European Kingdoms

Celtic Tribes (West Indo-Europeans)
13th Century BC - 6th Century AD

Indo-Europeans - Celtic Tribes (Intro) Anatolian Tribes Balkans Tribes Baltic Tribes Celtic Tribes Germanic Tribes Italic Tribes Indo-Iranian/Aryan Tribes Slavic Tribes Tocharians (Intro)

The story of the Celts is one which links back to the earliest appearance of Indo-Europeans in Europe. In very basic terms, Europe of the late third millennium BC provided a home for a group of recently-arrived Indo-European people who spoke what was essentially the same language.

This was a centum branch (a West Indo-European-speaking branch) which later divided into the Italic, Celtic, Adriatic Venetic, Liburnian, and Illyrian language groups. A date for the split is conjectural, but 3100-2600 BC seems likely (see the 'Indo-Europeans' entry and the feature link for a more detailed discussion).

As time passed these groups began to drift apart, each group speaking the language a little differently. Along what was probably the southern and western edge of these tribes, each group began to expand farther south and west. One group settled in what is now north-eastern Italy in the region of Venice (the Adriatic Veneti).

Another group headed south into the Italian peninsula (to provide the Villanova culture and others). A third group headed west into what is now France, Spain, and Portugal and what then was Iron Age Iberia, while other groups formed the basis for the Celts, the Belgae, and the Veneti.

Linguistically, one characteristic of the Iberian group is their retention of a 'kw' sound from the original Indo-European language. Some of these people also migrated into the British Isles and spread even farther west to Ireland (partially via Iberia), where their version of the language survives to this day. Cultures such as the Urnfield, Hallstatt, and the later Golasecca were all archaeological expressions of these groups (amongst others).

In the old homeland of the fifth century BC things were changing. Instead of a short stabbing bronze sword, a long slashing bronze sword became dominant. Instead of the 'kw' sound at the beginning of many words, they were replacing this with 'p' sound.

Population pressures forced these people (of the La Tène culture) to migrate outwards. They did so in all directions, colliding with, or informing and influencing, related groups of 'cousins' in the north (potentially the Belgae) along today's German coastline right along to the Early Baltics, in the east of Eastern Europe (potentially the Venedi), south towards Italy, and west into France (Gaul). They became the dominant society in Europe.

(Information by Peter Kessler and Edward Dawson, with additional information from The La Tene Celtic Belgae Tribes in England: Y-Chromosome Haplogroup R-U152 - Hypothesis C, David K Faux, from A Genetic Signal of Central European Celtic Ancestry, David K Faux, from The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, David W Anthony, from Celts and the Classical World, David Rankin, from The Civilisation of the East, Fritz Hommel (Translated by J H Loewe, Elibron Classic Series, 2005), from Europe Before History, Kristian Kristiansen, from Spain: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, Roger Collins, from The Celts, T G E Powell, from Investigating Archaeological Cultures: Material Culture, Variability, and Transmission, Benjamin W Roberts & Marc Vander Linden (Eds), and from External Links: The Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars, and The Natural History, Pliny the Elder (John Bostock, Ed), and Tracing the dynamic life story of a Bronze Age Female (National Museum of Denmark, via Nature.com), and Chiemgau Impact, and Secrets of 'Celtic princess of the Danube' revealed (The Archaeology News Network), and Geography, Strabo (H C Hamilton & W Falconer, London, 1903, Perseus Online Edition), and Celtiberia.net (in Spanish), and Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe (Nature.com), and New findings at Europe’s oldest battlefield (Heritage Daily, with original report available via Cambridge University Press).)

from c.3300 BC

Up until about 2800 BC, groups of Indo-Europeans migrate into Central Europe, largely following the Danube corridor and dominating indigenous populations along the way. A division between the Italic and closely-allied Celtic language groups appears to occur between 3100 and 2600 BC.

The Indo-Europeans had a strong horse culture, with the animals proving to be highly valuable status objects which also carried them on their long migrations from the Pontic-Caspian steppe into Central Europe and the Near East

Then Bell Beaker decorated cup styles, domestic pot types, and grave and dagger types from the middle Danube are adopted around 2600 BC in Moravia and southern Germany, possibly as a result of trade rather than immediate migration.

However, this material network could be the bridge through which pre-Celtic dialects spread into Germany, with early Austria, and Bavaria seemingly becoming the location in which the proto-Celtic language initially develops - in other words the language's homeland.

According to Ellis (1998), The large number of Celtic place-names which still survive in Switzerland and south-western Germany are therefore an indication that, when Celtic peoples appear in the historical record, they are already well-settled in this area. He also echoes Hubert's views that the survival to this day of so many Celtic names for important geographical features (such as the rivers Rhine and Danube) in what are now German-speaking regions points to the names being of indigenous form and of long usage.

Shown here is a selection of highly distinctive bell-shaped pots which were created by the Bell Beaker folk between around 2900-1800 BC in Europe and the British Isles

from c.2500 BC

Central Europe's Bronze Age (2500-900 BC), which peaks around 1700 BC, marks the approximate beginning of the Unetice culture (which emerges out of the Bell Beaker culture). This is found on both sides of the Elbe and northwards to the Baltic Sea in what is today Czechia, western Poland and Germany. It represents a fusion of the Corded Ware and Beaker traditions and is considered by many to be proto-Celtic.

It is this Unetice group which introduces bronze objects into the region and makes prestigious objects mainly for the elite of the area, and mainly as status symbols. Many of these bronze objects end up as votive offerings in bogs.

It is not clear whether these people are ancestors of the eastern Hallstatt and La Tène Celts, but they may be cousins, and may also lay the grounds for a later possible presence of Belgae in the north.

One of the better-documented sites of this period is Auvernier on Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland. Radiocarbon and dendochronological dates suggest two occupations, in 2350 BC and 1950 BC (Suess & Strahm, 1970).

By around 3000 BC the Indo-Europeans had begun their mass migration away from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, with the bulk of them heading westwards towards the heartland of Europe (click or tap on map to view full sized)

There are remarkable similarities between sites in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Italy (particularly around Lake Garda) at this time which shows extensive contact between the trans-Alpine and southern Alpine areas.

from c.2000 BC

Following their gradual arrival over the previous few centuries, the Late Neolithic Celto-Ligurian tribes (albeit of a variety which appear much earlier than the Italian Iron Age Celto-Ligurians of the Alpine region) are in control of large areas of central and Western Europe. Represented by Bell Beaker culture, and with some knowledge of copper-working, they begin moving into the British Isles.

As an aside, during the last few centuries prior to the Yamnaya horizon (which had seen the proto-Indo-European ancestors of the now proto-Germanics begin their migrations alongside the ancestors of the proto-Celts), cannabis may have been travelling from the Pontic-Caspian steppe to Mesopotamia and the early city states of Sumer.

Auvernier on Neuchatel in Switzerland was one of the key development sites for proto-Celts, with the area of the modern country providing the western section of the early Celtic heartland

Greek kdnnabis and proto-Germanic *baniptx seem to be related to the Sumerian kuriibu. Sumerian dies out as a widely-spoken language after around 2000 BC, so the connection must be a very ancient one. The international trade of the Late Uruk period (circa 3300-3100 BC) provides a suitable context for this trade.

The link between the early, proto-Indo-European form of the word 'cannabis' (and therefore its probable Sumerian origin of kuriibu) to the proto-Germanic form requires a few steps. In the late Bronze Age, proto-Germanic groups are pretty isolated in southern Scandinavia and along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, but are theorised to be in contact with the proto-Celts (and possibly even dominated by them).

In support of this is the realisation that 'cannabis' would need to pass through Celtic to reach its Germanic form: the initial 'k' would be a 'kw' in Q-Celtic (of the Hallstatt culture), transformed to a 'p' in P-Celtic (of the La Tène culture), and then transformed into a 'b' in Belgic (Northern Celtic), and finally adopted into Germanic. This appears to fit in with the idea that Belgic Celts dominate Northern Europe prior to the rise of more powerful Germanic tribes, perhaps around the fifth century BC.

This fragment of Early Bronze Age pottery was produced in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC, as the early city-building movement there began to accelerate towards large-scale city states and a recorded history

c.1500 BC

A new analysis in 2016 of the iconic Bronze Age woman known as Egtved Girl, whose well-preserved remains had been unearthed near Egtved in modern Denmark in 1921, suggests she is born elsewhere and travels widely during her lifetime.

By comparing strontium traces from the Egtved Girl to place-specific strontium signatures across north-western Europe, it has been possible to determine where she lives at different points in her life. Strontium signatures in her teeth, which are deposited in childhood, show that she is likely to be born in what is now south-western Germany, some eight hundred and four kilometres away.

The precise location is difficult to pinpoint but it places her right in the heart of the proto-Celtic Urnfield culture which may just be starting to show signs of emergence at this time.

Her hair and a thumbnail contain strontium, which is accumulated during the last two years of her life, by which time she is aged around eighteen. The strontium describes two journeys between Denmark and her birthplace.

Egtved Girl wears a well-preserved woollen outfit and a bronze belt plate which symbolises the sun - a well-travelled woman at the dawn of the proto-Celtic Urnfield culture who found herself visiting Denmark (click or tap on image to view full sized)

One theory for this is that she may be married off to help secure an alliance and perhaps the trade it will foster. This seems unlikely as it would involve only one journey from her birthplace to Denmark. More likely she is part of a trade mission, heading north on multiple trips during her lifetime, probably accompanying her parents. Given the likely domination of early Germanics by Northern Celts (almost certainly proto-Belgae), the party may even be collecting tribute.

c.1250 - 900 BC

Social collapse and a dark age engulfs the Near East, largely due to climate-induced drought and crop shortages. During this period, Celto-Italic Indo-European groups in Europe filter into Italy, where they form the two main groups of Italic peoples, the Oscan-Umbrians (which includes the Opici and Umbri) and Latino-Faliscans (which includes the Latins).

