Ancient Celts

Prayers from the Ancient Celtic Church is a collection of prayers from the time of Patrick (d. ca. 460-493) to the Synod of Whitby (664), and also from the Celtic Christian tradition that remained after Whitby. A few of the prayers in this book may be familiar from their appearance in other prayer books. Some may be appearing in English for the first time. All prayers (with one exception) are rendered or revised into contemporary English with the hopes that they will be useful in private and corporate worship.

Includes prayers from The Antiphonary of Bangor, The Lorrha-Stowe Missal, The Book of Cerne, The Book of Dimma, St. Patrick, St. Columba and many other sources… some available in English for the first time.

The Celtic cemetery of Szob is a key site dating to the Iron Age La Tène period in the Carpathian Basin. The site was investigated shortly before World War II and the results published in a preliminary report in 1944. Szob gained importance from the Hellenistic bronze kantharos found at the site among various other La Tène artefacts. A number of object types, however, shed light on other aspects of the necropolis. An iron rodshaped pin can undoubtedly be linked to the Mokorog group, and the spearbutt with a long spike, which also occurs in the northern zone of the
Carpathian Basin, distributed mainly along the Sava and Drava Rivers in the southwestern regions. Analogies of a bronze fibula decorated with pseudo-granulation and pseudo-filigree technique are mostly known
from Hungary, but can also be found in the territories of Slovenia and Slavonia. The La Tène burials of Szob fit nicely into the sequence of cemeteries dating to the same period unearthed in northern Hungary, however some characteristic features link them with burial grounds uncovered in the southwestern regions of the Carpathian Basin.

Die Kelten – sie sind edle Barbaren und mutige Krieger, zugleich aber auch Trunkenbolde, Frauenschänder und Menschenfresser. So wird es zumindest in antiken Geschichtsbüchern und Erdbeschreibungen dargestellt und auf einer Reihe hellenistischer Bildwerke gezeigt. Weshalb?
Weil die Kelten lediglich Mittel zum Zweck sind! So lautet die Kernthese dieses Buches. Deshalb werden die Kelten das eine Mal als unverdorbene und unerbittliche Kämpfernaturen aus dem rauen Norden lobpriesen, um die zivilisationskranken Griechen und Römer an die Härte ihrer eigenen heroischen Vorfahren zu erinnern. Doch gerade diese archaische Urtümlichkeit wird ein anderes Mal wieder ins Negative gewendet, um das Schreckensszenario vom Kelten als Zivilisationsfeind heraufzubeschwören, der die geordnete Welt im Chaos versinken lässt. Daraus ergab resultierte sich für Herrscher die perfekte Plattform, um sich als Retter und Bewahrer der Zivilisation aufzuspielen. Städtische Eliten hingegen, die sich durch einen hochkultivierten und moderaten Lebensstil auszeichneten, benutzten die Kelten auf eine nochmals andere Weise. Für sie verkörpern die Kelten all das, was sie aus ihrer Sicht aufgrund ihrer Moderatio und Kultiviertheit von den unkultivierten Völkern am Rand der hellenistischen Welt unterschied. Davon wiederum gänzlich verschiedenen ist die Inszenierungsweise der Kelten selbst, die als gefürchtete Söldner im Dienste griechischer wie römischer Machthaber kämpften und in Kleinasien oder Ägypten eine neue Existenz begründet hatten. Im Habitus und in der Ikonographie makedonisch-hellenischer Offiziere liessen sie sich auf ihren Grabstelen abbilden. Daher sind auch sie funktionalisierte Keltenbilder, die nur wenig Konkretes über die historischen Kelten überliefern.

Dementsprechend geht es in diesem Buch auch weniger um die historischen Kelten. Vielmehr wird danach geforscht, wann, wie und wo vermeintliches Wissen über die Kelten in der hellenistischen Welt funktionalisiert worden ist, um dadurch positiv wie negativ belegte Bilder von Normen und Werten zu schaffen.

In 1314, the Battle of Bannockburn gave Scotland its independence. On 6 April 1320, the Scottish ruler, Robert Bruce, and fifty signatories sent a declaration of independence to Pope John XXII. This is the Declaration of Arbroath, written in Latin. And it contains a surprising passage:

‘(…) and ex antiquorum gestis and libris Colligimus quod inter Ceteras naciones egregias nostra scilicet Scottorum NATO multis preconijs fuerit insignita, that from Maiori Schithia per Pool tirenum and Columpnas Herculis (…)’.

In plain English, the signatories speak of ancient achievements and writings that demonstrate that the nation of Scots originated in Scythia Major and came via the Tyrrhenian Sea (part of the Mediterranean) and the Columns of Hercules (Gibraltar).

