization. Over time, it developed through four distinct phases, A, B, C, and D. The early Hallstatt culture, periods A and B, weren't much different from the Urnfeld culture that came before it. The Hallstatt people still practiced cremation, placing the ashes of their dead in urns. They lived in small settlements scattered across alpine valleys and foothills, where they farmed, raised livestock, and mined copper and tin to make bronze. Unlike the fierce Celts described by Greek and Roman historians, the early Hallstatt people seemed to have been relatively peaceful. Their settlements had few fortifications, and their society appears to have been fairly equal without a dominant warrior class. As mining expanded, the Hallstatt economy took off. Copper and tin were essential for making bronze, while salt, extracted from alpine mines, was crucial for preserving food, especially meat for the winter. Trade boomed as they exported salt, copper, and tin while importing food, metal goods, jewelry, and pottery. As commerce flourished, Hallstatt settlements became larger and wealthier. Their location at the heart of major trade routes fueled economic and population growth. Eventually, their alpine homeland became too crowded, and the Proto-Celtic expansion began. Over the next few centuries, the Hallstatt people spread across Europe, moving north, west, and east, but not south. The Alps proved to be a major barrier, holding back their expansion in that direction. In the long run, this may have been fortunate for the Etruscans and early Italic peoples, including the future Romans, because at that time they probably wouldn't have been able to stop a full-scale Hallstatt expansion. In the west, the Hallstatt people reached Spain, made their way to the Atlantic Ocean, and even set foot in Britain. In the east, they followed the Danube River, spreading north and south along its banks. Their migrations took them into Pannonia, Illyria, and Thrace, and archaeologists have uncovered numerous Hallstatt settlements in modern-day Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, and western Ukraine. As they moved into new territories, they sometimes mixed with local populations, sometimes assimilated them, and in some cases wiped them out entirely. With the start of their expansion, the Proto-Celts began building hillforts, large settlements on high ground fortified with wooden palisades and deep trenches. These hillforts became centers of craftsmanship and trade while a warrior elite emerged, creating a more structured and hierarchical society with growing wealth and equality. Around this time, the Hallstatt people also mastered ironworking, gradually replacing bronze with iron tools and weapons. But the shift was slow, and bronze remained in use for centuries. This period, marking the adoption of iron, is known as Hallstatt Period C. Burial customs also evolved, at least for the elite. Cremation was largely replaced by inhumation, the practice of burying bodies intact. The dead were laid to rest in wooden burial chambers, along with everything they were believed to need in the afterlife—a four-wheeled wagon, horse tack, pottery, cooking tools, clothing, jewelry, weapons, and armor. The Hallstatt cultural zone was never a single unified state. Instead, it was a loose network of independent tribes, chiefdoms, and trading settlements, each governing itself. What connected them wasn't political unity, but a shared material culture, and likely similar languages, religious beliefs, and customs. By the 7th century BC, the Hallstatt people had established trade with the Mediterranean civilizations, particularly the Greeks and Etruscans. Around this time, the first written mention of the Celts appears. In the 6th century BC, the Greek scholar Hecataeus of Miletus described a group of tribes near the Greek colony of Massalia, modern day Marseille, as the Keltoi. Not long after, Herodotus, the father of history, wrote that the Celts lived from the mouth of the Danube to southern Spain. Trade between the Proto-Celts and the Mediterranean world thrived. The Hallstatt people imported fine ceramics, jewelry, wine, and weapons, while exporting salt, iron ingots, grain, livestock, and even slaves. Through Greek merchants, they gained access to wider Mediterranean trade networks, bringing goods from Phoenicia, Egypt, and even Babylon into Hallstatt elite burials. But the Hallstatt culture soon declined. By the late 6th century BC, conflicts erupted between the Greeks of Massalia and nearby Celtic tribes, disrupting trade routes that had connected the Hallstatt settlements to the Mediterranean for centuries. Around the same time, in the 5th century BC, the major salt and tin mines that had fueled the Hallstatt economy began to run dry. With their key resources dwindling and trans-Alpine trade with the Etruscans collapsing, the once powerful Hallstatt culture started to fade, marking the end of its dominance. This marked the decline of the Hallstatt culture. As internal migrations and tribal conflicts intensified, the Celts began fortifying their settlements on a much larger scale. Simple wooden palisades were replaced with sturdy walls, first made of mud brick, then later of stone, as they mastered stone construction techniques. These defenses weren't just for major towns and hillforts, even small farming villages and remote homesteads started building protective walls. As Hallstatt society faded, a new culture