The main proto-Celtic culture has already started to appear in Central Europe, this being the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture, which replaces the preceding, indigenous Tumulus culture. Q-Celtic-speaking proto-Celtic groups also migrate outwards, some apparently ending up in Britain.

Bird vases of the Urnfield were objects which were closely related to the belief system, and it may not be accidental that this vase was found next to a pot containing bird eggs in the cemetery of Békásmegyer, as the two objects together may emphasise the pots' symbolism of life and fertility

The rapid expansion of the Urnfield means that it almost literally engulfs Central Europe and even impacts upon the Baltic culture, very quickly taking over the entire south-western corner of Baltic dominance - central, eastern, and southern Poland - via the associated Lusatian culture. Whether it also informs or inspires the Atlantic Bronze Age which appears at this time is far less certain.

What has been hailed as Europe's oldest battlefield - Tollense Valley, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - is active at this very time, around 1250 BC. Little is known about the near-two thousand individuals who are involved.

One side appears to be made up of local warriors of the Nordic Bronze Age, based on the arrowheads they use which are also included in many local burials. The other side hails from the south, anywhere between Moravia and Bavaria - potentially Urnfield warriors.

The discovery of over one hundred and fifty human remains at the Tollense Valley battlefield site suggests that more than two thousand people were involved, an unprecedented number for the Nordic Bronze Age

c.1100 BC

There is evidence, supported by archaeology, of the aforementioned early influx of Celts into Britain, where they eventually push back or integrate with the indigenous population and settle in the fertile south and east. They also later infiltrate into Ireland.

This would explain later tradition which claims the conquest of the island of Britain by Brutus. This influx, however, would be little more than a new elite ruling the native Bronze Age population of the islands. Other Urnfield groups migrate into Gaul, such as the Vocontii.

The appearance of the proto-Villanovan culture in northern and central Italy bears some links to the later Celtic Hallstatt culture. At the same time, and for the next two or three centuries, a generalised group - Italics - migrates into the Italian peninsula from the north. They have uncertain origins, but are largely accepted as being Indo-Europeans (cousins of the proto-Celts).

This map showing Late Bronze Age cultures in Europe displays the widespread expansion of the Urnfield culture and many of its splinter groups, although not the smaller groups who reached Britain, Iberia, and perhaps Scandinavia too (click or tap on map to view full sized)

c.1000 BC

Latins and other Indo-European Italic tribes continue to migrate into Villanovan Italy: West Italics are first, and East Italics come later, the latter largely displacing the first group.

Celtic tribes also arrive in Iberia, probably in two waves, the first traditionally placed around 900 BC. More recently, however, there has been a tendency to identify the early arrivals as Indo-European or proto-Celtic tribes and argue for a process of infiltration over an extended period, from around 1000 to 300 BC, rather than invasions.

The first arrivals appear to establish themselves in Catalonia, having probably entered via the eastern passages of the Pyrenees. Later groups (more identifiably Celtic or proto-Celtic) venture west through the Pyrenees to occupy the northern coast of the peninsula, and south beyond the Ebro and Duero basins as far as the Tagus valley.

Early tribes to do so include the Cempsii, Cynetes, Dragani, Oestrimni, and Saefes, none of which survive the process of later arrivals becoming dominant. Additionally, a strong presence of Iberian tribes could prevent Celts from continuing to migrate down the Mediterranean coast.

Climate-induced drought in the thirteenth century BC created great instability in the entire eastern Mediterranean region, resulting in mass migration in the Balkans, as well as the fall of city states and kingdoms further east (click or tap on map to view full sized)

As can be seen from the map above, by this stage the Urnfield culture has formed several sub-groups or cultures in an unbroken line between the modern Netherlands to the heel of Italy, from eastern central Poland to the eastern Pyrenees, and from eastern France to western Ukraine.

These include: the Lower Rhine groups, the North Alpine groups, the Golasecca culture (in north-western Italy), the proto-Villanova culture (in central and northern Italy), the Middle Danube groups, the Knoviz culture (in southern Poland, and ancient Bohemia, and Moravia), the Lausitz culture (in eastern Poland), and the Gava culture (in the upper Balkans).

Britain and the Atlantic coast of Western Europe are still dominated by the Atlantic Bronze Age system, while northern Poland and Germany and southern Norway and Sweden are dominated by the Nordic Bronze Age societies.

Castro de Viladonga reveals its surviving earthworks, part of a 'castle'-building culture which emerged in Iberia out of the collapse of the Atlantic Bronze Age trading links

c.750 BC

Celts start to expand from their traditional territory in southern Germany, expanding the early Hallstatt culture in Iron Age Europe. This culture is a direct progression of the preceding Urnfield culture. Tribes such as the Lemovices and Mediomatrici begin to arrive in what becomes known as Gaul, although the migration and settlement period is an ongoing one which lasts as long as the culture itself.

The earliest signs of Hallstatt culture come from the eastern Alps, in elite burials of the Hallstatt C people. The tribes here have become wealthy on the salt trade, amongst other commodities, and these Hallstatt C people are dominant until around 600 BC.

c.730s - 720s BC

It seems to be around this time that the window for the 'Thraco-Cimmerian Hypothesis' first opens (see feature link). The Cimmerians and Scythians have suddenly positioned themselves as a more powerful collection of tribes which are not afraid of thundering around the Black Sea coast (on either side of the sea itself) and waging war against established kingdoms.

The Welsh hill fort of Caerau (pronounced Caer-eye) now stands on the edge of a modern housing estate on Cardiff's outskirts and with a road cutting through part of the lower hill

It is known that Cimmerians later settle amongst the Thracian tribes, so to be that welcome they must share some common points of interest, such as language or culture. The common points would seem to be old Urnfield traditions in metalwork mixed with new Cimmerian influences from the Caucasus. Could they already be mixing with Thracians now, with some groups beginning to explore further along the River Danube to enter regions which are controlled by the Celts of the Hallstatt C culture?

The weight of evidence shows that there is indeed a warrior culture of the horse/wagon complex in the eighth century BC and also a shift in production centres from what is now Hungary to Italy and the Alpine region. This would match well with a Thraco-Cimmerian migration along the Danube (whether in person or by osmosis through neighbouring migratory groups).

In successive waves from the ninth to the sixth centuries BC these migrating warrior groups push west towards the headwaters of the Danube before veering off to the north. Ultimately, one branch follows the course of the River Elbe and a second backtracks west from the headwaters of the Rhine, heading north-east to the Elbe and then north into Jutland (where it theoretically forms, or merges with the ancestors of, the Cimbri).

Italo-Illyrian pottery was at its height between about 800-350 BC, albeit with significant Greek influences, and the vessels shown here date to the third quarter of that period, the 'Subgeometric II' of 550-450 BC

c.700 BC

At the end of the Atlantic Bronze Age the 'second wave' of Celtic migration into Iberia begins. This is confusingly named, as it consists of 'First Wave' Celts but also takes into account proto-Celtic Urnfield migrations around the beginning of the millennium.

The dating is remarkably close in time to Celtic migrations into Italy, around a century later. Overpopulation in southern Germany must be pretty bad at this time. Some elements of Celtic populations in Iberia later migrate to Ireland, where in part at least they form a population known to the natives as the Erainn.

Not so much a sudden influx of Celts, the migration into Iberia is more a general progression of Hallstatt culture tribes arriving at the Pyrenees and forcing their way across. These Hallstatt Celts remain undisturbed by the later La Tène culture Celts until Iberia is conquered by Rome.

It is this wave of Celts which ventures west through the Pyrenees to occupy the northern coast of the peninsula, and south beyond the Ebro and Duero basins as far as the Tagus valley. It is probably the strong presence of Iberians which prevents them from expanding further.

Whoever the early folk of Ireland were, either in prehistory or mythology, they certainly were not the inventions of later storytellers and oral tradition, the leprechauns

The Germanic peoples, still apparently occupying a possible original homeland in southern Sweden and the Jutland peninsula, appear to go through a period in which they are conquered by Western Celts (Gauls) and remain subject to them (especially in Jutland).

This leads to a good deal of cultural cross-contamination, with Germanics exhibiting Celtic influences (in the form of words and names), and Celts exhibiting similar Germanic influences. This cross-cultural exchange is especially noticeable in many Belgic tribes of the first century BC, raising the possibility that they are the ones who are dominating the Germanics at this time, not the Gauls.

c.650 BC

The Cadurci are thought to migrate across the Rhine, leaving the Celtic heartland in southern Germany to enter the territory which becomes known as Gaul. The Lexovii make the same journey. Other Celtic groups are also settling in the British Isles and Ireland around this time.

Whether the Cadurci tribe itself exists at this stage is entirely unknown. More probably, the migrants are one or more larger tribes which later divide and settle Gaul. It could take a further two or three centuries for the Cadurci to find a permanent home near the Garonne and evolve the identity which is later recorded by Caesar.

Farther east, on the Black Sea coast, the name Tugdamme, a leader of Cimmerians at this time, is clearly Celtic, according to Edward Dawson. An automatic reconfiguration to the Celtic 'Togodumnos' is an easy leap.

This image shows Cimmerians battling early Greeks - prior to the advent of accepted 'Classical' Greece - with the mounted Cimmerians warriors apparently being accompanied by their dogs (republican Romans did much the same thing)

Given the possibility that it may be Thraco-Cimmerians who influence the Celtic progression from Hallstatt to La Tène culture during the proposed migration west from the Black Sea, Tugdamme could be a name type which is adopted by the Celts from the Cimmerian warrior elite and is afterwards rendered as Togodumnos (or variants).

618 BC

A huge early Celtic calendar construction is discovered in 2011 at the royal tomb of Magdalenenberg, near Villingen-Schwenningen in modern Germany's Black Forest. The order of burials around the central royal tomb fits exactly with the constellations of the northern hemisphere. Whereas Stonehenge in Britain is orientated towards the sun, the burial mound at Magdalenenberg, which is over a hundred metres wide, is focused towards the moon.

