The Celtic Tribes : Origins, Ancestry & The Warrior Class

The people we know as the Celts were an Iron Age culture that originated in central Europe,�probably around modern-day Hungary, Southern Germany and the Czech Republic, some�three thousand years ago. They were groups of distinct tribal peoples who shared a common�language and culture that thrived until they were confronted by an aggressive and�expansionist Roman Empire set on conquest. This book traces their many migrations westward over the following centuries, and their�advances into the Atlantic coastal regions, especially into countries like France, Spain,�Portugal, Belgium, Britain and Ireland, largely replacing the Neolithic people that formerly�occupied these territories. These migrations were rarely peaceful and as a result the Celts�were widely regarded as warlike and inherently aggressive. The book describes the many inter-tribal and territorial confrontations that occurred during�the Roman period. It explains the fighting methods, tactics and style of Celtic warfare as well�as the warrior leaders like Boudicca, Brennus, Ambiorix and Vercingetorix, and others who�emerged to resist Roman incursions. Despite fierce resistance, in the end, little of that great�culture survived intact. Many of these tribes were savagely and purposely exterminated as a�matter of policy, others were Romanised to become reluctant citizens of the Roman Republic,�and only those whose territories lay in the northern and western extremities of the Empire -�in the British islands, Ireland and Brittany in North-West France, avoided total subjugation. Several hundred of these ancient Celtic and other related tribes are included here.�Although each had its own distinct identity, they shared a common culture with a widespread�and unifying system of religious belief largely held together by Druids.�The tribes described in the book include Gauls, Germans, Galatians, Lusitanians, Britons,�Picts, Cambrians and Caledonians, among many others.