THE CELTS
IN THE BALCANS,
IN GREECE
AND
IN ASIA MINOR
CENTRAL EUROPE AND EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
IN THE 4th AND 3rd CENTURIES BC
369 and 368 aC – Dionysius
of Syracuse lends his
mercenaries (including
Iberians and Celts) to
the Spartans for war
against Thebes in the
Peloponnese
Xenophon, Hell. VII, 1.20-23,
a 1.28-31
335 aC
„[when Alexander reached
Istros] There ambassadors
came to him from Syrmus,
king of the Triballians, and
from the other independent
nations dwelling near the
Ister. Some even arrived
from the Celts who dwelt
near the Ionian gulf. These
people are of great stature,
and of a haughty disposition.
All the envoys said that they
had come to seek
Alexander's friendship. To all
of them he gave pledges of
amity, and received pledges
from them in return.“
Arr. Anab. I, 4.6
324 aC – Celtic envoys meet Alexander in Babylon
Arian, Anab. VII, 15
113 (2) Apart from the tribes and cities as well as the local rulers of Asia, many of their counterparts in Europe and Libya put in an
appearance; from Libya, Carthaginians and Libyphoenicians and all those who inhabit the coast as far as the Pillars of Heracles; from Europe,
the Greek cities and the Macedonians also sent embassies, as well as the Illyrians and most of those who dwell about the Adriatic Sea, the
Thracian peoples and even those of their neighbours the Gauls, whose people became known then first in the Greek world.
Diod. Sic. XVII, 113.2
298 aC – Cassander beats
the Celts in Thrace
281 aC – Lysimachos hires
Celtic mercenaries
fooling them of their
wages
280 aC
-three incursions of Celts in Thrace, Paionia and
Macedonia, and Illyria
→ Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos killed
by Celts in Thrace
Paus. X, 19
279 aC
-new massive campaign lead by Brennos to
Macedonia and Thessaly
-the Celts encounter Greeks at Thermopylae where
they block the passage
→ a genocidal diversion to the Aitolian city of Kallion
in order to make the Aitolians (the largest part of
the Greek army facing the main Celtic forces) leave
the ranks to defend their homeland
→ Brennos bypasses the Greeks and goes on to
Delphi….
Paus. X, 20–23
Diod. Sic. XXII, 9
A. Cornet: La prise du temple de Delphes
…. but is stopped by earthquake, storm,
snowstorm, ghosts, Greeks, collective
hallucinations…………..
Paus. X, 20–23
Diod. Sic. XXII, 9
279 aC – Celts among the bodyguards of Apollodoros, tyrant of Kassandreia (Diod. XXII, fr. 8)
277 and 274 aC – Antigonos Gonatas hiring thousands of Celts to fight Antipater and Pyrrhus
(Polyainos IV, 16.17, Just. XXV, 3.7)
-
274 aC – Pyrrhus with his Celtic allies (!) beats Antigon and dedicates to the sanctuary of
Athena Itonia the shields of Celts in Antigon‘s army (Plut. Pyrrhos XXVI, 3–10)
- Pyrrhus‘ Celts pillage the Macedonian royal tombs in Aigai (Plut. Pyrrhos XXII, 11–13;
Diod. XXII, fr. 24)
272 aC – the Celts in ranks of Pyrrhus at Sparta and Argos (Plut. Pyrrhos XXXII, 1)
266 aC – a Celtic contingent (complete families) revolt against Antigon in Megara to be
eradicated (Chremonidean war, 268–261 aC)
224 aC – Celtic and Illyrian mercenaries in Akrokorinth (Plut. Aratos XXXVIII, 6)
222 aC – 1000 Celtic allies in the ranks of Antigon Dósón in battle of Selasia (Polyb. II, 65.2)
218 aC – Celtic cavalry in the ranks of Philip V (Polyb. V, 3.1–2, 17.4)
197 aC – Celtic ‚auxiliaries‘ in the army of Rhodes (Liv. XXXIII, 18.3)
171, 169 aC – 2000 Celts in the army of Perseus (Liv. XLII, 51.7, XLIV, 12.6)
168 aC – Celts fighting in the Persus army at Pydna
(unlike the Bastarni who were not paied the requested price)
-throughout the III–II
centuries Celts (re)appear
regularly in Greek written
sources – as mercenaries or
allies of various belligerents
-the mentions are so
frequent and so casual that
it seems that Celts must
have been commonly
present in the Hellenistic
world
Whatever you would like to know
about Celtic mercenaries, read
books by Luc Baray
https://artehis-
cnrs.academia.edu/LucBaray
„The third region [of Macedon] has
the famous cities of Edessa, Beroea,
and Pella, and the warlike race of the
Vettii, as well as a large population
of Gauls and Illyrians, who are
industrious farmers.“
Liv. XLV, 30
-for the II century BC, Livy
even talks about stable
Celtic population in
Macedonia, describing
them in terms very
different from the
stereotypical picture of
Celtic warriors/mercenaries
Dódona
Délos
Isthmia
La Tène archaeology in Greece
= four objects (in fact, three – the anklets from
Isthmia are a matching pair found together)
-all finds from sanctuaries => votives?