Stonehenge was probably abandoned in the seventeenth century BC as an anachronism which was no longer part of the lives of the people

The builders position long rows of wooden posts in the mound to be able to focus on the lunar standstills, which occur every eighteen-point-six years and are the cornerstones of the Celtic calendar. The position of the burials at Magdalenenberg represents a constellation pattern which can be seen between midwinter and midsummer.

The positions of the constellations are recalculated back to this period by computer, resulting in a date of midsummer 618 BC, which makes it the earliest and most complete example of a Celtic calendar to be focused on the moon.

c.600 BC

The first century BC writer, Livy (Titus Livius Patavinus), writes of an invasion into Italy of Celts during the reign of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome. As archaeology seems to point to a start date of around 500 BC for the beginning of a serious wave of Celtic incursions into Italy, this event has either been misremembered by later Romans or is an early precursor to the main wave of incursions.

This main wave is probably a result of the same apparent overpopulation in southern Germany which had doubtless forces the start of migration into Iberia around a century earlier. The Celtic advance into the Po Valley also forces the Raeti to relocate into the Alps (according to Pliny the Elder).

An idealised illustration of Gauls on an expedition, from A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times Volume I by Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

Could it also be linked to the influx of Thraco-Cimmerian migrants along the Danube who have for some time been introducing gradual changes into Celtic society? The influx has seen the gradual replacement of a chariot-borne warrior culture with a lightly armed horse-borne one which is more able to attack larger and more powerful foes.

Livy writes that two centuries before major Celtic attacks take place against Etruscans and Romans in Italy, a first wave of invaders from Gaul fights many battles against the Etruscans who dwell between the Apennines and the Alp.

At this time, the Bituriges are the supreme power amongst the Celts (who already occupy a third of the whole of Gaul). They would be a prime example of the new-found dominance of the Hallstatt D tribes of southern Germany, Switzerland, and eastern France, replacing the wealthy Hallstatt C peoples as top dogs.

Livy understands that this particular tribe had formerly supplied the king for the whole Celtic race, either suggesting a previously more central governance of the Celts which is now beginning to fragment or the typical assumption that one powerful king rules an entire people.

An Etruscan sarcophagus of a man and his wife from the city of Caisra (modern Cerveteri), which was one of the older cities, having been formed in the late ninth century BC by a melding together of clusters of Villanovan villages

The prosperous and courageous, but now-elderly Ambigatus is the ruler of the Bituriges, and over-population means a division of its number is required. Ambigatus sends his sister's sons, Bellovesus and Segovesus, to settle new lands with enough men behind them to put down any opposition.

Following divination by the druids, Segovesus heads into the Hercynian Forest, on the east bank of the Rhine (this forms the northern border of the lands known to the ancient writers of the Mediterranean, and the modern Black Forest forms its western part). He ends up leading his groups into Carinthia (now in southern Austria) to found the Ambisontes and Ambidravi tribes (and possibly also the Ambilici).

Bellovesus heads towards Italy, inviting fellow settlers to join him from six tribes, the Aeduii, Ambarri, Aulerci, Arverni, Bituriges, Carnutes, and Senones. The body of people which is led by Bellovesus himself apparently consists mainly of Insubres, a canton (or sub-division) of the Aeduii.

6th century BC

The Harii probably belong to the Hallstatt culture of Celts, along with the Abrincatui, Bebryces, Boii, Cotini, Helisii, Helveconae, Manimi, Naharvali, Osi, and at least some elements of the later Lugii. They are to be found around central Germany, in ancient Bohemia and Moravia, in today's Slovakia, and along the edges of Poland and Ukraine (a future home of Germanic tribes such as the Baemi and Quadi).

The landscape of Bohemia is and was defined by wooded mountainsides and extensive farming land - a green and fertile area at the centre of Europe and of the Hallstatt culture

Around this time a large-scale expansion begins which sees many Hallstatt Celts migrate outwards, towards northern Italy, Gaul, or Iberia. The Bebryces for one are primarily cattle herders, so they take their herds with them, greatly supplementing their diet with milk, fatty cheese, and beef.

Many others remain, and they control the region until increasing pressure in the second and first centuries BC which is imposed by newly-arriving Germanic tribes begins to erode their hold.

583 BC

An archaeological discovery which is made in the upper reaches of the Danube in 2010 reveals the undisturbed burial of an aristocratic Celtic lady, the so-called 'Celtic princess'. The burial can be dated quite accurately thanks to the preservation in a wet environment of oak flooring in the large grave.

The woman, presumed to be a member of the Celtic nobility, is laid to rest with large amounts of richly decorated gold and amber jewellery. She is aged between thirty and forty and has remarkably good teeth. The torso of her skeleton is found still complete, but the head is located three metres away and her lower jaw is in another corner of the burial site. It remains unclear what this means. A child's body is present with her, probably one of her own children, along with another body which may be that of a servant.

The find indicates that the Celts have an aristocratic hierarchy by this period, something which has previously been disputed by archaeologists (peculiarly, given that Indo-Europeans of the Yamnaya horizon some three thousand years earlier clearly had a warrior class in command).

The gold and amber jewellery unearthed from the burial of the 'Celtic princess' show that very high levels of skill were involved in their creation in the first millennium BC

The burial objects also reveal some details of Celtic society which have been unknown until now. Ornamental horse armour is found next to the unidentified woman, but this is not typical of the region. This object may come from northern Italy, whereas other elements come from the south. Celts are therefore involved in more interregional trade than archaeologists have previously thought.

It is the oldest princely female grave discovered to date from the Celtic world, and the only example of an early Celtic princely grave with a wooden chamber. Initially dated to 609 BC, the burial has been recalculated at 583 BC thanks to the very precise dating of the wood, which comes from a fir tree.

c.580 BC

The major Etruscan centres of Padan Etruria are being founded at this time. This region to the north-east of the Etruscan heartland in Italy is settled up to three hundred years later than the main Etruscan centres, and has a long tradition of interaction with Celtic tribes to the north which remains largely peaceful until the late fourth century BC. Epigraphic inscriptions testify to the cohabitation and intermarriage of Celts and Etruscans.

c.500 BC

Evidence of the spread of Celtic customs and artefacts can be found Britain for this period. More and varied types of pottery are in use, and there is more characteristic decoration of jewellery. There is no known invasion of Britain by Celts.

Celts in Britain and on continental Europe were well known for their ostentatious jewellery, with chieftains wearing thick gold torques like this example (front of picture)

Instead their arrival is likely to be a more gradual infiltration into existing British society through trade and other contacts over a period of several hundred years, building up settlements along the coastline and later migrating inwards. More Celtic settlement can soon be found in Ireland.

To support this influx of Celts from continental Europe, it appears that the R-U152 haplogroup in Britain can largely be traced to various movements of people from what are today's France and Belgium and whose origins are rooted in the Iron Age La Tène Celtic peoples who are now to be found to the west of the Rhine.

Some of these peoples have generally remained around the heartland of the Seine and Marne and Mosel areas but, between about 500-400 BC, these areas see a dramatic decrease in population when large numbers migrate eastwards to locations in Pomeranian culture Poland, modern Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary, into the Balkans, and east to Ukraine.

c.500 - 335 BC

The Chiemgau impact (or hypothesis) is a controversial assertion that Central Europe is struck by a meteorite, with the dates used here being the most likely period for that impact. There seems to be a core resistance to its acceptance which dismisses it as 'an obsolete scientific theory', but the evidence to back it up is growing and is rather convincing to an open mind.

At the very beginning of the European Iron Age (the height of the so-called Celtic era), a large cosmic body penetrated Earth's atmosphere and caused a huge natural catastrophe in the region of south-eastern Bavaria (Germany)

The location is in Upper Bavaria, part of the heartland of Celtic territory at this time (but also incorporating Vindelici territory), with Lake Chiemsee at its centre. The hypothesis asserts that a large cosmic body (a comet or an asteroid) strikes the ground and leaves a large crater-strewn field with all the relevant impact evidence which such a strike entails.

A strike like this must have a severe effect on the tribes in the region. Much like the Tunguska strike of 1905 and the Tschebarkul 2013 super bolide of Tscheljabinsk in Russia which has been seen far and wide even without the aid of modern communications technology, this strike will be witnessed by a great many people.

The means of narrowing the impact date to around 500-335 BC is highly detailed (see the link in the sources, above), but this would certainly serve to provide a reason for the Gauls being quoted as fearing nothing but the sky falling on their heads (the Asterix strips make especial use of this).

In additional, and perhaps coincidentally, it is during this period that the 'Second Wave' migration of P-Celtic speakers begins, with tribes moving outwards from their heartland to overlay the preceding Hallstatt Celts with this new cultural layer.

The origins of the Euganei, Ligurians, Raeti, Veneti, and Vindelici are confused and unclear, but in the last half of the first millennium BC they were gradually being Celticised or were combining multiple influences to create hybrid tribes (click or tap on map to view full sized)

5th century BC

The Brigantii migrate into the Cispadane Gaul region of the Alps, arriving in an area which has already been settled for a millennium. Strabo later states that they are a sub-tribe of the Vindelici, who occupy territory to the north-east.

This could indicate the route taken by the Brigantii to reach their new home, but it also raises the possibility that they are not Gauls, or perhaps only partially so as the Vindelici have an uncertain ancestry. They are possibly a blend of Celts and Ligurians (such as the Celto-Ligurian Orobii), making it equally possible that the Brigantii are Ligurians who are commanded by a Gaulish elite.

Even referring to the Brigantii as Celts is merely the modern naming convention which has been inherited from the Romans. Thinking of the term as valid or invalid may be irrelevant. 'Celt' may simply be what some West Indo-European speakers call themselves and others not - and with the Celts long in the ascendance in Central Europe, some non-Celtic people may arbitrarily adopt the term in order to fit in.

