In their time, the Celts dominated large parts of Europe. The Iberian Peninsula is, to this day, considered to be the Celtic heartland, and the Celts of today’s Great Britain actually originated from Spain. The Celts were unafraid of challenging the superpowers of their day: Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians. They understood psychological warfare and must be said to have mastered the art of surprise. Despite being excellent metal-smiths and makers of first-class weapons, helmets and breastplates, they would go to battle naked and often painted blue from head to toe.
Barbarians from the north
The Greek philosopher and mathematician Plato (428 – 348 BC) describes the Celts as one of six peoples he thought drank far too much. He is one of several who would strike what can well be said to be a fairly condescending tone towards a group of people who were also widely recognized not only for their outstanding knowledge of metals and ship technology, their courage and their war craft, but also their ability to coexist with groups of people who already lived in the areas where they settled.
Plato is not alone in being dismissive of the Celts. In the 100s BC, Greek historian Diodorus Siculus tells his readers that Celtic men like to wear their beards short, but that their mustaches are so long that they almost strain food and drink through them. Siculus does indeed describe the Celts as tall and muscular, but they are vain. Among other things, they are said to have bleached their hair and used lime water as a kind of styling product to keep the hairdo in place.
The Greek and Roman names for the Celts reflect their attitude towards this people of somewhat uncertain origin: They simply called them “barbarians from the north”. The Celts arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around the same time as the Phoenicians, a people who dominated the Mediterranean and the trade around during this era.
The earliest Celtic immigrants to the Iberian Peninsula crossed the Pyrenees about 1,000 years BC, and continued immigrating over a period of several hundred years. The first major wave of immigration took place around 900 BC while the second and larger wave came a couple of hundred years later. It was about the same time that the Phoenicians arrived by sea to what is today southern Spain.
Both Celts and Phoenicians brought with them advanced metal extraction technology and made good tools and weapons from iron. Metal mining was an important part of their culture and metals a highly sought-after commodity.
The great powers of the day, the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans (as well as the Phoenician offshoot, the Carthaginians) were of course interested in high-quality metals, and the selection the Celts could offer was excellent. Gold, tin, copper, lead and iron were the most common metals the Celts mined and refined.
The Celts were prosperous and conquered new land. They acquired knowledge and skills about seamanship and ships that were used not only for fishing and trade along the northern coast of Spain, but also for sailing in harsh conditions in the Bay of Biscay and further north.
Celts migrated from northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles. So although many people today associate Celtic culture with Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Celts of today’s Great Britain actually originate to a large extent from what is now Spain.
What did the Celts leave behind?
In Spain, the Celts have not left behind many magnificent buildings, and the Celtic language has disappeared from everyday speech. Nevertheless, we find traces of Celtic culture, especially inland where they would settle (avoiding the lands occupied by the contemporary superpowers) and mix with the Iberians who already lived in the same areas. Celt-Iberians is the term often used for these mixed Celtic/Iberian populations.
Both in Portugal and northern and central Spain (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Extremadura) we find a number of place names of supposed Celtic origin: They usually end in “-briga”. You can see some examples on the map below.
Since the Celtic era, the Iberian peninsula has been invaded and occupied by a number of peoples and Mediterranean powers. As a consequence, not a lot of what they left behind remains today. Some of their signature round stone houses built to fortify the settlement and usually located on hilltops, can still be found. Some of these fortified towns, often referred to as the Castro culture, can be found in the cities of A Coruña, Pontevedra, Lugo and Castro de Coaña in western Asturias.
Archaeologists have also found a number of Celtic ceramic objects, in addition to some inscriptions in a now extinct Celtic language and also a number of metal objects: Weapons of various kinds, riding spurs and other beautifully decorated equipment for horses. The Celtiberians also developed a double-edged sword of which many have been found and which the Romans eventually acquired and adopted for their own legions.
Incidentally, the Romans were to become the Celts’ fiercest competitor and enemy. Contemporary Roman sources confirm that the Celts had also invaded Italy, Greece and western Anatolia. Sooner or later a confrontation with the Roman Empire was inevitable. The Romans were ambitions and had a well-trained and disciplined fighting force.
But the Celts would prove to be a tough and unorthodox enemy. The Romans launched an invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC, and a contemporary source shows that the Romans’ view of the Celts was still somewhat disdainful: “The Celts are a warlike people, freedom-loving and brave in battle, but perhaps they lack a little discipline”.
In a long series of battles against Roman forces operating in fixed formations, the Celts often used guerrilla tactics. They would launch quick attacks and then retreat just as quickly. And they used every advantage the terrain could give them. They had small, round shields that were easy to handle on horseback and used short, double-edged swords, bows and arrows, double-edged axes and spears in battle. And they astonished the well-disciplined Roman troops by posing in Adam’s garb in several battles.
We know, for example, that when the prosperous Romans tried to invade the British Isles under the leadership of Julius Caesar in 54 BC, the attack was repulsed by naked, blue-painted Celtic troops lined up along the British coastline. It would be a full 97 years before the Romans again attempted to invade the British Isles. This time they came better prepared, but they were never able to occupy the Celtic core areas of Britain. Hadrian’s Wall, located in the north of Great Britain, was started in 120 AD to protect the Romans from the dreaded Celts. Behind that wall we find what is today known as Scotland, descendants of the Celts.
Celtic language has survived both in the British Isles and in France. In Spain, Celtic has all but disappeared, but perhaps the culture is more characterized by the belligerent Celts than many like to believe? In any case, it is in these sane areas – where the Muslim Moors never quite succeeded in gaining supremacy – that the foundations for the “reconquista”, the Christian reconquest of Spain, were laid.
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Greetings! Very helpful advice on this article! It is the little changes that make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!