Throughout history, the Druids have always been seen as sorcerers who had a strong bond with nature. Ancestral knowledge holders within Celtic society, directed all religious activity as the highest authority linked to the gods, practiced human sacrifices and festivals organized as Imbolc, Beltaine, Lugnasad or Samain, etc.. all aspects of which are discussed in this article.

The subject of this study is a stater found in Masłów (Lower Silesia) in 1704: the oldest documented find of a Celtic coin from the area of the present-day Poland. The coin, which has been regarded as missing until recently, was successfully identified with a high degree of likelihood in the collection of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. The present study has carried out an analysis of the unit and the records concerning it, particularly emphasising the issues related to iconography, examined against a broad comparative background. The summary includes conclusions concerning the place of striking and dating of this unique coin.

Abstract: This article explores the battle scene on a small bronze plaque recovered during the excavation of the Great Altar of Pergamon, initially published in 1913 and subsequently lost. It argues that the most likely identification of the scene is the Battle of Magnesia, fought in 190 BC. The scene features Attalid cavalry riding to the rescue of distressed Roman legionaries, both fighting in opposition to Antiochus the Great’s heavy phalanx and Gallic cavalry. The heroics of the Attalid cavalry are central to the scene, and likely reflect a courtly narrative that gave Eumenes II and his small contingent outsized credit for the joint victory.

This article attempts to provide a realistic, securely contextualised estimate regarding the formation and extent of Posidonius of Apamea's (c. 135-51 BCE) contribution to the Greco-Roman tradition of ethnographic writing about the population groups of Europe - and his much-discussed 'Gallic ethnography' in particular.

The significance of being able to assess correctly the contents and the context of Posidonius' so-called 'ethnography' is obvious, especially when keeping in mind the optimistic and trusting tone that some past reconstructions of his fragments have exhibited. With all the accruing understanding of the tradition of ancient ethnographic writing, a critical eye must be cast at a contribution so often postulated as unsurpassed in its influence.

In this article, I submit the texts usually taken as Posidonian fragments to a reading informed by recent advances in the study of knowledge ordering (e.g. in eds. König & Whitmarsh 2007), information generation 'on the middle ground' (Woolf 2011), and the interplay of Greek writers and Roman audiences (Clarke 1999). There existed a wide range of interlocking 'middle grounds' which the ethnographical writers of the Late Republic navigated, even when they pursued goals to which ethnography was wholly subservient – as ancient ethnography nearly always was. Rather than being a record of his personal observations and meetings with Gauls, to a much greater extent the northern ethnography of Posidonius was constructed through literary processes based on his reading and his conversations with Romans and Greeks.

For know the controversial history of the Druids in the Celtic world, will investigate the sources of its origin, through stories of classic texts and medieval legends of Gaul, Britain and Ireland. His role in Celtic society surpassed the religious sphere, covering war, politics, medicine and the law. Almost unknown is the participation of women in this institution.

Im Oppidum von Manching wurden bislang mehr als 1.000 Glasartefakte gefunden, die einst zur Tracht keltischer Frauen gehörten. Für die Glasarmringe konnte Rupert Gebhard eine detaillierte Typologie erstellen. Die Perlen und größeren Ringperlen sind zeitlich dagegen nicht so klar voneinander zu trennen. +++ Die Produktion des bunten Glasschmucks erforderte weitreichende technische Kenntnisse und Fähigkeiten, die von Generation zu Generation weitergegeben wurden. Die Forschung rätselte gerade bei den nahtlosen Armringen lange Zeit, ob sie durch Schleudern oder Drehen hergestellt wurden. Neue archäologische Experimente in Niederösterreich lassen inzwischen vermuten, dass man für die Produktion zylinderförmige Drehkerne aus Ton verwendete und vor der Aufbringung der Glasmasse eine organisch-keramische Trennschicht auftrug.

The subject of the present analysis are bronze rings (bracelets/armlets?) decorated with a cord ornament, known in archaeological literature as type Șimleul Silvaniei and Rustoiu 3. The paper starts out with an overview of past research on the impact from the Dacian territory on Iron Age inhabitants of Poland since type Șimleul Silvaniei bracelets are an element of this phenomenon. It follows with an analysis of the context of discovery of these ornaments in the area to the north of the Carpathians and the Sudety. Next, insights obtained from this analysis are used as a point of departure to examine the chronology, origin and distribution of type Șimleul Silvaniei in reference to the conclusions of Romanian researchers Aurel Rustoiu and Cristinel C. Plantos.

This paper analyses how the ‘Celtic’ cavalry practice known as trimarkisia gives us insight into the evolution from chariotry to cavalry in Iron Age temperate Europe. A close look at the etymology and symbolism of the word trimarkisia reveals both the importance of the triad in the ‘Celtic’ mindset and the later development of cavalry in regard to chariotry. Chariot warfare is then examined, taking into account literary sources and iconography to show how three men probably made up the chariot fighting team. Finally, a model which explains the transition from the chariot to the trimarkisia is advanced, tackling its tactical and symbolical dimensions in regard to knowledge networks in the ‘Celtic’ world.