-Dódona sword – IV–III century type
-19th century find, no clear find context
-Délos brooch – 2nd half of the III century, type common
in the Carpathian basin
-probably a settlement context but unclear
-Isthmia anklets – LT B2, middle Danube area (Bavaria,
Bohemia, Moravia…)
-found in a well in the sanctuary together with
IV/III century pottery (some clain it to be later
but it is not => the find context is possibly
earlier than the invasion of 279 BC)
=> The Celtic presence in Greece is manifested by three
objects and none of them help us understand
anything….
… and then there is another sword in Nemea (also a sanctuary)
https://www.academia.edu/43683420/Keltik%C3%A9_makhaira_On_a_La_T%C3%A8ne_Type_Swor
d_from_the_Sanctuary_of_Nemea
Ochrid
Pausanias, nevertheless, nursed his wrath implacably, and yearned to avenge himself, not only on [king Philip…] [3] He
posted horses at the gates of the city and came to the entrance of the theatre carrying a Celtic dagger under his cloak.
When Philip directed his attending friends to precede him into the theatre, while the guards kept their distance, he saw
that the king was left alone, rushed at him, pierced him through his ribs, and stretched him out dead
Diodorus Siculus XVI.94
The Celts and La Tène archaeology in Thrace
the kingdom of Tylis
-279–212 aC
-dunno where...
-politics based on blackmailing and extorsion
of Byzatium and other Greek and Thracian
neighbours
Tylis?
?
?
Pistiros
-a Greek trading town (emporion) near
Vetren (according to the traditional
interpretation of M. Domaradzki and J.
Bouzek)
-destroyed by the Celts during the great
invasion of 279 BC (according to the
traditional interpretation of M.
Domaradzki and J. Bouzek)
-in reality this theory is based on:
-a coin hoard dated to cca
280s (OK)
-one fragment of a chain belt
(LT female artefact dated to LT B2 –
±OK…)
-one Duchcov type brooch
(dated ca 350-300 BC – not OK)
-one ‚Celtic spear-head dated
to „279/278 BC“ (1. spear-heads do not
date anything; 2. it is not a LT typ – very
much not OK)
Mezek
Sboryanovo
Troitsa Bobala
La Tène chariots in Thrace
-three purely LT two-wheel
charitos dated to LT B2–C1 with
exact paralels e.g. in Paris region
-found in tombs of local elite with
purely Thracian burial rite and no
other elements of LT culture
La Tène B–C finds in Bulgaria
https://www.academia.edu/16158005/A_Companion_to_Ancient_Thrace_Celts
https://www.academia.edu/22982540/_The_Celtic_presence_in_Thrace_during_the_3rd_centur
y_BC_in_the_light_of_new_archaeological_data_In_M._Gu%C5%A1tin_M._Jevti%C4%87_Eds_Th
e_Eastern_Celts._The_Communities_between_the_Alps_and_the_Black_See_Koper-
Beograd_Univerza_na_Primorskem_Zalozba_Annales_2011_227-239
Seuthopolis
Sboryanovo
Veliko
Tărnovo
Numerous LT objects but no
meaningful contexts – either they
are museum finds without
provenance information or finds
from Thracian settlements and
burials.