The arrival of the Brigantii probably causes some disturbance amongst the established native tribes, and very likely some fighting. The Brigantii soon establish a settlement called Brigantion (according to Strabo), which becomes one of their most heavily-fortified locations. No doubt the indigenous tribes still pose a threat.

The Brigantii settlement of Cambodunum, which was located in what is now south-western Bavaria, which was part of the heartland of early Celtic development and culture

Like a stone dropped into a pool of water, the culture of the Hallstatt Celts has rippled outwards, vastly increasing the territory which is under their influence or control. Now that effect has faded and a new ripple effect is taking its place, generated by the La Tène Celts, who follow the very same path of expansion over the next five-or-so centuries.

5th century BC

Also dated to the fifth century BC is a Celtic warrior burial which is unearthed by archaeologists in 2014 (discovered in a business zone on the outskirts of Lavau in modern France's Champagne region, close to Troyes).

The 'exceptional' grave of this prince is crammed with Greek and possibly Etruscan artefacts. The prince is buried with his chariot in a fourteen square-metre-large burial chamber, at the heart of a huge mound which itself measures forty metres across, although the mound has not yet been opened.

The biggest find at the site has been a huge wine cauldron. Standing on the handles of the cauldron is the Greek god Acheloos. The river deity is shown with horns, a beard, the ears of a bull, and a triple moustache. Eight lioness heads decorate the cauldron's edge. Inside it, archaeologists have discovered a ceramic wine vessel, called an oniochoe.

Other interesting discoveries include a perforated silver spoon which had been part of a set of banqueting utensils, and is presumably used to filter the wine, and the remains of a iron wheel from the chariot which is buried with the prince.

An Iron Age Celtic prince lay buried with his chariot at the centre of this huge mound in the Champagne region of France, according to the country's National Archaeological Research Institute

Trying to pin down the prince's tribe would be highly speculative given that he has been laid to rest around four hundred and fifty years before Julius Caesar records the names of Gaul's tribes in detail. By the first century BC the Champagne region near Troyes is principally occupied by the Tricasses, who have Augusta Tricassium (Troyes) as their oppidum.

Nearby tribes include the Catuvellauni and Mandubii, while the larger Lingones lie to the south-east and the mighty Aeduii to the south. The prince is likely to belong to a larger collective which has since divided (probably several times) to produce the plethora of first century BC tribes.

5th century BC

The Veneti are a tribe (or possibly confederation) of Eastern Celts who occupy a (semi-theoretical) swathe of territory along the Vistula, while the potentially-similar Belgae hold swathes of the north. Differences in dialect from the La Tène Celts suggests that these Celts on the periphery of the expansion zone have picked up some influences after settling, most notably from the proto-Germanic tribes of Scandinavia.

Although not universally accepted, generally it is thought that the Belgae begin to migrate around this time, generally heading west towards the Atlantic coast, although there is nothing to discount a movement towards the Vistula, probably via its estuary region after following the Baltic coastline.

Belgic settlement in, or migration across, Northern Europe almost certainly involved some of them entering the Cimbric peninsula where they interacted with early German tribes there, influencing them and being influenced by them

The Atlantic coast Belgae settle territory in the modern southern Netherlands, Belgium, northern France and Brittany (and are termed Armorican Veneti for the sake of clarity). If the Eastern European Vistula Venedi are at all influenced by the Belgae then that influence would likely come from permanent settlements along the east bank of the Vistula, in what the Romans later think of as Sarmatia (with Germania to the west).

4th century BC

The Celts of the La Tène culture begin expanding in all directions. The Boii tribe migrates into the region which forms modern Czechia, giving their name to Bohemia (still in use as a regional name). It may be the Boii or companion tribes which expand La Tène culture into Silesia where it stops the neighbouring Face-Urn culture from expanding.

To the west, the Bellovaci cross the Rhine in this century, settling along the rivers Oise and Somme. They establish fresh sacred sites at Saint-Maur and Gournay-sur-Aronde, and later mint their own coins. The Votadini of eastern Britain also quickly exhibit La Tène burial styles.

In his entry for 53 BC, Julius Caesar writes in his Gallic Wars that there had formerly been a time when the Gauls excelled the Germans in prowess, and waged war on them offensively. On account of the great number of their people and the insufficiency of their land, the Gauls had sent colonies over the Rhine. One of these, a division of the powerful Volcae Tectosages, had seized fertile areas close to the Hercynian Forest, (known to the Greeks as Orcynia), and had settled there.

The Riesengebirge was part of the once-vast Hercynian Forest which spread eastwards from southern Germany and which proved a serious impediment to Roman expansion

4th century BC

According to Julius Caesar, the Belgic tribe of the Atrebates invades northern Gaul from their territory in what will eventually become Germania. They repeat the invasion in the second century BC, probably to settle there permanently.

389 BC

Brunnus and his Senones Celts sack Rome, with only the Capitoline Hill standing out against them. The citizens of Rome are forced to pay a thousand pounds in gold to buy off the Celts (a pretty low sum by Roman standards, which perhaps outrages them more than the city being sacked in the first place). This perhaps allows the Etruscans a moment of respite in the incessant pressure from the Latins, although the city of Clevsin is allied to Rome for the duration of the Celtic incursion.

c.325 BC

Pytheas of Massalia undertakes a voyage of exploration to north-western Europe, becoming the first scholar to note details about the Celtic and Germanic tribes there. One of the tribes he records is the Ostinioi - almost certainly the Osismii - who occupy Cape Kabaïon, which is probably pointe de Penmarc'h or pointe du Raz in western Brittany. This means that the tribe has already settled the region by the mid-fourth century BC, probably alongside their neighbours of later years, the Veneti, Cariosvelites, and Redones.

The details recorded by Pytheas were interpreted by Ptolemy in the second century AD, and this 1490 Italian reconstruction of the section covering the British Isles and northern Gaul shows Ptolemy's characteristically lopsided Scotland at the top

c.300 BC

By this time, a little-known Etruscan city near the modern town of Marzabotto, close to Bologna, has greatly declined. Founded in the sixth century BC, the city had been built on a north-south grid, with paved streets and civic and sacred buildings in the Acropolis. Prosperous until the late fourth century BC, its role suddenly declines to the status of a military outpost following massive Celtic incursions into the Po Valley.

The last stages of Hallstatt culture sees Celts involved in a great expansion into southern and Eastern Europe. Tribes infiltrate across the Danube to enter the land on the southern edge of the Eastern Alps, in the form of the Latovici, Serapili, Sereti, and Taurisci.

The native communities in the hinterland of the Adriatic between Carinthia and Carniola are relatively rapidly assimilated by these Celtic newcomers, soon losing their identity completely. The migration turns into a powerful juggernaut as it enters the Balkans to come up against the Thracian and Greek kingdoms in 279-277 BC.

282 - 281 BC

The Etruscan city of Pupluna suffers badly during Rome's wars against the Boii, this being the group which had migrated into Italy in the fourth century BC. Having seen in the previous year the expulsion by Rome of the Senones, the Boii raise a general levy which includes Etruscans before they set out to meet the Romans on the battlefield. Near Lake Vadimonis the battle sees the Etruscans suffer the loss of more than half their men, while hardly any of the Boii escape alive.

Dictator Marcus Furius Camillus may have been instrumental in persuading Brennus and his Gauls to leave Rome following its sacking in 389 BC, as painted around 1716-1720

The following year the Boii and Etruscans try again. This time everyone is armed, including youths who have only just reached manhood. Again they are decimated and completely defeated, and this time they surrender, sending ambassadors to Rome to conclude a treaty.

Polybius writes that constant defeats at the hands of the Gauls have inured the Romans to the worst which could befall them, so that they are able to fight the Boii on this occasion like trained and experienced gladiators. The Gauls maintain peace with Rome for forty-five years following this event.

279 - 277 BC

Celtic tribes are arriving in the Balkans and Asia Minor by this time. In one encounter with arriving groups which are already there, the Antigonid empire successfully smashes an invasion of these Celts into Greece.

Caesar later notes in his journals that 'sometime' before the first century BC the Belgic tribes had emigrated from east of the Rhine. In fact, according to many authors, the archaeological record argues for an earlier date for the first Belgic settlers in northern Gaul.

Artefacts which are of continental European origin which date from the third century BC strongly suggest that the Belgae cross into Britain at about the same time as they settle on the northern edges of Gaul. They appear to arrive as fairly small warrior groups which quickly integrate into the elite of the local communities. Other groups seem to remain behind, in northern Germany, to be assimilated by Germanics - such as the Marsigni.

The landscape of western Slovakia, lying a little way to the east of the Marsigni, but perhaps not that far, offers a dramatic contrast in landscape, making the region protectable, but also very verdant and productive

Tribes which belong to the Belgae included the Ambiani, Atrebates, Bellovaci, Caleti, Morini, Menapii, Nervii, Remi, Suessiones, Veliocasses, and Viromandui. Caesar states that one tribe, the Atuatuci, are descended from the semi-Germanic Cimbri and Teutones, and describes four others, the Caerosi, Condrusi, Eburones, and Paemani, as Germanic tribes (although Ambiorix, a later leader of the Eburones, has a Celtic name).

Other tribes which may be included amongst the Belgae are the Leuci, Mediomatrici, Treveri, and Tungri. The Remi are the most prominent tribe and their capital, Durocortum (modern Reims in France), becomes the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica.

273 - 214 BC

The Celts invade Thrace again, destroying the Thracian kingdom and forcing the Greek aristocracy to escape to the colonies which border the Black Sea. The kingdom of Galatia is created in Thrace by the victorious Celts, only to be destroyed by the Thracians in 214 BC and forced to concentrate itself entirely in Anatolia. The remaining bulk of Celts in the Balkans settles into the powerful Scordisci confederation.