In recent years the number of archaeological finds associated with the Celtic presence in the area north of the Carpathians and the Sudety has grown perceptibly. This evidence is helping to validate the claim that the role played by the Celts in shaping the culture of Poland during the La Tène and at the beginning of the Roman Period was much greater than has been supposed in the past. Although the road to reconstructing and correctly evaluating this role still seems a long one there is no doubt that numismatic sources have much to contribute on this subject. An important discovery in this regard was made in the vicinity of Kalisz, Poland, one of the most unexpected archaeological developments recorded in Poland in recent years. It is not an exaggeration to say that this new input represents a qualitative advance in the study of a wide range of issues related to trade exchange, circulation of precious metal coinage, far-ranging contacts, the cultural and even political environment of the people who settled around the turn of the era the region between the Vistula and the Odra river.

On the occasion of the Pan-European corridor IV railway modernization, in October–December 2014 the Dacian and Roman Civilization Museum in Deva carried out several rescue excavations on the middle course of the Mureş River. This paper proposes to present the two partially investigated Late Iron Age (middle and late La Tène) settlements from Tărtăria–Pietroșița, a multi layered site.

Continuation of the Atlantic Theory of Homer's Ilias and Odyssey (part 1: Atlantic Troy; part 2:  Atlantic Ismaros-Kikones; part 3: Atlantic Kuthera-Lotophages; part 4: Atlantic Land of the Cyclopes). Odysseus' wanderings after his departure from Troy: Route Madeira, Fogo or Cameroon to Corvo, Azores. Study of Atlantic authors De Grave, Cailleux, Gideon, Wilkens, Vinci.

Au cours des années 170 et 169, la Rome républicaine a recouru par deux fois à l’envoi d’une identique triade de cadeaux diplomatiques envers des princes celtes : la première fut expédiée à l’attention du roitelet gaulois Cincibilos, la seconde à son homologue Balanos. À partir d’une approche comparative dumézilienne, l’auteur démontre que l’ensemble ternaire de présents en question était structuré par l’ancienne idéologie trifonctionnelle indo-européenne.
    Cette étude est également l’occasion pour l’auteur de se pencher sur la question de l’origine géographique de Cincibilos et Balanos : il propose d’abandonner la piste historiographique traditionnelle qui installait les deux roitelets dans un royaume de la confédération norique à la tête duquel ils se seraient succédés, et de considérer plutôt qu’ils régnaient contemporainement sur deux peuples distincts de la Gaule transalpine.

  During the years 170 and 169 B.C., the roman republic sent the same triad of diplomatic gifts to two celtic princes : the first donation was sent to the kinglet Cincibilos, the second to his counterpart Balanos. Using a Dumézilian comparative approach, the author demonstrates that the ternary set of gifts was structured by the Indo-European trifunctional ideology.
  The author examines also the question of the geographical origin of Cincibilos and Balanos : he suggests to abandon the traditional historiographical track which settled the two kinglets in a same kingdom of the Noric confederation that they have ruled successively, and to consider rather that they governed contemporarily  two differents peoples of the transalpine Gaul.

Der Artikel gibt einen kurzen Überblick über die Sonderausstellung »Die Bilderwelt der Kelten«, die vom 5. Juli 2018 bis zum 27. Januar 2019 im kelten römer museum manching zu sehen war. Die Besucher erwarteten über 100 Highlight-Objekte der Archäologischen Staatssammlung München, die durch ein innovatives Lichtkonzept und großformatige Waldmotive eindrucksvoll in Szene gesetzt wurden. +++ Wie lässt sich eine untergegangene Kultur verstehen, die selbst keine Schriftzeugnisse hinterlassen hat? Über die Kelten, die im 1. Jt. v.Chr. weite Teile Mitteleuropas besiedelten, berichten zwar griechische und römische Schriftsteller, doch sind ihre Ausführungen über die »barbarischen« Stämme oft ungenau und durch Vorurteile geprägt. Die Kelten selbst sprechen dagegen »nur« durch ihre materiellen Relikte zu uns, die oftmals reich verziert waren: mit abstrakten Ornamenten, mit Darstellungen der Gestirne, mit Tier- und Menschenbildern, mit merkwürdigen Mischwesen und gelegentlich sogar mit Szenen von Mythen, Riten und Festen. +++ Die Sonderausstellung würde durch ein reichhaltiges Rahmenprogramm begleitet. Im Oktober 2018 gab die Archäologische Staatssammlung zudem eine reich bebilderte Begleitpublikation heraus, die alle Ausstellungstexte und einen vollständigen Katalog der präsentierten Exponate umfasst. +++ Die Ausstellung ist nach der Erstpräsentation in Manching noch in den Keltenmuseen von Bibracte (F), Neuchâtel (CH) und Hallein (A) zu sehen.

