CELTS: - An ancient people who dominated much of Western, Central, Eastern Europe and Asia Minor in the 1st millennium BC, giving their language, customs, and religion to the other peoples of that area.
History: - The earliest found archaeological evidence associated with the Celts places them in what is now France and western Germany in the late Bronze Age around 1200 BC. In the early Iron Age, they are associated with the Halstatt culture (8th-6th cent. BC) named after an archaeological site in Upper Austria. They probably began to settle in the British Isles during this period. Between the 5th and 1st centuries BC, their influence extended from what is now Spain, the islands of the British Isles to the shores of the Black Sea, from the Ukraine to Turkey. This huge land/cultural region (never an 'Empire' encompassing the areas mentioned influenced much of the continent of Europe and was greater in size than modern European Russia. Despite their shared religion/language and culture this large area was never politically united, finding only brief periods of unity when threatened by common enemies. The later Iron Age phase of Celtic Culture is called La Teen, after a site in Switzerland and dates from the previously mentioned 5th to 1st centuries BC. Evidence from this period suggests that the Celts were the first peoples of Europe to actively use and work with iron. The word Celt is derived from Keltoi, the name given to these people by Herodotus and other Greek writers. To the Romans, the Continental Celts were known as Galli, or Gauls; those in Britain were called Britanni. In the 4th century BC the Celts invaded the Greco-Roman world, conquering northern Italy and sacking Rome, whilst also conquering Macedonia and Thessaly. They pillaged Rome in 390, sacked Delphi in 279, and penetrated Asia Minor, where they were known as Galatians. The "Cisalpine Gauls" of northern Italy were conquered by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. Transalpine Gaul (modern France and the Rhineland) was subdued by Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC. and most of Britain came under Roman rule in the 1st century AD. In the same period, the Celts of central Europe became fragmented under the domination of Germanic peoples. In medieval and modern times the Celtic tradition and languages survived in Brittany (Western France), Cornwall, Galicia (North Western Spain), Galatia (Central Turkey), Wales, the Scottish Highlands, Isle of Man and Ireland, and to a lesser extent in the Norse/Celtic culture of Iceland.
Way of Life: - The various Celtic tribes were bound together by common speech, habits, and religion, rather than by any well-defined central government. Their government was organised as a feudal system with each tribe being headed by a king/chief which was divided by class into Druids (priests), noble warriors, commoners/freemen and slaves. Politically there was a great degree of democracy within the society; with both men and women being treated equally and all-important decisions being made at tribal gatherings in which women had an equal voice. Rulers were subject to removal at these gatherings if found unsatisfactory or incompetent and succession was not necessarily hereditary. The absence of any large-scale political unity amongst the tribes contributed substantially to the extinction of their way of life, making them vulnerable to their enemies. Their economy was pastoral and agricultural and they had no real urban life. However, trade played a large part in their economy. The nobles fought on foot with swords and spears and were fond of feasting and drinking. Celtic mythology, which included earth gods, various woodland spirits, and sun deities, was particularly rich in elfin demons and tutelaries, beings that still pervade the knowledge and lives of peoples of Celtic ancestry.