The treasures of the Odrysian kingdom in Thrace would in part have been inherited by the Odrissae people following the apparent break-up of the kingdom

c.250 BC

Germanic settlements have spread only a little farther south-westwards along the North Sea coastline, and eastwards into the heart of modern Poland and northern Germany. One exception to this is the tribe of the Bastarnae (whose ethnic background is highly uncertain, but evidence tends to support the idea that they are originally Celtic). They have already reached the Balkans by this time.

Between this point and the beginning of the first century AD, Germanic expansion and migration continue this slow progression, extending into modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, and southwards towards modern Switzerland, central Germany, and Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. All the while, Celtic tribes are being edged out or absorbed.

236 BC

The Gauls in northern Italy have maintained an unbroken peace with Rome for forty-five years, the last battles having being fought against the Boii. A new generation is now in command of the tribes and is eager to test itself against the common enemy. These tribal chiefs inflate trivial excuses in their cause, and invite the Alpine Gauls to join the impending fray.

Many Belgic groups showed marked Germanic influences, so were they Celts with German words and warriors, or Germans with Celtic words and warriors? The truth probably lies somewhere in between

This is the first that the majority of the tribesmen know of the intended renewal of hostilities, and the Boii immediately form a conspiracy against their own leaders, as well as against the newcomers. A Gaulish king who acts without the support and consent of his own people places considerable risk on his own safety.

Their rulers, Atis and Galatus, are put to death, and the tribe cuts itself to pieces in a pitched battle. Rome, already having become suitably alarmed at the threatened invasion, is able to recall its dispatched army.

232 BC

Five years after the threat of war between Gauls and Rome had ended in Gaulish internecine battle, during the consulship of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Rome divides the territory of Picenum, from which the Senones had been ejected in 283 BC. For many of the Gauls, and especially the Boii whose lands border this territory, this is an act of war. The tribes are now convinced that Rome wants to destroy and expel them completely.

231 - 225 BC

Over the next six years or so, the two most extensive tribes, the Boii and Insubres, send out the call for assistance to the tribes living around the Alps and on the Rhône. Rather than each of the tribes sending their own warriors, it appears that individual warriors are hired from the entire Alpine region as mercenaries. Polybius calls them Gaesatae, describing it as a word which means 'serving for hire'. They come with their own kings, Concolitanus and Aneroetes, who have probably been elected from their number in the Celtic fashion.

While most of the Gauls of the third century BC fought fully clothed, their Gaesatae mercenaries tended to fight with nothing more than their weapons, and not even the trousers shown here

The Gaesatae are offered a large sum of gold on the spot, and the wealth of Rome is also pointed out - wealth which can be theirs if they stick to their task. The mercenaries are easily persuaded, and are proud to remind the other Gauls of the campaign which had been undertaken by their own ancestors in which they had seized Rome.

This strongly suggests that a proportion of the Gaesatae (probably including their kings) are descended from members of the Senones tribe, as it was this tribe which had led the occupation of Rome in 389 BC. Rome has been informed of what is coming, and hurries to assemble the legions.

Even its ongoing conflict with the Carthaginians takes second place, and a treaty is hurriedly agreed with Hasdrubaal, commander in Iberia, which virtually confirms Carthaginian rule there. Such is Rome's haste that they approach the Gaulish frontier before the Gauls have even stirred.

The first battle, when it comes, is near Faesulae, outside the subjugated Etruscan city of Clevsin. The Romans are decimated and routed by superior Gaulish tactics. A fresh army under Lucius Aemilius arrives, while Consul Gaius Atilius lands at Pisae with the Sardinian legion, so that the Gauls find themselves caught between two Roman armies.

The battle is fierce, and the Gauls gain the head of Gaius Atilius. However, the battle turns against them and large numbers of Gauls are cut down or taken prisoner.

The Iberian peninsula prior to the Carthaginian invasion and partial conquest was a melange of different tribal influences (click or tap on map to view full sized)

224 BC

Buoyed by its victory, Rome attempts to clear the entire valley of the Padus. Two legions are sent under the command of the consuls of that year, and the Boii are terrified into submission. However, incessant rain and an outbreak of disease prevents the legions from achieving anything greater.

223 BC

Two fresh consuls lead two more legions into the Padus, marching through the territory of the Anamares, who live not far from Placentia. They secure the friendship of this tribe and cross into the country of the Insubres, near the confluence of the Adua and Padus.

Some skirmishing aside, peace is agreed with this tribe, and the Romans head for the River Clusius. There they enter Cenomani lands, with these allies providing some reinforcements. Then the Romans return to the Insubres and begin laying waste to their land. The tribe is faced with no choice but to fight, and their defeat is all but inevitable.

222 BC

With peaceful overtures by the Insubres being firmly rejected by Rome, the tribe calls on the Gaesatae once more. Together they fight the Romans and withdraw intact to Mediolanum. The stronghold is stormed by the Romans and, following some hard fighting, the Insubres are left with no option but to completely submit to Rome. This act effectively ends the Gallic War in northern Italy, as Rome now dominates every tribe.

The Celtic tribes of northern Italy were large and dangerous to the Romans, unlike their fellow Celts in the Western Alps, who were relatively small in number and fairly fragmented, although they made up for that by being even more belligerent than their easterly cousins

156 BC

Having recently defeated the Macedonian kingdom in the Third Macedonian War, Rome appears to be dominant in south-eastern Europe. Little resistance is expected from the various tribes of Greece, Thrace, and the Balkans.

And yet it takes a century and-a-half to fully subdue both the hard-fighting Thracian tribes and the Dacians and Celts of the Balkans - especially the Celts of the Scordisci confederation. In this year a minor clash takes place between Rome and the Scordisci, although the details and location are unknown.

c.150 BC

Metal coinage comes into use in Britain. There is now widespread contact with continental Europe through the southern Celtic tribes in the country.

133 BC

With the fall of the city of Numantia in Iberia, the Celtiberians are conquered by Rome. To achieve this, it has taken sixty-two years of Roman fighting since the first Celtic submission to them in the Iberian peninsula.

119/117 BC

Although generally ascribed to 119 BC, Kazarov places this event in 117 BC. After a general peace, the Scordisci manage to push all the way through the Roman defences in the southern Balkans, reaching the Aegean coast. The Roman governor of Macedonia is killed. A force led by Quaestor Marcus Annius finally ends their adventure, pushing them back. A subsequent attack by the Scordisci and the Thracian Maedi tribe is also repulsed.

Displayed here is which was gathered from the Scordisci warrior burial at Montana, now in north-western Bulgaria - although it actually belongs to a cavalry officer

The involvement of the Maedi tribe in the second attack marks the beginning of a new, more widespread involvement in the frequent campaigns between Romans and barbarians. While the Celts in Thrace and the lower Balkans continue to offer the biggest threat to Roman expansion, the native Balkan tribes frequently support them, especially the Bastarnae, Dardani, and the free Thracian tribes (the Bessoi, Denteletes, Maedi, and Triballi).

It takes this Macedonian raid to make Rome fully aware of the severity of the threat to its security in the region. The war between Rome and the tribes in the Balkans rumbles on for decades, becoming increasingly bloody and vicious.

113 - 102 BC

In Franconia, members of the Celto-Germanic Helvetii join a large-scale migration of Cimbri and Teutones from their homeland in what later becomes central and northern Denmark. In 109 BC the wandering tribes enter Gaul from what is now Germany, causing chaos amongst the Celtic tribes there and rendering critical the situation in the region.

It is almost certainly this invasion which sparks a migration of Belgic peoples from the Netherlands and northern Gaul into south-eastern Britain, although such a migration may already have started on a smaller scale.

1st century BC

By the first century BC the Venedi are known to occupy a great swathe of territory which stretches from East Prussia and modern Kaliningrad, to western Belarus and western Ukraine. They may even have absorbed Belgic groups which have migrated into the Vistula from the north, although the lack of any written evidence makes their history extremely uncertain and open to interpretation.

For a seagoing people like the Belgae, it would have been a fairly simple process to sail along the southern waters of the Baltic and enter a wide river mouth such as the Vistula - settlement quickly followed, spreading south along the river's east bank between the fifth or fourth centuries BC and the first and second AD

c.60 BC

Diviciacus of the Suessiones (not to be confused with Diviciacus of the Aeduii) holds sway not only among a large proportion of the European Belgic tribes but also over parts of south-eastern Britain, according to Julius Caesar. This would suggest a form of high kingship over those Belgic tribes which had recently migrated there, such as the Belgae, Cantii, and perhaps the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes. This unity of tribes is reflected in their characteristic triple-tailed horse coins from about 60 BC.

c.60 - 40 BC

From the latter part of the first century BC and into the next century, various historians mention a variety of tribes and their affiliates which are uniformly identified as being Taurisci, together with a variety of other Cisalpine tribes which include the Norici and Iapydes (not all of which are Celtic in origin). The Taurisci often plunder Roman territory in the hinterlands of Tergestica (modern Trieste).

Ancient authors also list several smaller indigenous communities, such as the Illyrian Colapiani along the River Kolpa, the Celtic Ambisontes in the Soča Valley, the Subocrini around Razdrto, and the Rundicti in the Kras and Notranjska regions. The great Tauriscan tribal community with some identified smaller tribes (such as the Latovici) has never developed into a state formation.

In the Roman era, the Latovici settlement at Praetorium Latobicorum (near modern Trebnje in Slovenia) became a military outpost which has left surviving ruins

60 - 58 BC

The Helvetii begin an invasion of the lowlands of Gaul, and Julius Caesar recruits two new legions to face the threat. After some skirmishing, the two sides face each other at the Battle of Bibracte in 58 BC, and the Helvetii are mercilessly crushed by six Roman legions.

Their shattered remnants are forced back to their homeland, but are now unable to fight off Germanic incursions which could also threaten Gaul. Julius Caesar allows the relatively hospitable Boii to settle a buffer zone to the north of the Helvetii and east of the Aeduii, but even this shift leaves gaps for Germanic incursions, and one is already underway to the north.