emerged, the La Tène culture. The La Tène Celts were the very people described by Greek and Roman writers, the Celts we typically think of when we talk about the ancient Celts or the Gauls. Thanks to these historical accounts, we know far more about them and their way of life than we do about their Hallstatt predecessors. Celtic society was highly structured. At the top were chiefs, or kings, who were elected rather than inheriting power. The Celtic word for ruler, rix, is closely related to the Latin word rex, king. This explains why many Gallic leaders had the names ending in rix, like Vercingetorix, Viridorix, and Ambiorix. The tribal aristocracy elected their ruler through a general assembly. A leader wasn't just chosen for his strength and bravery, he also had to be physically perfect. Any physical impairment automatically disqualified a man from becoming king. If a ruler lost a hand, an eye, or any other body part in battle, he would immediately forfeit his position. A king could also be removed if his decisions caused serious dissatisfaction among the warrior elite. Below the ruler were the warrior aristocracy and the druids, who acted as priests, judges, healers, and advisors. There were also bards and feli, who preserved history and tradition through storytelling and poetry. Beneath them were free landowners and craftsmen, with blacksmiths and merchants holding a higher status than the other artisans due to their close ties with the nobility. At the very bottom of society were the landless dependent class, who worked for wealthy landowners. Roman and Greek writers often referred to them as slaves, but they were more likely similar to serfs. Instead of the large, hall-set hillforts, the Celts built smaller, but heavily fortified strongholds, Opeda. These settlements were typically built on hills near rivers for strategic defense. Their walls, constructed from stone, massive wooden beams, and packed earth, formed a unique fortification that the Romans called Murus Gallicus, the Gallic Wall. These defenses were extremely difficult to breach, but easy to defend. During the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar suffered his only major defeat while trying to capture the Opedum of Grigovia. Learning from this, he avoided a direct assault on Alesia, opting instead for a siege. Many modern cities in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium evolved from these ancient Celtic Opeda. The Celts lived in large circular stone houses with conical thatched or reed roofs. These homes were spacious, often 20 meters or 65 feet in diameter, and divided into sections by radial interior walls. Furniture was minimal, floors were covered with animal skins and woven mats, and a central hearth provided warmth and served as the cooking area. A single house typically housed an entire extended family, including parents, siblings, children, elders, and foster children. Fosterage was a common practice in Celtic society. Young children were often sent to live with another family, forming lifelong bonds with their foster parents and siblings, sometimes closer than those with their own biological relatives. The Celts were a fiercely warlike people, a reputation reinforced by nearly every ancient writer. Their tribes were consistently at war, sometimes over land, migrations, or hunting grounds, other times over blood feuds, and even minor insults. Ancient sources describe them as hot-tempered and proud, quick to take up arms at slightest offense, even something as trivial as a sideways glance could start a fight. The Celtic warriors' weapon of choice was a long, straight sword. While the hilts were often beautifully decorated with precious stones, ivory, and fine metals, the blades themselves weren't always the best quality. Both classical historians and Irish sagas mention that Celtic swords had a tendency to bend after a single strike, forcing warriors to hammer them back into shape mid-battle. The Greek historian Polybius even noted that Gallic swords were only good for one blow before becoming useless. For defense, the Celts relied on large rectangular or oval shields, typically made from woven wicker or wood, covered in leather, and reinforced with a metal boss in the center and iron bands along the edges. They also carried javelins similar to the Roman pylum, as well as long spears. Iron and bronze helmets were common, but body armor was rare. Many ancient writers describe Celts charging into battle wearing nothing but a sword and shield, sometimes completely naked or with just a plaid cloak draped over their shoulders. While this might sound like reckless bravery, it was probably more a matter of necessity. Most warriors simply couldn't afford armor. Wealthier warriors and tribal leaders, however, wore bronze or iron breastplates, as well as chainmail, which was actually a Celtic convention. Later, both chainmail and the long Celtic sword were adopted by the Romans. One of the most distinctive aspects of Celtic warfare was their use of war chariots. Unlike the Bronze Age civilizations of the Near East, who used chariots as mobile archer platforms, the Celts held a different approach. Warriors rode into battle with javelins, which they hurled at the enemy before dismounting to fight on foot. Chariots were also used to carry wounded warriors off the battlefield. Some ancient sources claim the Celts attached sword-like blades or scythe-like edges to their chariot axles, designed to