278 aC – invited by Nikomedes of Bithyna
as mercenaries, the Celts cross the
Hélespont
=> keep terrorizing western Asia Minor
for several decades
241 aC – beaten by Attalus I of Pergamon
in the battle of Kaikos
→ Attalus ‚Sóter‘ (‚Saviour‘)
=> settled in Central Anatolia (Galatia)
189-187 aC – defeated by Manlius Vulso =
entering the Roman interest sphere
 When defeated by Eumenes II of
Pergamum in 166 aC, Romans
annulate the pregamene gains in
favour of the Galatians
=> alliance with Rome and authonomy
down to the times of Claudius
Celts in Asia Minor
Pergamon
Galatia
-the social organisation of the peoples is described in detail by Strabo XII, 5
The Galatians, then, are to the south of the Paphlagonians. And of these there are three tribes; two of them, the Trocmi and the
Tolistobogii, are named after their leaders, whereas the third, the Tectosages, is named after the tribe in Celtica.1 This country was occupied
by the Galatae after they had wandered about for a long time, and after they had overrun the country that was subject to the Attalic and
the Bithynian kings, until by voluntary cession they received the present Galatia, or Gallo-Graecia, as it is called. Leonnorius is generally
reputed to have been the chief leader of their expedition across to Asia. The three tribes spoke the same language and differed from each
other in no respect; and each was divided into four portions which were called tetrarchies, each tetrarchy having its own tetrarch, and also
one judge and one military commander, both subject to the tetrarch, and two subordinate commanders. The Council of the twelve tetrarchs
consisted of three hundred men, who assembled at Drynemetum, as it was called. Now the Council passed judgment upon murder cases,
but the tetrarchs and the judges upon all others. Such, then, was the organization of Galatia long ago, but in my time the power has passed
to three rulers, then to two; and then to one, Deïotarus, and then to Amyntas, who succeeded him.
=> Some scholars believe this social strucutre to be a general feature of all Celtic communities… I am somwhat sceptical
about it
LA TÈNE ARCHAEOLOGY IN ASIA MINOR
-a single bracelet (without context) from
Finike (which is not Galatia)
Finike
Galatia
Middle LT type brooches
in Asia Minor
-numerous and problematic
-by far not limited to Galatia
-all of a specific type characteristic of Greece, Asia minor and
Crimea (high chord and/or wound foot clamp)
-dated to II–I century BC
=> As in Italy, LT brooches were probably the brooches of the
period with no cultural or ethnic connotations
Dion, Macedonia
275/274 aC – Ptolemy II hires 4000 Celts (Delphi survivors? )
=> mutiny => starved to death (Paus. I, 7.2)
246–222 aC? –Celtic kleruhoi (= citizens with hereditary right for
agricultural land) were buried in Alexandria during Ptolemy
III? period
241–230 aC – the Celts (Galatians from Asia Minor) allied with
Antiochos Hierax against Seleukos II and Attalos of
Pergamum
218 aC – 4th Syrian war: Celtic mercenaries and Celtic settlers
(katoikoi / epigonoi) from the Fayum region in the army of
Ptolemy IV
199/198 aC – four Celts in service of Ptolemy V carved their
(Greek!) names on a Sethi I temple wall in Abydos
165 aC – 5000 Galatians show up in the Antiochus IV parade in
Daphne
 Like in Greece, Celts were a common sight in Ptolemaic and
Seleucid realms, at least some were fully integrated in local
legal and social strucutres
 It is unclear whether they maintained their language and
culture (spiritual or material) or whether they were fully
hellenised in a a few generations
Celts and (inexistent) LT archaeology in Asia and Africa
„Fileista, his wife
erected this stele for
Sisonónos,
son of Anaximas, a Galatian“
„Aidearatos,
son of Aido[sotis?]
Galatian“
A marble head from Gizeh
interpreted as a Celt
Sidon stelae and Alexandria
loculi slabs
Ptolemaic terracottas
depicting figures with
celtic attributes
-Material evidence of the Celts in orient is
limited to iconography and some epigraphy
-self-declared Celts with Celtic attributes (=high shield)
but also….
