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What the Romans Found: The Celts

© David White

The Romans must have felt quite a bit of historical deja vu when they crossed the Channel en masse and discovered that the British Isles were inhabited by the Celts, the ancient people that they thought were rid of. The battles between the Romans and the Celts go back to the days of the Punic Wars and beyond.

The Romans first encountered the wild, savage Celts as Rome was beginning its expansion north and west. Roman historians reported the Celtic warriors to be long-haired, naked-fighting savages whose bloodlust in battle was the stuff of legend. The Celts, it seemed, got stronger as a battle wore on. They wielded great shields and swords and struck quickly. Their nakedness undoubtedly took their opponents aback, and their exploits were large and impressive. The Romans, being Romans, figured out how to win, though.

The Romans discovered that the Celts had a soft spot (or a sweet tongue) for wine. More than one Celtic tribe turned the sweet taste of victory into sour defeat by imbibing too much wine and falling asleep, to be slaughtered by Roman patrols. More important tactically, though, was the discovery that a Celtic warrior who wore no clothes and, hence, no real armor was vulnerable in many more places than an enemy who wore heavy armor.

After the Romans got over the initial shock of seeing their enemies wild-eyed and naked and driven by bloodlust, the efficient Roman warriors got down to the business of piercing the suddenly vulnerable defenses of these once-seeming invincible Celts and carving out territory for the ever expanding Roman population base.

It was even feared that the Celts would ally with Hannibal in his march on Rome. Yet, the Celts remained aloof, for the most part, still smarting from the recent Roman defeats.

As the Romans moved north and west, they drove out the indigenous peoples before them. Gauls by the thousands were either killed, sold into slavery, or forced to move. Julius Caesar (who was responsible for about a million Gallic deaths himself), when he landed in Britain in 55 B.C., discovered that the Belgae, whom he thought he had driven out of Gaul a few years earlier, had taken up residence in Britain. The same was true of the Celts.

Like so many things in ancient British history, the Celts came from somewhere else. It is generally believed that the Celtic migration to Britain took place between 2000 and 1200 B.C. And when the Romans came, they protected their culture, taking it far from the Roman reach.

This fact is all the more remarkable when held up against the

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