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Short description

Celtic Swordsmen were seasoned fighters equipped with a long slashing sword and two javelins.

Description

The Celts were excellent swordsmen and feared throughout Europe and the Mediterranean; they were at the forefront of any Celtic army and widely found as mercenaries. The Celts were "… madly fond of war, high spirited and quick to battle…" (Strabo, Geog., 4.4.2).

The Celtic Swordsmen were the warriors of the Celtic tribe and seasoned fighters, equipped with a long, slashing sword, shield and two spears. The sword was the primary weapon, 55-65 cm long, and Celtic swords were known for their strength and flexibility. The spears were thrown, prior to engaging with the sword, with long, broad spearheads. The characteristic Celtic shield was oval, of leather-covered wood.

The Celtic swordsmen wore a simple round-capped helmet of the Coolus type, used from the 3rd century to the 1st, and the ancestor of a school of Roman helmets. The woollen clothing of the Celts included tunic and trousers, woven and embroidered in striped and checked patterns, and brightly coloured. Celts were famed for being taller than the peoples of the Mediterranean, muscular, fair-skinned and fair-haired. Most men wear flowing moustaches and short beards.

Known as "the Keltoi" or the "Galatae" by the Greeks, and "Celtae" or "Galli" by the Romans - they were one of the great barbarian peoples of Europe. Celtic tribes were found stretching from the Iberian Peninsula to the upper Danube, and in 279-76 some Celtic tribes settled in the Balkans (Scordisci) and even Asia-Minor (Galatians).

In the middle of the fifth century BC the Celts came to be dominated by the so-called "La Tene" culture. With its epicentre in the middle Rhineland and the regions north of the Alps, the La Tene culture was typified by a warrior dominated social system and a common material culture, with active trade connections with both the Greek colonists of the Golfe du Lion (esp. Massalia) and the Etruscans of northern Italy.

In c. 400 BC tribes of La Tene Celts migrated into the Po Valley, overran the Etruscans there, and the Boii, Insubres and Cenomani permanently settled northern Italy; at this same time La Tene populations spread east, through the Danube corridor, settling Bohemia and the middle Danube. In c. 390 a Celtic horde sacked Rome itself, an event that left an indelible mark on the Roman folk memory. La Tene influences were also transmitted into the Iberian Peninsula, and are found among the Celtiberians there.

Celtic society was made up of extended families or clans, that grouped together to form territorially-based tribes. These were ruled by a king or high chief, although by the middle of the first century BC some of the more urban Celtic tribes in the Rhone Valley had come to be ruled by elected magistrates.

Tribes were dominated by councils of elders and popular assemblies of all the free men of a tribe. Cattle thieving, slave raiding and vendettas ensured a constant level of low intensity warfare between Celtic clans and tribes. These warriors were bound by obligations of patronage and deference to individual chieftains, and their status was defined by their relationship with these chieftains, together with their own prowess and honour.

These Celtic warriors were commonly found throughout the Mediterranean as mercenaries. They were recruited from the fifth century by Carthage for its war in Sicily, a practice that continued during the First Punic War (264-241). Hannibal depended upon Celtic warriors in the Second Punic War (218-202). From 385 Celtic mercenaries also appear in Sicily in the armies of Dionysius I; in 367 one band of Celtic mercenaries was transported to Greece for service in the war between Sparta and Thebes.

Celtic mercenaries were widely used by the Successor Kingdoms too. Bands of warriors willing to fight were available for employment and were seen as useful complements to the fighting force of aspiring tyrants. Mercenary service was an outlet for Celtic warriors to seek fame and fortune among the Mediterranean civilisations, and return home with reputations made.

There was a strong heroic ethos in Celtic society, and warriors favoured gaining honour in conspicuous ways, particularly single combat. Diodorus Siculus describes how Celtic champions offered to fight single combats "... and when someone accepts their challenge to battle, they proudly recite the deeds of valour of their ancestors and proclaim their own valorous quality, at the same time abusing and making little of their opponent and generally attempting to rob him beforehand of his fighting spirit" (Diod. 5.29).

The Celts were head-hunters, and victorious warriors severed the heads of their enemies to keep as trophies, a gory custom that terrified their enemies. The ambush of Postumius in 216 BC resulted in his head being made into a gilded drinking cup for sacred occasions (Livy, 23.24). The Scordisci also used heads as drinking cups (Ammianus 17.4.4).

Prior to battle the Celtic warriors would work themselves into a battle frenzy, chanting and war-dancing (Diod. 5.31.1; Livy, 38.21), making noise with distinctive horns and trumpets (Diod. 5.30.5; Livy, 21.28). Finally, the Celtic army delivered a ferocious mass charge; if this charge failed to break through the enemy line, its momentum typically weakened. In general, Celtic tactics favoured battle in open country. The Swordsmen fought defensively in close formations, often with overlapping shields, while in attack the formation loosens up in a wild charge.