THE CELTS A History DaAirui O HOGAIN The Collins PressPublished in 2002 by The Collins Press West Link Park Doughcloyne Wilton Cork Reprinted 2006 Published in Britain by The Boydell Press The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell and Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DE, UK ISBN: 1-0 85115 920 © Daithi © hOgain Daithi O hOgain has asserted his moral right to be ident as author of this work The material in this publication is protected by copyright law. Except as may be permitted by law, no part of the material may be reproduced (including by storage in a retrieval system) or transmitted in any form or by any means, adapted, rented or lent without the written permission of the copyright owners. Applications for permissions should be addressed to the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data O hOgain, Daithi ‘The Celts: A history 1. The Celts I Title 936.4 ISBN-10 1905172206 ISBN-13 978-1905172206 Typesetting and design: Stuart Coughlan at edit+ Font: Palatino 10 point Printed in Ireland by Betaprint Cover photographs: Front: Bronze head of the Celtic deity Cernunnos, first century AD. Musée des Antiquités Nationales, Saint-German-en-Laye, courtesy AKG/Eric Lessing; Back: Roman copy of a statue from Asia Minor showing a dying Galatian warrior, mid-third century BC, Now in Museo Capitolino, Rome, courtesy AKG /Eric Lessing. CONTENTS 10 List of plates List of maps PRERBCE. «oye ensues sacnerensied 8 4aising Safes 5 HORNS HaeS 4 ORIN € Ix ORIGIN AND CULTURE OF THE CELTS .........002 0005+ 1 THE) CBLTS IN TWALY: si sicas-vasish's ene» save 2 cc eons 31 THRUST TO THE EAST. 0.02.00... 000c00eeeeeeeeeeee eee 7 CELTIBERIA AND CISALPINE GAUL .......--002-0000008 72 WIDESPREAD TUMULT AND DISASTER .........--- 102 CLASHES WITH ROMANS, GERMANS, DACIANS. ..... 126 THE DESTRUCTION OF GAUL ......... 00000 00eeeeee ees 142 TWILIGHT OF THE CELTS «2.00... 000 0000000 eeeeeeeees 170 SURVIVAL IN THE WEST DAWNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES ........0.- 0000000065 22 Sources aind Stiidiee 5s bois i « vaaz sansns evanes seen scones 239 Bibliography . DORE isis « cine 4 009s ¢ Cte) HeRES Co FHeRTd BERND Leese 271And the tall men and the swordsmen and the horsemen, where are they? - WB. Yeats do Chaitriona, dom chlann, agus dom chairde LIST OF PLATES 1 Plan of burial of Celtic chieftain within a tumulus. 2. The fortress at Heuneburg in southern Germany. 3. Stone heads from a Celto-Ligurian shrine. 4 Ceremonial helmet surmounted by a raven. 5 Bronze relief of mounted Celtic warriors. 6 Stone inscription from Greece, describing the Celtic attack on Delphi. 7 Circle of severed heads in relief on Celtic silver horse-harness. 8 Stone fort, Dan Aenghusa, County Galway. 9 ARoman coin showing Bituitis, the great Arvernian king. 10 Face of Vercingetorix on copy of a contemporaneous coin. 11 Aerial view of Tara. 12. Face of Carausius, pretender to the office of Roman emperor. 13 Face of Magnus Maximus, pretender to the office of Roman emperor. 14 Eamhain Mhacha, County Armagh. 15. The Turoe Stone, County Galway. 16 Stone relief of a Pictish horseman with drinking horn. 17 Folio from a manuscript of the Welsh text of the Laws of Hywel Dda. 18 Folio from a manuscript describing the deeds of Brian Boraimhe. The publishers would like to thank the following who have kindly given permission to reproduce the illustrations listed above Cover, back, 3, 6, 7, courtesy of AKG, London, photos; Erich Lessing; 1 courtesy of The Society of Antiquaries of London; 2 courtesy of Landesdenkmalampt, Baden-Wiirttemberg, Stuttgart; 4 courtesy of Muzeul National de Istorie a Romanieie, Bucharest; 5 courtesy of Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen; 9 courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; 8, 11, 14, 15 courtesy of BSK, Dublin, photos; Brian Kelly; 12, 13 courtesy of the British Museum, London, photos; Peter A. Clayton; 16 courtesy of the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh; 17 courtesy of the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth; 18 courtesy of Trinity College Library, Dublin.LIST OF MAPS auew The expansion of the Celtic peoples from the sixth century to the third century BC sai s