This article discusses the presence of Celtic mercenaries in the army of the King of Judea – Herod the Great. Representatives of this people are present in the army of this ruler from 30 BC. In the same year Octavian Augustus, in return for the help given during the Civil War (32–30 BC), handed over a unit of 400 Galatians who were previously part of the guard of the defeated Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. They were incorporated into Herod’s bodyguard. The generality of the sources, however, makes it impossible to be sure if they came from ethnic Galatia. Also the history of this part of Herod's guard is difficult to track.

The paper describes one of the episodes of Julius Cesar’s Belgian campaign. The battle at the river Sabis in which Romans clashed with Nervii tribe and its allies could end with disastrous defeat due to mistakes of Roman commander. Only discipline and courage of legionaries saved the day for the Romans. Victory at the river Sabis enabled Cesar to continue with the campaign to subdue Gaulish tribes.

Abstract: This paper focuses on the study of the contacts between Massalia and celtic chieftains from the West Hallstatt zone. lt impugns the approach of core and periphery by making an analysis of the economy of prestige goods as a way to legitimize celtic aristocracy s social and political rank.
Keywords: Celtas; Economia

Maijastina Kahlos: Roomalaiset ja barbaarit. Otava: Helsinki 2020. ISBN 978-951-1-33504-7. 245 sivua. 32,95 €.

Suunnilleen viimeisten kymmenen vuoden kuluessa on julkisessa keskustelussa Suomessa ja muualla tavan takaa käytetty Rooman valtakunnan tuhoa, "barbaarien invaasioita" ja muita vähintäänkin kyseenalaisia analogioita, kun keskustellaan ajankohtaisista, usein vahvan ideologisesti värittyneistä kysymyksistä. Tutkijakunnan velvollisuudeksi on tullut korjata räikeimpiä väärinymmärryksiä ja jopa tahallisia väärintulkintoja. Suomalaisen tutkijayhteisön keskuudesta on erottunut aktiivisella osallistumisellaan erityisesti dosentti Maijastina Kahlos. Onkin suuri onni, että tämä maamme johtava myöhäisantiikin asiantuntija sekä hyvin aktiivinen ja monialainen antiikin barbaarien tutkija on nyt kirjoittanut suurelle yleisölle suunnatun suomenkielisen yleisesityksen roomalaisten ja barbaareiksi kutsuttujen kansojen vuorovaikutuksesta.

This article uncovers the origins of the famous Welsh literary motif Blodeuwedd locating them in Mesopotamia. Thereafter, it displays diverging trends in the use of this motif in the literatures of Wales and England on the one hand and in the continental literature of Germany on the other.

The article above one of Gaius Julius Caesar's campaigns conducted during the conquest of Gaul, where faced with Gaulish maritime tribes. It has been discussed operations on  both land  and sea, which this Roman General conducted  against Veneti from the Armocinan peninsula. It also contains a description of the armed actions of legate Quintus Titurius Sabinus in the area of „Normandy" tribes.

Josephus may be giving utterance to a widely shared stereotype about northern barbarians as he describes the unrest in the Rhenish border and Gaul in 69-70: the nature of the Germanoi, destitute as it is of reasoning, makes them always ready to throw themselves after any small hope (Bell. Iud. 7.76). The trope would have been recognisable to Josephus’ audiences from a wide range of writings, for instance Caesar’s Gallic War, but I will argue that this vigorous theme had become particularly relevant and somewhat renegotiated after the Celtic/Galatian attacks of the third and second centuries BCE.
The two most common aims for the northern barbarians’ hopes in our sources emerge as plunder and revenge – both depending on the psychological stereotypes of European barbarians: their greed (avaritia), and their anger (ira) and love of freedom (libertas). Though unsettling in its conjuring-up of tumultus, the barbarian hope is most often a narrative motivator that the Greek or Roman audience already knew to be doomed. In addition to – and interacting with – their predatory and rebellious aspirations, there is also another side to the hopefulness of the northern barbarians. From the Hellenistic era onwards, the hope for the rebirth of their souls was used as an explanation for the proverbial readiness of the northerners to throw themselves to the fray. This outlandish notion was first met in connection of the Herodotean Thracians, but became soon ascribed to a wide range of European barbarians, who all appeared to the Romans as particularly dangerous due to this hope (cf. Lucan 1.454-62).
Understanding the way Greeks and Romans looked at the motivations and psychology of the barbarian groups gives us a crucial tool in understanding the decision-making processes of the ancient shapers of policy, but it is also elemental for examining the power that the literary education and topical traditionalism held over the world-views of the educated elite. The supposed barbarian hopes were impious, deluded, and destructive, but – like natural forces – something that the Greeks and Romans could overcome by their own set of perceived characteristics.