slice through enemy ranks at high speed. However, this is almost certainly a myth. No archaeological evidence or depictions of such chariots have ever been found, and from a practical standpoint, bladed wheels would have been highly unstable, likely flipping the chariot and doing more harm to its own warriors than to the enemy. A Celtic army on the march was anything but quiet. Trumpeters and pipers played loudly, creating a deafening racket meant to intimidate and demoralize the enemy long before the fighting had even started. In battle, the Gauls didn't fight in tight formations like the Roman legions or the Greek phalanx. Their weapon of choice, a large slashing sword, needed space to be used effectively. Fighting shoulder to shoulder, as the Romans and Greeks did, would have made it impractical, awkward, and even dangerous to their own warriors. After a battle, Celtic warriors collected the heads of their fallen enemies, a warrior's status and reputation dependent on how many severed heads he had to his name. These trophies were often displayed at the gates of Opeda or hung at the entrance of a warrior's home. The heads of particularly powerful or noble foes were even embalmed in cedar oil and passed down through generations, serving as both war trophies and reminders of their ancestors' valor. Ancient writers often described the Celts as towering in height, though this was likely an exaggeration. The Romans and Greeks primarily encountered Celtic warriors from the aristocracy who had access to a protein-rich diet of meat and fish, making them taller and stronger than the average soldier. Roman legionaries, on the other hand, followed a Mediterranean diet, rich in grains and carbohydrates, so it's no surprise that the average Celtic warrior stood taller than a Roman soldier. However, common Celts who mostly ate plant-based foods were probably about the same height as Romans and Greeks. For the Celts, hair and facial hair were an important part of their identity. Many ancient writers noted their elaborate hairstyles, well-groomed mustaches, and meticulous grooming habits. Archaeological finds back this up. Combs, hairpins, and other grooming tools are frequently discovered in Celtic burials, showing just how much they cared about their appearance and haircare. The Celts were naturally fair-haired or red-haired, but they often lightened their hair even more by using various methods. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote that they washed their hair with lime water, which made it stiff and almost white. While it's unlikely that this was part of their everyday routine, warriors may have used this technique before battle to make themselves look more intimidating and otherworldly, striking fear into their enemies. Ancient writers often described the Celts as wild barbarians, but the stereotype of filthy savages didn't seem to fit. The Celts valued cleanliness and took grooming seriously. Archaeologists have uncovered Celtic bathhouses, body scrapers, bronze and copper mirrors, razors, and other grooming tools. Some burials have even contained soap made from animal fat and scented oils used to moisturize and perfume the skin. A typical Celtic outfit included linen trousers and a tunic, usually worn with a woolen cloak for warmth. We know far less about Celtic religion than we do about the beliefs of the Greeks or Romans. The Celts followed a form of Indo-European polytheism, but unlike the structured pantheons of Greece and Rome, their gods varied wildly by region and tribe. Some deities, however, seemed to be worshipped across Celtic lands. Tyrannus, the god of thunder and lightning, Cernunnos, the horned god of forests and hunting, Epona, the goddess of horses, and Isis, a deity linked to trees and nature. Beyond these, each tribe had their own unique gods and goddesses, serving as local protectors and patrons. Even widely recognized gods may have differed from place to place. In the British Isles, for example, the pantheon was almost entirely distinct from that of mainland Europe, with Irish mythology featuring gods like Nuada, Lugh, Dugada, Morrigan, and Malanan Maclir, who don't appear in continental traditions. Celtic sacred sites were often groves and forests, which were considered holy places, but the Celts also built temple-like structures. These were rectangular stone or wooden buildings with wooden idols of gods placed at the corners. Inside or on a platform outside, a deep pit was dug where offerings were thrown. The Celts believed these pits were gateways to the underworld. Typical offerings included jewelry, specially made votive figurines, weapons, and sacrificial animals. Another common ritual involved casting offerings into lakes and rivers, which were also seen as portals to the afterlife. Some scholars even suggest that the modern tradition of throwing coins into fountains has its roots in these ancient Celtic practices. The Celts also practiced human sacrifice. In his Commentaries on the Gallic War, Julius Caesar describes a ritual in which druids built a massive wicker figure in the shape of a man, filled it with people and animals, and set it on fire as an offering to the gods. While it's unclear how much of this account is true, there's no doubt that the Celts carried out human sacrifices. Archaeologists have found human remains in lakes and bogs, many showing clear evidence of ritual execution, confirming that these sacrificial rites were a real