Caesar receives a federation of chiefs from tribes which include the Sequani, all of whom are suffering thanks to the Suebic invasion under Ariovistus. It is this campaign and its mixed outcome which, despite victory in battle, triggers Julius Caesar's campaigns in Gaul from this point onwards, which result in the eventual annexation of the entire land into the Roman state.

The Roman troops of Julius Caesar prepare to face the Helvetii and their allies (which probably include some Boii elements) at the Battle of Bibracte in 58 BC, outside the oppidum of the Aeduii tribe

In the Balkans, and following a recent success in battle at Histria, relations between the Getae and their neighbours undergoes a notable deterioration. Suddenly, under the leadership of Burebista, who is apparently guided by a wizard called Deceneus, the Getae launch a succession of brutal attacks on their former allies.

The Celts seem to be first on the list, although the Eravisci escape unscathed. The territory of the Boii and Taurisci are laid waste, with the Boii especially being almost genocidally exterminated by Burebista's brutal onslaught. Their territory is subsequently known as the deserta Boiorum (effectively meaning the Boii wastelands, with 'deserta' meaning 'empty lands', or at least land which is sparsely populated).

The Scordisci in Thrace follow, their previously unassailable heartland laid open. Next to face Burebista's onslaught are the Bastarnae in Dobruja, who are apparently 'conquered', and then the largely defenceless western Greek Pontic cities. This period coincides with the end of local coin production by the Celts and Bastarnae, showing that the cultural and economic status quo has been fatally disrupted.

The Danube delta homeland of the Peucini Bastarnae was just north of the former Greek port of Histria, which may have been conquered when the tribe temporarily held power to the south of the delta region

58 BC

The Gallic Wars of Julius Caesar begin when he becomes governor of Gaul. Over the course of the next decade or so, he conquers all of the Gaulish tribes. His efforts begin with a showdown against Ariovistus of the Suevi at the Battle of Vosges.

57 BC

The Belgae enter into a confederacy against the Romans in fear of Rome's eventual domination over them. They are also spurred on by Gauls who are unwilling to see Germanic tribes remaining on Gaulish territory and are unhappy about Roman troops wintering in Gaul. The Senones, Remi, Suessiones, Bellovaci, Ambiani, Atrebates, Atuatuci, Caerosi, Caleti, Condrusi, Eburones, Menapii, Morini, Nervii, Paemani, Veliocasses, and Viromandui are all included.

According to Caesar, the Aulerci, Cariosvelites, Osismii, Redones, Sesuvii, Venelli, and Veneti, all of whom are located along the Atlantic coast, are subdued by the legion of Publius Licinius Crassus. With this action, northern Gaul has been brought under Roman domination, while the victorious legions winter amongst the Andes, Carnutes, and Turones.

The Battle of the (River) Axona (the modern Aisne in north-eastern France) witnessed the beginning of the end of the Belgic confederation against Rome

56 BC

Following his successful campaign against the Belgae in the previous year, Caesar heads for Italy. He sends Servius Galba ahead with the Twelfth Legion and part of the cavalry to secure the way. The pass through the Alps has been dominated by the Nantuates, Seduni, and Veragri tribes, making the route a dangerous one for Roman merchants, and now is the time to end that danger.

The campaign ends in a desperate, six-hour battle which ends when the exhausted Romans make a last-ditch sally which takes the Celts by surprise. It inflicts heavy casualties on the Celts, forcing them to withdraw. Having survived the onslaught the Romans withdraw in good order, heading westwards into the territory of the Allobroges where they settle into safer winter quarters.

With Gaul now apparently at peace, Caesar sets out for Illyricum. Once he has left, war flares up again, triggered by Publius Licinius Crassus and the Seventh Legion in the territory of the Andes. Caesar rushes back to northern Gaul, to a fleet which is being prepared for him by the (Roman-led) Pictones and Santones on the River Loire. The Veneti and their allies plan to fight the Romans using their powerful navy in the shallows of the Loire.

Roman auxiliaries in the form of the Aeduii attack a Veneti vessel in Morbihan Bay on the French Atlantic coast during the campaign of 56 BC

Before engaging, Caesar sends troops to the Remi, Treveri, and other Belgae to encourage them to keep to their allegiance with Rome and to hold the Rhine against possible incursions by Germans who may be planning to join the Veneti.

The campaign by Caesar against the Veneti is protracted and takes place both on land and sea. Veneti strongholds, when threatened, are evacuated by sea and the Romans have to begin again. Eventually the Veneti fleet is cornered and defeated in Quiberon Bay by Legate Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. The Veneti strongholds are stormed and much of the Veneti population is either captured and enslaved or butchered. The confederation is destroyed and Roman rule is firmly stamped upon the region.

Entering Aquitania, the Romans are only just victorious, having outlasted their hot-headed Celtic opponents in terms of stamina. Crassus marches into the territories of the Vocates and Tarusates in a brutal fight which sees the Aquitani being forced to surrender with heavy casualties.

Organising the various tribes of Gaul into a unified resistance took some doing, but Vercingetorix of the Arverni appears to have held a level of authority which made him a leader not to be refused, and thousands of warriors flocked to join him

When news of this defeat spreads, the majority of the tribes of Aquitania surrender to Crassus, including the Ausci, Bigerriones, Cocosates, Elusates, Garites, Garumni, Preciani, Suburates, Tarbelli, Tarusates, and 'Vocasates' (and presumably the unmentioned Oscidates).

55 BC

As recorded by Julius Caesar in his work, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, the Germanic Tencteri and Usipetes tribes cross the Rhine from Germania and attack first the Belgic Menapii and then the Condrusi and Eburones. The tribes of the Caerosi, Condrusi, Eburones, and Paemani are Belgic peoples who are sometimes thought by scholars to be Germanic, although much of the evidence seems to suggest that they are either Celts, or are ruled by a Celtic nobility.

The Ambivariti are mentioned only once, by Julius Caesar, and then only vaguely. Their location is not given, except by association with the Menapii, to whom they seem to be neighbours. This is in connection with a raid on them by Germans in 55 BC, at which time they are probably based between modern Breda and Antwerp. Thereafter they disappear from history, not to be mentioned by any other classical writer.

54 BC

Julius Caesar starts the year by visiting Illyricum to put down incursions by the Pirustae. From there, he returns to Gaul and assembles a fleet at Port Itius, intent on a second expedition to Britain. Before leaving, he visits the Treveri with four legions to settle an internal power struggle.

This romanticised illustration of Germanic warriors bore little similarity to the rough and ready warriors of the Germanic tribes along the Rhine

Returning to Port Itius, Caesar discovers that forty ships which had been built in the country of the 'Meldi' had been driven back by a storm and have returned to port. Caesar intends to take with him most of the Gallic leaders, but Dumnorix of the Aeduii attempts to flee the Roman camp before he can be embarked. He is pursued and cut down.

The expedition to Britain goes ahead, bringing Caesar into contact with the insular Atrebates, Cantii, Catuvellauni, and Trinovantes. Following his return, he is forced to winter his troops in different quarters in Gaul owing to the poor harvests of that year.

The recent assassination of Tasgetius of the Carnutes raises the fear in the Romans that the tribe will revolt. A legion under Quintus Titurius Sabinus and Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta is defeated, with both generals being killed and the survivors committing suicide in their fort to avoid capture. Only a few men escape to relate the news to Caesar. Ambiorix of the Eburones marches his cavalry to the Atuatuci, with the infantry following on. Together they launch an attack on the legion under Cicero, razing much of his fort and hard-pressing the defenders.

The gentle rolling landscape of the Limberg region would have made idea pasture and farming land for the Belgic tribes, but its proximity to the Maas would have provided the woods and swamps which served as a refuge in times of need

Word of this reaches Marcus Crassus amongst the Bellovaci, and Caius Fabius also marches from the lands of the Morini, with both forces having to negotiate their way through the lands of the Atrebates along the way. Caesar arrives to relieve Cicero and is attacked by about 60,000 Gauls. Despite the massive disparity in numbers compared to Caesar's own 7,000, the Gauls are put to flight with great losses, although the Romans suffer casualties of ten per cent.

Although the situation is calmed by this victory, Cavarinus of the Senones is condemned to death by his people and is forced to flee to the Romans for protection. This serves as a commitment by the tribe to oppose Julius Caesar during his Gallic campaigns.

The act seems to rally support from amongst most of the Gauls, although the Gauls are unable to encourage the Germans to cross the Rhine and support them due to the recent defeats of Ariovistus of the Suevi and of the Tencteri expedition, something which has dissuaded them from a third attempt. However, following the death of Indutiomarus of the Treveri, no further action is taken against the Romans in this year.

The thick forest of the Ardennes formed part of the Treveri homeland when they arrived there in the early or mid-second century BC

53 BC

Having left a strong guard with the Treveri following the conclusion of their revolt, Caesar again crosses the Rhine to deal with their German supporters. The Ubii reaffirm their loyalty to him while Caesar discovers that the auxiliaries which had joined the Treveri had been sent by the Suevi. Caesar fortifies the bridge which connects to the Ubii and stations twelve cohorts there.

Caesar then enters the country of the Eburones, supported by Senones cavalry. Despite having the cavalry of the Treveri in support, the rebellious Ambiorix flees before the Romans. Despite this apparent capitulation, Caesar still feels the need to burn every village and building which he can find in Eburones territory. The Germanic Sicambri take the opportunity to cross the Rhine and surprise many of the plunderers, seizing a large part of the Eburones' cattle.

The Sicambri are easily persuaded to attack the main Roman camp. After being surprised, the Roman defenders manage to rally under Sextus Baculus. They are reinforced by a returning foraging party and the Sicambri withdraw, seeing that they will not now prevail. They withdraw across the Rhine with their plunder and Caesar is able to settle his men into winter quarters.