Aristodemos,
son of Kallistos
Dioskúrides,
son Exabos,
Pisidian from
Balboura
… Celts (because delaring themselves
Galatians or due to their Celtic names)
without any clear attributes…
… and Celtic attributes in the hands of declared non-Celts
 One problem about studying Celts in the east is that the relatively rich written sources find almost no
archaeological reflexion
 Local archaeologists in Greece, Turkey, Egypt don‘t care the tiniest bit about the Celts (already studying
hellenism is often quite an esoteric niche interest here) so there might be much evidence which is excavated
but unpublished and unrecognized for what it actually is
 Still there obviously was considerable interaction between the European and Mediterranean communities in the
hellenistic world, some of it having serious repercussions in Central Europe
 In order to study them we may (must) turn to the intermediary area – the Carpathian Basin
B. Kavur I. Drnić
traditional historical Celtic archaeology in the Carpathian Basin
-the Celts arrived in LT B1/B2 in order to plunder Greece
- all evidence pre-279 = preparation for the invasion
- Greek objects found in Carpathian Basin = spoils of the Delphi
campaign
M. Szabó
A. Rusotiu
(„I am interested
in social models,
not in history“)
non-necessarily historical Celtic archaeology in the
Carpathian Basin
-the Celts arrived in LT B1/B2
-there was the Delphi campaign and the Greek
objects were probably brought during that
period because why not, we don‘t really care
J. Bujna
(„I am just happy
classify bronze
artefacts…“)
New (historical) Celtic archaeology in the
Carpathian Basin
-it was all a little more complicated
D. Repka
…somewhere in
between
Beograd-Karaburma (RS)
Hurbanovo (SK)
Szob (HU)
Szabolcz (HU)
Greek objects in Carpathian basin – bronze vessels
-usually presented as booty from Delphi… (and therefore, the
graves in which they were found are used as anchors of
absolute chronology with 279 BC as terminus post quem)
-but in Greece they all date to late IV/very early III century
BC….
Amphora-shaped glass beads
-an identical story:
often presented as Celtic
bringback goods but they are
widespread already far earlier
-out of the four
articles below, I believe the first
two (you don‘t really have to
read them all…)
https://www.academia.edu/35913973/M._Ble%C4%8Di%C4%87_Kavur_B._Kavur_2017_-_Many_shades_of_translucent_amphoriskos-
shaped_glass_beads_from_Vi%C4%8Dja_luka
https://www.academia.edu/30477006/N%C4%9Bm%C4%8Dice_and_Pistiros_glass_beads_as_historical_markers_in_the_third_century_BC._Studia_Hercynia_XIX_
2015_143-148
https://www.academia.edu/18945260/Aurel_Rustoiu_Amphora-
shaped_glass_and_coral_beads._Distant_cultural_connections_in_the_Carpathian_Basin_at_the_beginning_of_the_Late_Iron_Age._Arch._Korr._45_3_2015_36
5-377
https://www.academia.edu/2181109/Zur%C3%BCck_aus_Griechenland_Spuren_keltischer_S%C3%B6ldner_in_Mitteleuropa
Slatina nad Bebravou, SK
-a helmet or cuirass of Greek
production sacrificed in a rural
sanctuary in III/II BC
-the author, R. Thomas argues that it
was made in Tarent in late IV/early III
BC but must have been robbed by the
Celts in Delphi in 279…
 Either the Celts robbed an antiques shop in Greece in 279 BC or there is something else going on
-remember also that the Isthmia anklets were found in a context apparently dating to turn of IV/III century i.e. it predate
the invasion by several decades
Isthmia
 1) our chronology might be completely skewed
 2) there seems to have been intese contact
between the Greek world and the Balkans prior to
the invasion
 3) there are numerous Greek imports of the same
period outside of the LT zone in the areas of non
Celtic peoples, non LT cultures of the Adriatic
https://www.academia.edu/13332089/BLE%C4%8CI%C4%86_KAVUR_Martina_KAVUR_Boris_Grave_22_of_the_Belgrade_necropolis_in_Karaburma_Retrospective_and_perspective
https://www.academia.edu/38121820/B._Kavur_M._Ble%C4%8Di%C4%87_Kavur_2018_-_Celts_on_Their_Way_to_the_South_Once_Again_Discussing_Some_Finds_from_the_Balkans
Vače
Rijeka
Nesactium
Vrankamen
Ošanići
Budva
Karin
Novi Vindolski
situla attachment
bell shaped situla
stamnoid situla
kalathos
other
Etruscan
Macedonian
dunno
?
