Celtic warriors are considered to be one of the bravest soldiers of ancient Europe. For a Celtic warrior, courage and military prowess determined his positions among his fellow tribesmen. The bravery of the Celts was witnessed by the Romans who on numerous occasions had to flexed their muscles against them, suffering several severe defeats in the process.
Origins of the Celts
The Celts are a collection of Indo-European peoples. Their cradle is considered to be the area of today's southern Germany. Despite of their cultural and ethnic unity, the Celts had never managed to create a larger political entity. The ancient Celts, in contrast to the peoples of the Near Eastern civilisations, formed an agglomeration of countless, more or less independent to each other tribes, kingdoms and small states scattered around vast areas of West and Central Europe. The division into smaller groups probably occurred circa 600 BC. It was than the Celts spread across much European continent, and settled the modern British Islands, France, Spain and southern Poland. The Celts also got to the Balkans and, for a long time, raided Italy (5th - 4th century BC).
Political and military structure of the society
In the Celtic society the major political role was played by aristocracy. Lower-order people were considered to be immature to hold political rights. The ruling class consisted two subgroups - the druids, full time religious leaders, who were kept in high esteem and were very influential, as well hold juridical power. They had the right to exclude people from the religious community, executed the death penalty on criminals and prisoners-of-war. However, exclusive military and political power was exercised by the aristocrats. Despite the political fragmentation lasting for centuries, some larger tribes managed to force into submission smaller groups.
Regardless the political division and to be spread over vast spaces, the Celts represented a very similar combat tactic. Although it was disorganized, it still was dangerous for civilizations which societies were much better developed. In principle, military tasks and functions were assigned in accordance with the wealth the warrior possessed. Aristocrats were constantly wedging wars among themselves, and therefore required the help of commoners. They constituted cavalry of a high combat value. Their bodyguards, up to 600 men-in-arm in number, provided them with protection. Infantry, recruited from the commoners, was of the smallest military value but fought with huge courage and ferocity. The foot soldiers also constituted the largest part of the force.