This print of Ambiorix, king of the Eburones, is inspired by his statue of 1866 in Tongeren in Belgium, with both statue and print reflecting the nineteenth century revival of the Celts in the young Belgian nation state

However, greater events are afoot. On 13 February 53 BC the disaffected Carnutes had massacred every Roman merchant who had been present in the town of Cenabum, as well as killing one of Caesar's commissariat officers. This is the spark which ignites a massed Gaulish rebellion. Vercingetorix has renewed the Arverni subjugation of the Aeduii and now acts as leader of the brewing revolt against Rome.

Despite his former allegiance to Julius Caesar, in the winter of 53-52 BC Commius of the Atrebates uses his contacts with the Bellovaci to convince them to contribute to an army. This will join other Gauls to form a massive relief force at Alesia in the last stage of the revolt.

The Lemovices, Mediomatrici, Andes, Ruteni, Turones, and Pictones all join the revolt. The latter, though, are split by the decision. Duratios, their king, sends a messenger to the Roman legate, Caius Caninius, who comes to his aid from the territory of the Ruteni. This small force is soon backed up by a more effective unit under Caius Fabius and a Pictonii civil war is averted.

Lemonum (modern Potiers) was the chief tribal settlement of the Pictones Celts in first century BC Gaul, while today's Amphoralis Museum provides a glimpse of life in pre-Roman France

52 BC

The Aulerci, Cadurci, Lemovices, Parisii, Pictones, Senones, and Turones have all joined Vercingetorix of the Arverni, as do all of the tribes which border the ocean. The Treveri support the revolt but are pinned down by German tribes.

Vercingetorix sends out deputies to secure more assistance, notably from the Ruteni, Bituriges, Gabali, and Nitiobroges. Caesar reaches Narbonensis first and rallies the garrisons amongst the Ruteni and Volcae Arecomisci. From there Caesar circles through the territory of the generally pro-Roman Helvii (who provide auxiliaries) to reach that of the Arverni, despite deep winter snows in the mountains.

Vercingetorix sustains losses at Vellaunodunum, Genabum, and Noviodunum before adopting a scorched earth policy. More than twenty towns of the Bituriges are burned in one day, although their oppidum at Avaricum is spared. The Boii have little with which to support the Romans, and the Aeduii are showing little enthusiasm for it, but Caesar secures all the supplies he needs when he besieges and storms Avaricum, despite a formidable Gaulish defence.

The Vercingetorix monument was created by the sculptor, Aimé Millet, and was installed in 1865 on Mont Auxois in France

From there, the two sides gravitate towards an eventual confrontation at Gergovia, a town of the recently resettled Boii. Additional Gaulish support for Vercingetorix means that Caesar loses the siege there after having to split his forces to face the unexpected additional threat, a rare defeat for him in Gaul.

Four legions are marched to the Parisii town of Lutetia. Gauls from the neighbouring states immediately gather to oppose him, and the ensuing battle sees the Gauls defeated. Labienus joins Caesar while Vercingetorix levies troops from the Aeduii and Segusiavi. These he orders them to attack the Allobroges. The Gabali and the easternmost Arverni cantons are sent to fight the Helvii, and the Cadurci and Ruteni are told to lay waste the territories of the Volcae Arecomisci.

The Helvii are defeated and their leaders slain, including Caius Valerius Donotaurus, the son of Caburus. The Allobroges manage to defend their frontiers successfully, but Caesar finds that he is hard-pressed to counter Vercingetorix's superiority in cavalry. He calls for cavalry and light infantry from the loyal German tribes (which undoubtedly includes the Ubii), and this helps him greatly in the battle which follows.

This vast map covers just about all possible tribes which were documented in the first centuries BC and AD, mostly by the Romans and Greeks, and with an especial focus on 52 BC (click or tap on map to view at an intermediate size)

Vercingetorix, his cavalry routed in that battle, withdraws in good order to Alesia, a major fort belonging to the Mandubii. The remaining cavalry are dispatched back to their tribes to bring reinforcements. Caesar begins a siege of Alesia, aiming on starving out the inhabitants.

Four relief forces amounting to a considerable number of men and horses are assembled in the territory of the Aeduii by the council of the Gaulish nobility. Together they attempt to relieve Vercingetorix at the siege of Alesia, but the combined relief force is soundly repulsed by Julius Caesar's remarkable strategy of simultaneously conducting the siege of Alesia on one front whilst being besieged on the other.

Seeing that all is lost, Vercingetorix surrenders to Caesar. The garrison is taken prisoner, as are the survivors from the relief army. They are either sold into slavery or given as booty to Caesar's legionaries, apart from the Aeduii and Arverni warriors who are released and pardoned in order to secure the allegiance of these important and powerful tribes.

The site of Alesia, a major fort belonging to the Mandubii tribe of Celts, was the scene of the final desperate stand-off between Rome and the Gauls in 52 BC

During the revolt, the Bituriges Cubi fall back to their main oppidum of Avaricum. Although they put up a desperate resistance, their hill fort ultimately falls to a Roman assault and all its surviving inhabitants are put to the sword. The Carnutes make their own situation worse by attacking the Bituriges Cubi, whom Caesar aids. As a reminder of their part in the rebellion, the Carnutes town of Cenabum is left in ruins and the location is garrisoned by two Roman legions.

Vercingetorix is imprisoned in the Tullianum in Rome for five years and Gaul falls to the republic. After the surrender of Alesia, Commius of the Atrebates returns north and joins Correus of the Bellovaci. The two men command the last major Gallic army to directly oppose Caesar, and for some time they manage to hold off the Romans until defeat finally ends their resistance.

46 BC

Following five years of imprisonment, Vercingetorix of the Arverni is publicly displayed at Julius Caesar's triumph. Afterwards, back in his cell, he is executed by strangulation. This removes the figurehead of Gaulish independence and with this action, Gaul's dreams of independence have been ended by Roman domination, and the history of its population of Celts is tied to that of the empire.

Having surrendered with honour to Caesar in 52 BC, Vercingetorix remained a potent symbol of resistance to Roman domination, so his murder in 46 BC dealt a terminal blow to hopes of renewed Celtic freedom

35 - 33 BC

Eastern Tauriscan tribes are defeated by Octavian between these dates, while the western tribes which border the Carni come under the dominion of the 'Kingdom of Noricum'. This means that the rarely-mentioned Norici dominate and effectively absorb the western Taurisci, although perhaps only because the confederation as a whole has been defeated by Rome.

The Roman state gradually absorbs the Celtic and indigenous populations. They are fully Romanised through a combination of military force, economic pressure, political organisation, and their own way of life. The indigenous population survives in the towns and village settlements, whose names frequently denote the area of a specific tribal group (such as, for example, Praetorium Latobicorum (modern Trebnje), and Municipium Flavium Latobi-corum Neviodunum (modern Drnovo, near Krško)).

28 BC

A second campaign by Crassus in Thrace is designed to 'punish' the Scordisci tribes of today's north-western Bulgaria. Cassius Dio states that these tribes have 'never been captured and would not acknowledge his [Crassus] authority, priding themselves greatly upon this point and at the same time inspiring in the others both anger and a disposition to rebel'.

The South Struma Valley, showing the kind of territory the Romans had to pass through during their relatively successful campaign of 75 BC against the Scordisci

It seems strange that these tribes are only now mentioned, three decades after the Scordisci had been broken by Burebista. It suggests that the confederation itself had been broken by the attack, and that these three tribes may now be the only ones capable of mounting any serious resistance to Rome, but on an individual basis rather than as elements of the confederation.

The campaign apparently does little more than push them into the hinterland, out of Rome's reach. Archaeological evidence shows a Celtic migration into the mountains from Thrace during this final period of Roman conquest over the more hospitable terrain.

27 BC - AD 14

During the period of office of Augustus in Rome, the Aquitani tribes are incorporated into the newly-formed province of Aquitania. The province extends from the Liger (the modern Loire) to the Pyrenees, and is bound on the northern side by Mons Cevennus. This is one of the three divisions of the Gauls, the others being Gallia Lugdunensis and Belgica.

25 - 15 BC

Augustus determines that the Alpine tribes need to be pacified in order to end their warlike behaviour, alternately attacking or extracting money from Romans who pass through the region, even when they have armies in tow. He wages a steady, determined campaign against them, and in a period of ten years he 'pacifies the Alps all the way from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian seas' (written by Augustus himself). The Brigantii and their immediate neighbours are defeated by 15 BC, with Brigantion being captured.

The Tropaeum Alpium ('Trophy of the Alps') stands majestically in the commune of La Turbie on the French Riviera, overlooking the principality of Monaco, and marking the final victory over the Alpine tribes by Augustus

16 BC

The Celts of the former Scordisci confederation have one last surprise remaining for Rome. As imperial Rome stamps its authority on the Balkans, Celtic tribes swoop down from the Thracian mountains. They swarm into Macedonia and lay waste to the Roman province once again.

The attack surely comes from the Rhodope Mountains in what is now south-western Bulgaria, making it the last hurrah of the Scordisci and providing Rome with a brutal reminder that although the cities and plains may be civilised, the mountains of central and western Thrace are still areas to be feared.

c.8 - 6 BC

Various Germanic tribes can be located within the area of the Przeworsk culture at this time, including the Lugii and Vandali, along with the Vistula Venedi of Eastern Europe. The Burgundians are also linked to the region prior to their migration.

Arguments have existed for some time over whether the Przeworsk is the result of Germanic, proto-Slavic, or Celtic influence. The truth is probably that all three contribute. The Lugii especially are known to cross the boundary between Germanic and Celtic, while little is known of the proto-Slavs except that they first emerge between southern Poland and western Ukraine.

The Vandali probably started in southern Scandinavia, before migrating into northern Poland, and then shifting southwards to form, or perhaps found, the Przeworsk culture

1st century AD

The interior of early Croatia is dominated by tribal peoples, with the Celts and native Elyrs (modern Kosovars and Albanians) most significant just before the Roman conquest. The Celtic Norican kingdom, which covers modern Austria, Slovenia and part of northern Croatia, briefly survives the conquest as a Roman tributary. Celts also occupy territory alongside Germanic peoples in Galicia.