in Mannesdorf in Austria, there
is an Etruscan V BC situla in a
grave which is three or four
generations later
-Macedonian objects are widespread in the Adriatic and the Balkans already from the V century BC
-in the V BC they were apparently diplomatic gifts towards the barbarian neighbours
-in the case of those of the IV BC, the function could have been the same – remember that Alexander secured
the Balkans before heading to the East… meeting with Celts
-Etruscan and Macedonian objects are both present in the Adriatic – including Etrucan vessles on the East coast
and Macedonian in Italy
=> there was some secondary circulation of these objects in the barbarian territories
In Waldalgesheim on the
Rhine, a Macedonian situla
was buried not more than a
generation after it was made
https://www.academia.edu/33429082/Stebno-
Nouze_pozoruhodn%C3%BD_lat%C3%A9nsk%C3%BD_depot_z_Podbo%C5%9
9anska_Stebno-
Nouze_a_remarkable_La_T%C3%A8ne_hoard_from_Western_Bohemia_
…therefore if there is one bronze vessel in Bohemia…
Esposito 2010
…of a well known type….
…produced and
widepsread in Etruria…
Monte Bibele, t. 132
…but also present in
Celtic (?) tombs of
Emilia-Romagna…
Bologna
t. Benacci 953
…but also present in
Celtic (?) tombs of
Emilia-Romagna…
…it does not necessarily mean that the Boii
brought it from Italy to Bohemia because
people and things moved a lot in this period
before they (people and things) ended up
under ground
???
situla attachment
bell shaped situla
stamnoid situla
kalathos
other
Etruscan
Macedonian
dunno
Greek influence on the Celts in the Carpathian basin (real and imagined)
the Danubian kantharoi
Kruta, V. – Szabo, M. 1982: Canthares danubiens du IIIe siècle avant notre ère : Un exemple
d'influence hellénistique sur les Celtes orientaux. Etudes celtiques XIX, 51–67.
The adoption of drinking vessels with two vertical handles in the LT areas of carpathian basin
is traditionally considered the adoption of a Greek kantharos => a sign of hellenisation of the
Celts inspired by vessels brought from Greece or seen in Greece like those from Szob an
Szabolcz…
(but there is a ‚but‘)
aeneolithic
bronze age
early Iron Age
late Iron Age
Roman period
the Danubian kantharoi
…but kantharoi were
common in the Balkans from
the Aeneolithic, through the
Bronze and Iron Ages
In fact it was from the Balkans
that kantharos was adopted
in Greece
=> LT kantharoi do
demonstrate close interaction
of the LT populations with
others but these others are
local non-Greek populations
of Carpathian basin
Munich – Obermenzing
-in a III BC warrior grave there are two
surgical instruments – a bone-saw and a retractor
-they are usually presented as proofs of
adoption of Greek medical practice though there is
no direct parallel to them in Greece…
‚false filigree‘
The Greek goldworking method of filigree (gold wire is
soldered on top of gold surface) is apparently imitated in LT
bronze obejcts in Carpathian basin (and Moravia) in LT B2–C1
It is possible and interesting… but not something I would
consider a groundbreaking Innovation like the following
Through the III BC, new type of two
chambered pottery kiln (of Greek
origin) is introduced to central
Europe from the Carpathian basin
All is explained here
In the middle of the III BC, glass begins to be worked in the
LT world with Carpathian basin as the principal centre.
(more on it the next time)
In the same period, coinage was first adpoted in the LT culture areas
-the earliest examples occur in the Carpathian Basin (Serbia), in Moravia, and at the same time also in the SW Gaul
-based on Macedonian coinage
-more about it in the next lecture ….
