The Celts maintained their identity throughout much of the first millennium BC up until the coming of the Romans and (in some places) into the early Middles Ages.
The various Celtic tribes were bound together by a common language, culture and religion, rather than a central government. Celtic society was organized into different feudal systems headed by a king or queen. Generally, speaking the Celts knew three classes in their society: a warrior upper class (headed by a king), druids (priests, judges and educators) and the commoners (freemen and slaves).
The first people to adopt cultural characteristics regarded as Celtic were the people of the Iron Age Hallstatt culture in central Europe (800–450 BC), named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria. Thus, this area is sometimes called the 'Celtic homeland'.
The ancient Celts flourished in the late Iron Age. These were the contemporaries of classical Greece, the Alexandrine kingdoms and the Roman Empire, which gradually drove them to the British Isles, where they retained their pagan beliefs until about the 5th century A.D.
Celtic tribes that originated in Germany and the Netherlands invaded Britain, claiming the island for themselves. About 500 B.C. they conquered Spain from the Carthaginians. A century later they engaged in the conquest of Northern Italy from the Etruscans. They settled in large numbers in the territory afterwards known as Cisalpine Gaul.
In 387 B.C. the Celts easily conquered the simple people of Britain. Then the two peoples mingled into one.
On the European continent the Celtic people were called the Gauls, a name that was invented by the Romans. Julius Caesar, the famous Roman general and emperor, occupied large areas of Gaul territory, as did other Roman leaders. In 54 B.C. Julius Caesar became the first Roman to attempt to conquer Britain. Eventually conquered by the Romans, the British were ruled by the Roman Empire for 400 years.
In the British Isles, Britannia was the name Romans gave to Celtic area, based on the name of the people: the Britanni.
The Celts had a vast trade network all across Europe. They traded metalwork, salt, grains and horses with the Romans in return for wine, and luxury goods. Their inventions in metal tools and weapons as well as agricultural techniques made them flourish. They traded both inside and outside Britain by river and sea. For money they used “Iron bars” until they began to copy the Roman coins used in “Gaul”.
Ancient Celtic people