AD 23

Shortly before his death, Strabo completes ongoing work on his Geography. It contains a description of the peoples and places known to this Greek writer who latterly lives in Rome. He describes a tribal federation which appears to include the Butones (a questionable name, perhaps a misspelling of Gutones), Lugii, Mugilones, Senones, Sibini, and Zumi.

AD 43 - 44

The Roman invasion of Britain brings them into direct contact with the Atrebates, Belgae, Cantii, Catuvellauni, Dobunni and Trinovantes. Within a year they have also conquered, subjugated, or becomes overlords to the Corieltavi, Cornovii, Durotriges, Iceni, and Parisi.

47 - 79

With the south and east of Britain subdued, the Roman campaign begins against the hardy tribes of the west. The Deceangli are attacked first, followed by the Ordovices and Silures. The Demetae appear to be subdued in AD 51 but complete conquest is not effected until AD 79. The Dumnonians are also subdued by AD 55.

The Roman invasion of Britain began late in the season, using three divisions which swiftly conquered the south-east before more slowly penetrating the west and north to bring all of England and Wales under their control, as shown in this series of sequential maps (click or tap on map to view full sized)

59 - 61

Once Prasutagus of the Iceni dies, the Romans begin to ignore the terms of the Iceni's client-statehood. Stirred up by imperial heavy-handedness, Boudicca leads a powerful uprising involving the Iceni, the Trinovantes and other tribes. It results in the loss to the Romans of lower eastern Britain.

After sacking and burning Campulodunum, Londinium, and Verulamium (St Albans), the Celts are confronted by a fresh Roman army under Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus and are defeated. Boudicca's fate is unknown, but it is presumed that she commits suicide rather than allow herself to fall into Roman hands.

69 - 70

Under the authority of self-proclaimed emperor, the Lingones noble, Julius Sabinus, Gaius Julius Civilis leads a Batavian insurrection against a Rome which is distracted by the events of the 'Year of the Four Emperors'. He is supported by the Bructeri, Canninefates, Chauci, Cugerni, and Tencteri, while the Sinuci are also mentioned as a people who live in the region (although their involvement in the revolt is uncertain).

The tribes send reinforcements and Civilis is initially successful. Castra Vetera is captured and two Roman legions are lost, while two others fall into the hands of the rebels. In AD 70 the Chatti, Mattiaci, and Usipetes join in, besieging the legionary fortress at Mogontiacum (modern Mainz).

The Gaulish and Germanic Batavian revolt of AD 69-70 was a major contributor to the instability experienced in the Roman empire during the 'Year of Four Emperors'

Eventual Roman pressure, with aid from the Mediomatrici, Sequani, and Tungri, forces Civilis to retreat to the Batavian island where he agrees peace terms with General Quintus Petilius Cerialis. His subsequent fate is unknown, but the Batavi are treated with great consideration by Emperor Vespasian. During the revolt, the Roman fortress ceases to be used (for obvious reasons) and the Oppidum Batavorum is razed. Quintus Petilius Cerialis soon gains the post of Governor of Britain in reward for his triumph.

98

By the later part of the first century BC, the northernmost groups of Venedi are neighboured even farther to the east by a collection of Finno-Ugric tribes and to the north-east by the Aestii and eastern Balts. To the west the situation is less certain, and is changing rapidly.

Noted by Tacitus, a host of Germanic tribes have occupied territory on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in the past century or so, including the Gepids, Goths, Heruli, Scirii, and Vandali. Farther south, in modern southern Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and western Ukraine, the situation is even less clear, with elements of former Celtic tribes existing alongside encroaching Germanic tribes, including the Boii and Lugii for the former, and the Buri, Marcomanni, and Quadi for the latter.

Tacitus does not use the Vistula as a boundary, or even describe a boundary between Germania and the lands to its east. He does describe the Venedi as living along the eastern fringe of Germania, inferring some kind of borderland, but is uncertain of their ethnic identity. He refers to them as having borrowed from Sarmatians in their habit of plundering the mountainous and wooded country which lies between the Peucini to the south (in the Balkans) and the Finni to the north (generally accepted as being Finns, but possibly Sámi).

The Sámi people began inhabiting northern Scandinavia from at least 1500 BC, occupying a land they called (and still call) Sápmi, covering areas of modern Norway (Finnmark and beyond), Sweden, Finland, and Russia - the traditional English version of the name was Lapland, although this is now frowned upon in some quarters

Even so, he says that they should be classed as Germans thanks to their settled houses, the shields they carry, and their fondness for travelling fast on foot, as opposed to the horse-riding Sarmatians. Clearly he is linking them with the nearest, most similar people without being aware of their origins as West Indo-Europeans or potential relationship with the Belgae of the Low Countries.

300s

The Tabula Peutingeriana dates from the fourth century AD. It mentions Venedi who are located on the northern bank of the Danube, some way upstream of the river's mouth into the Black Sea. It also mentions the Venadi Sarmatae along the Baltic coast.

The latter are the Venedi of Sarmatia, this being the main body of Venedi along the east bank of the Vistula. The Venedi near the Danube would appear to be a migratory group which has followed the Vistula into modern Slovakia and then has probably skirted the Carpathians by travelling through modern western Ukraine towards the Black Sea.

c.340

A Celtic kingship is established in Armorica, the former territory of the Vannetais, apparently by early migrants from southern Britain. How independent this kingship is during a period in which Roman central control is beginning to crumble is not known.

The landscape of Armorica - extremely hilly inland with a wonderful, long coastline - would have seemed very familiar to the Britons who began to settle here from the late fourth century onwards (Glomel in the modern Côtes-d'Armor département is shown here)

386/387

Remarkably, the Treveri still exist as a recognisable group after nearly four hundred years of inclusion within the Roman empire. The best-known piece of evidence for Late Gaulish is found in St Jerome's (331-420) commentary on St Paul's letter to the Galatians, written in the year 386/387 (the calculation is somewhat imprecise).

In it he says that the language of the Treveri in the Belgica is similar to that of the Galatians. Apart from the Greek language, which is spoken throughout the entire east of the empire, the Galatians have their own language which is almost the same as that of the Treveri. It serves to confirm that, whatever their mixed origins, the Treveri (and by extension all Belgae) are Celtic-speakers, not Germanic.

468 - 469

Riothamus, 'King of the Britons' (with possible links to Cadbury Castle), crosses the Channel to Gaul, bringing 12,000 ship-borne troops. He remains in the province for a year or more, perhaps reinforced by Armorican Bretons, and is able to advance to Bourges (the ancient territory of the Bituriges) and even further.

Gaul's imperial prefect, the deputy of the Western Roman emperor, treacherously undermines him by apparently dealing with the Visigoths, probably to try and divert the Visigothic king to attacking the Breton territories to the benefit of Roman holdings. In the end, both Riothamus and the imperial army are defeated in separate battles, and Bourges falls to the Visigoths. Romano-Celtic Soissons and Armorica are cut off from Rome.

Even today, Cadbury Castle on the West of England presents the image of a powerful and defensible location, with views across the whole of Somerset giving it a level of strategic importance, and it could have links to Riothamus

487

Romano-German general and emperor, Odoacer, destroys the Germanic tribe of the Rugians in central-eastern Germania. The Langobards initially fill this vacuum, until they conquer much of Italy in 568, and then a new confederation, the Bavarii, forms in their place, perhaps consisting of elements of the Celtic Boii tribe.

8th century

The Venedi gradually disappear between the sixth and eighth centuries. Pressure from Germanic groups to their west, but more especially from migrating Slavs from the east sees them assimilated. The northernmost parts of their territory are absorbed by various natives which include the Prussians and Lithuanians, while the Veleti Union which lays on the west bank of the Oder, bordering the Pomeranians, slowly becomes Slavicised.

That name, 'Veleti', is the same as 'Galati', but without the 'w' to 'gw' to 'g' shift which long ago produced 'Galati' (see feature link). Instead this 'Veleti' is either the original 'w' pronunciation (which seems most likely) or a Belgic-style 'w' to 'v' pronunciation (which is also possible).

What this 'Veleti' means is that the Venedi and other Celtic groups in this region are recorded not by tribal name but by ethnic identity. These Celticised groups eventually adopt Slavic speech before being incorporated into the German empire, and the majority of the north is slowly amalgamated into early Poland.

Thanks to that assimilation, Germans largely see the new Slav masters of the Venedi as being of the same group, and the Venedi name is transferred to them (although they do not use it to describe themselves). In the German tongue they are called Wends (Wenden or Winden), while farther south the early Carinthians and Styrians (later to form part of Austria) refer to them as Windische. This helps to show just how great a territory had been settled by the Venedi in the millennium or more of their settlement east of the Vistula.

A personification of the early Wends was presented by a gospel book of 990 which showed them as the Sclavinia (early Slavs, of which the westernmost groups were known as Wends), plus Germania, Gallia, and Roma, all of whom were bringing tribute to Holy Roman emperor Otto III

The vocabulary of the proto-Slavic language shows signs of adoption from multiple sources, with evidence of loan words from Indo-European languages of Eastern Europe. Naturally the Venedi have been suggested as one of those sources. The two groups have probably interacted long before the Slavs become dominant, in much the same way as Germans and Gauls had interacted across the Rhine in the second and first centuries BC.

The heyday of the Celts may be over by this stage, but Celts remain independent in Wales until the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, while those in Cornwall and Brittany enjoy a good deal of autonomy, as do those of Strathclyde.

The older communities of Ireland, formed of a mixture of Neolithic hunters, and proto-Celtic and Celtic settlers, retain their independence until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Apart from the Strathclyde Britons, all of these groups retain a strong Celtic identity in modern times, the only Celts across Europe to do so.