part of Celtic religious traditions. The Celts celebrated four major festivals throughout the year. The first, in bulk, took place on February 1st and honored the goddess Brigid, who was later incorporated into Christian tradition as Saint Brigid. The next, Beltane, was celebrated in early May and was dedicated to the sun god Belenus. In early August, they observed Lunasada, a harvest festival in honor of the god Lu. Finally, in early November, the Celts marked Samhain, the time when they believed the boundary between the living and the dead was at its thinnest. On this night, they honored their ancestors and spirits from the afterworld. This ancient festival of the dead eventually evolved into what we now know as Halloween. The Druids, the Celts' religious leaders, were more than just priests. They also served as judges, healers, and prophets, playing a central role in society. They held significant power, remaining independent from tribal rulers, and often influencing major political decisions. Interestingly, Celtic Druidism was only one of two religions ever banned by Rome, the other being Christianity. But unlike Christianity, Celtic religion was almost entirely wiped out by the Romans. While the official reason for its suppression was the practice of human sacrifice, the real motivation was likely political. The Druids were seen as a powerful and defiant force against Roman rule, and eliminating them meant removing a major source of resistance. By the late 5th century BC, a population boom in what is now France triggered a wave of Celtic migrations, spreading into Britain, Spain, and the Balkans. As they expanded, they clashed with new civilizations, leading to some of the most significant conflicts in their history. In 390 BC, the Celts invaded Etruria, raiding several Etruscan cities before coming into conflict with Clusium. The city's leaders appealed to Rome for help, as Rome was just beginning to emerge as a regional power. However, the Romans were unable to stop the Celts. Led by Brennus, the Gauls crushed the Clusian forces, then routed the Roman army at the Battle of the Aelia River. The defeat was so devastating that the Romans abandoned much of their city, retreating to the heavily fortified Capitoline Hill. With no resistance, the Gauls entered Rome and looted it for weeks. According to legend, Rome was saved by the exiled general Marcus Furius Camillus, who returned and drove out the Gauls. In reality, however, they likely withdrew on their own, either unwilling to storm the well-defended hill or needing supplies elsewhere. The Celts continued raids into northern Italy, and their invasions rocked Macedonia and the entire Balkan peninsula. Over the next several decades, they defeated Greek and Macedonian armies multiple times, and in 279 BC, they sacked the sacred sanctuary at Delphi, destroying statues of the gods. It took a massive Greek counteroffensive to finally drive them out. Some Celtic warbands settled in the conquered lands, establishing their own kingdoms. One group crossed the Hellespont, and after years of brutal fighting, they founded the Celtic Hellenistic Kingdom of Galatia in the central Anatolia. Another Celtic force, allied with the Scythians, devastated the area around Olbia, in present-day southern Ukraine. Known for their ferocity and skill in battle, Celts became highly sought-after mercenaries, serving in armies across the ancient world. Despite their military strength, the Celts never formed a unified empire, and over time, they fell to more organized and expansionist powers. In the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BC, the Romans conquered Cisalpine and Narbonese Gaul, bringing much of the Celtic world under their rule. Not long after, the Cimbri and Teutons, Germanic tribes, swept through Gaul, leaving devastation in their wake. Their advance was only stopped when Gaius Marius, one of Rome's greatest generals, defeated them within Roman territory. These Germanic invasions shattered what little unity the Celts had left. By the time of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars in 58 BC, the Celtic world was fractured linguistically, economically, and religiously, with tribes consistently fighting amongst themselves. Caesar exploited these divisions, ensuring that Gallic tribes never united against him. In the end, their inability to put aside their differences sealed their fate. With Gaul conquered, it became a Roman province. A century later, the Romans invaded Britain, and within a few decades, they controlled most of the island. By then, nearly all Celts, except those in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, had fallen under Roman rule. Over centuries of Roman occupation, they gradually adopted Latin, Roman customs, and Roman religion. Yet traces of their culture endured. Even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Frankish bishop and historian Gregory of Tours noted that many locals still left offerings in sacred groves and lakes for the old gods. Some evidence suggests that the Gaulish language survived until at least the mid-7th century AD, when it was finally replaced by vulgar Latin, which would later evolve into Old French. Even after disappearing from continental Europe, the Celts left a lasting mark on language and culture, with Celtic words and influences surviving in many European languages, including English. Thanks again for tuning in, and we hope to see you next time.