THE CELTS AND THE GALATOMACHIES
IN ITALIC AND HELENISTIC ART
galatomachy – [from Gr. Γαλαται Gauls and
μαχειν to fight] = depiction of a fight with Gauls
I. HOW TO RECOGNIZE A GALATIAN- IN A -MACHY
Very simply they are using LT
weaponry which is quite
realistically depicted – long
swords on sword-chains, high
shields… as a rule, Celts are
depicted naked but it doesn‘t
help a lot – so are the Greeks
Faliscan potery, central Italy, IV BC
Faliscan potery, central Italy,
IV BC
Delphi
-personification Aitolia seated on a
heap of Celtic shields
-thanksgiving for routing the Celts
pillaging Kallion in 279 BC
-the first victory monument related to
the the Celts known to us
https://www.academia.edu/4933199/Les_repr%C3%A9sentations
_d_armes_celtiques_sur_les_monuments_de_victoire_aux_%C3
%A9poques_hell%C3%A9nistique_et_romaine._De_la_statue_de
_l_%C3%89tolie_vainqueur_%C3%A0_l_arc_d_Orange_origine_et
_mutation_d_un_st%C3%A9r%C3%A9otype
Pergamon
gate of the Athena Nikeforos temenos
Eumenes II (197–159 aC)
Dedication to the goddess to commemorate a military victory
but it is unclear which
-war against the Celts in 189–183? or in 166?
-war against Macedonia in 172–171 aC?
-battle of Magnesia in 190 aC?
Celtic stuff some of which
may belong to the Celts?
Some (potentially) LT
weaponry is mixed with
a lot of non-LT weaponry
 Celtic army?
 Celts in Seleucid
serivce?
 Celtic weapons used
by Greeks?
Some (potentially) LT
weaponry is mixed with
a lot of non-LT weaponry
 Celtic army?
 Celts in Seleucid
serivce?
 Celtic weapons used
by Greeks?
Dioskurides stele (Sidon, Syria)
Camarina, Sicily – a gravestone in the shape of a Celtic (?) shield
But Celtic weaponry by itself does not necessarily identify its user as a Celt => the Celtic shield (thyreos) was adopted by
Greeks and thyreoforoi became a specific corps within hellenistic armies, for the Romans the Celtic shield became the
regular legionary weapon of late republic
‚altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus‘, Rome
=> A Celt? Possibly yes probably not….
2. HOW TO READ THE -MACHIES
-The most famous of the Galatomachies was dedicated by Attalos of
Pergamum to comemorate his 241 BC victory (there are two versions)
-of the Large Votive, two Roman Republican copies survive until today
The precise recontruction of
the original monument need
not worry us today
Attalid small votive group…
-originally exposed on the Acropolis in Athens
-preserved in much less impressive copies
-significantly, the Gauls are only one of the
defeated enemies along with Giants,
Amazons, and Persians = mythical or
historical arch-enemies of the Greeks
(Amazons and Persians) or of the Gods
=> The Attalids present themselves as protecters
of human and divine Oder and the Celts
become visual symbol of its thread
Galatomachies in the Etruscan art
-A relatively common motif on Late Etruscan urns
and sarcophagi
-Although the Etruscan were the first to encounter
the Celts with arms, their artistic representations
are probably not historical documents but are only
secondarily inspired by Microasiatic or Greek
iconographic models with Etruscan adaptations
-The Celts are often depicted as deafeated
while plundering a sanctuary (Delphi ?)
= variation on the Etruscans‘ beloved theme of
crime and punishment
The same theme (with the same meaning?) appears
in the pediment of the II BC temple in Civitalba
-unspecified Celtomachies
– extraordinarily brutal in comparison
with other Etruscan battle scenes
= order × barbarism (~ Pergamum)
=> totalkrieg
galatomachies are most common in Chiusi in III aC, but...
≠ historical reliefs
= not depictions of specific events / persons but at the most a symbolic and abstract reminder (order ×
barbarism) using a Greek motif,
-the area seems to be the most appropriate for depictions of the Celts... but Persians are present as well!!!