The Celts have
earned the right to be called “The Founders of Europe”
Celtic
invasion of Rome took place in 390 BC (according
to Livy) or in 387/386
BC (according
toPolybius).
By circa
300 BC, the Celts ruled a swath of Europe from the North Sea to the
Black Sea and beyond. Their territory included the British Isles,
Belgium, France, Portugal,
much of Spain, Southern Germany, Switzerland, Northern Italy,
Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Northern Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.
Cities as far east as Krakow, Poland had a Celtic presence.
Helvetia
(Switzerland) was named after the Helvettii
tribe, whereas Paris was named after the Parisii tribe. Belgium
after the Belgae tribe, whose name means proud in Celtic, (Jiménez,
Caesar against the Celts)
Many, if
not most, European cities were originally Celtic hill-forts. This
includes such cities as London, Paris, Geneva and Budapest. (Nat’l
Geographic, May 1977)
When the
Apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians, he was writing to
the earliest Celtic converts to Christianity who settled in Turkey.
Unlike
Greek and Roman societies, Celtic females were accepted in
leadership roles, as chieftains, druids and warriors.
“The
Celts seem to have been for hundreds of years, and in every matter,
the educators of the Germanic peoples. (Henri Hubert,
The History of the Celtic People)
“The
surviving material remains of Celtic culture show that society was
endowed with technology and the craft skills unsurpassed in Europe
until the eighteenth century ad.” (Cunliffe,
The Celtic World)
Celtic
goldsmiths alloyed gold with 10% copper to improve the mechanical
properties and to counteract the whitening effects of silver
naturally occurring in gold. (Green,
The Celtic World.)
Iron and
iron alloys such as steel became dominant over bronze beginning in
the eighth century bc.
Armorers used a hot welding process that
insured the blade was strong but retained a degree of flexibility.
Steel was produced by controlled carburization.
The
Celtic iron plow enabled former nomadic peoples to settle in
communities.
Celtic
spoke wheels in the seventh century bc had iron tires secured with
nails. By the second century bc, the Celts learned to mount a
heated iron tire which would contract and secure itself to the
wheel. This same engineering enabled the Conestoga wagons to cross
the United States.
The
invention of the shirt of mail of interlinked metal rings
(chain-mail) belongs to Celtic armorers.
(Varro)
Celts
were renowned horsemen. “The best of the Roman cavalry is recruited
from among them.” (Strabo,
Geography IV.4.2)
Celts
were often hired as mercenaries—In
369-368 BC some 2,000 Celtic soldiers were hired by Dionysius I of
Syracuse and sent to Greece to help his ally Sparta against Thebes.
Without a
written language, the Celts could not maintain a central government,
which led to their downfall as a governing power.
A Fresh Look at an Ancient People.
Are you aware that the ancient Celts founded Europe?
Did you know that a megalithic stone in Knowth, Ireland circa 3200BC is
in reality a 62 month lunar calendar?
Could the Knowth stone be linked to the Colginy Calendar found in France
in circa 100BC?
This author thinks so.
Learn more about the ancient Celts by clicking the cells below.
Celtic Origins - under constructions
Celtic Women - under construction
Celtic Calendars - under construction
Celtic Warriors - under construction
Celtic Art - under construction
Celtic Inovations - under construction
by James Francis Smith