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From their new bases in northern Illyria and
Pannonia, the Gallic invasions climaxed in the early 3rd century BC, with the
invasion of Greece. The 279 BC invasion of Greece proper was preceded by a
series of other military campaigns waged in the southern Balkans and against
the kingdom of Macedonia, favoured by the state of confusion ensuing from the
disputed succession after Alexander the Great's death. A part of the invasion
crossed over to Anatolia and eventually settled in the area that came to be
named after them, Galatia.
From the 4th century BC, Celtic groups pushed into the Carpathian region and
the Danube basin, coinciding with their movement into Italy. The Boii and
Volcae were two large Celtic confederacies who generally cooperated in their
campaigns. Splinter groups moved south via two major routes: one following the
Danube river, another eastward from Italy. According to legend, 300,000 Celts
moved into Italy and Illyria. By the 3rd century, the native inhabitants of
Pannonia were almost completely Celticized. La Tène remains are found
widely in Pannonia, but finds westward beyond the Tisza river and south beyond
the Sava are rather sparse. These finds are deemed to have been locally
produced Norican-Pannonian variation of Celtic culture. Nevertheless, features
are encountered that suggest ongoing contacts with distant provinces such as
Iberia. The fertile lands around the Pannonian rivers enabled the Celts to
establish themselves easily, developing their agriculture and pottery, and at
the same time exploiting the rich mines of modern Poland. Thus, it appears that
the Celts had created a new homeland for themselves in the southern part of
Central Europe; in a region stretching from Poland to the river Danube.
Early expeditions:
The political situation in the northern Balkans was in constant flux with
various tribes dominant over their neighbours at any one time. Within tribes,
military expeditions were conducted by "an enterprising and mobile warrior
class able from time to time to conquer large areas and to exploit their
population". The political situation in the Balkans during the 4th century
BC played to the Celts' advantage. The Illyrians had been waging war against
the Greeks, leaving their western flank weak. While Alexander ruled Greece, the
Celts dared not to push south near Greece. Therefore, early Celtic expeditions
were concentrated against Illyrian tribes. The first Balkan tribe to be
defeated by the Celts was the Illyric Autariatae, who, during the 4th century,
had enjoyed a hegemony over much of the central Balkans, centred on the Morava
valley. An account of Celtic tactics is revealed in their attacks on the
Ardiaei. In 335, the Celts sent representatives to pay homage to Alexander the
Great, while Macedon was engaged in wars against Thracians on its northern
border. Some historians suggest that this 'diplomatic' act was actually an
evaluation of Macedonian military might.
After the death of Alexander the Great, Celtic armies began to bear down on the
southern regions, threatening the Greek kingdom of Macedonia and the rest of
Greece. In 310, the Celtic general Molistomos attacked deep into Illyrian
territory, trying to subdue Dardanians, Paeonians and Triballi. However
Molistomos was defeated by the Dardanians. The new Macedonian king Cassander
felt compelled to take some of his old Illyrian enemies under his protection
even though Illyrians emerged victorious. In 298, the Celts attempted a
penetrating attack into Thrace and Macedon, where they suffered a heavy defeat
near Haemus Mons at the hands of Cassander. However, another body of Celts led
by the general Cambaules marched on Thrace, capturing large areas. The Celtic
tribe of the Serdi lived in Thrace and founded the city of Serdica, present day
Sofia.
Invasions of Greece:
Great expedition of 279 BC
The routes taken by the Gauls
The Celtic military pressure toward Greece in the southern Balkans reached its
turning point in 281. The collapse of Lysimachus' successor kingdom in Thrace
opened the way for the migration. The cause for this is explained by Pausanias
as greed for loot, by Justin as a result of overpopulation, and by Memnon as
the result of famine. According to Pausanias, an initial probing raid led by
Cambaules withdrew when they realized they were too few in numbers. In 280, a
great army comprising about 85,000 warriors left Pannonia, split into three
divisions, and marched south in a great expedition to Macedon and central
Greece. Under the leadership of Cerethrius, 20,000 men moved against the
Thracians and Triballi. Another division, led by
Brennus and Acichorius moved against the Paionians, while the third
division, headed by Bolgios, aimed for the Macedonians and Illyrians. Bolgios
inflicted heavy losses on the Macedonians, whose young king, Ptolemy Keraunos,
was captured and decapitated. However, Bolgios' contingent was repulsed by the
Macedonian nobleman Sosthenes, and satisfied with the loot they had won,
Bolgios' contingents turned back. Sosthenes, in turn, was attacked and defeated
by Brennus and his division, who were then free to ravage the country. After
these expeditions returned home, Brennus urged and persuaded them to mount a
third united expedition against central Greece, led by himself and Acichorius.
The reported strength of the army of 152,000 infantry and 24,400 cavalry is
impossibly large. The actual number of horsemen has to be intended half as big:
Pausanias describes how they used a tactic called trimarcisia, where each
cavalryman was supported by two mounted servants, who could supply him with a
spare horse should he have to be dismounted, or take his place in the battle,
should he be killed or wounded.
Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC) Main article: Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC) A
Greek coalition made up of Aetolians, Boeotians, Athenians, Phocians, and other
Greeks north of Corinth took up quarters at the narrow pass of Thermopylae, on
the east coast of central Greece. During the initial assault, Brennus' forces
suffered heavy losses. Hence he decided to send a large force under Acichorius
against Aetolia. The Aetolian detachment, as Brennus hoped, left Thermopylae to
defend their homes. The Aetolians joined the defence en masse – the old
and women joining the fight. Realizing that the Gallic sword was dangerous only
at close quarters, the Aetolians resorted to skirmishing tactics. According to
Pausanias, only half the number that had set out for Aetolia returned.
Eventually, Brennus found a way around the pass at Thermopylae, but by then the
Greeks had escaped by sea.
Attack on Delphi:
Brennus pushed on to Delphi, where he was defeated and forced to retreat, after
which he died of wounds sustained in the battle. His army fell back to the
river Spercheios, where it was routed by the Thessalians and Malians. Both
historians who relate the attack on Delphi, Pausanias and Junianus Justinus,
say that the Gauls were defeated and driven off. They were overtaken by a
violent thunderstorm, which made it impossible to manoeuvre or even hear their
orders. The night that followed was frosty, and in the morning the Greeks
attacked them from both sides. Brennus was wounded and the Gauls fell back,
killing those of their own wounded who were unable to retreat. That night, a
panic fell on the camp, as the Gauls divided into factions and fought amongst
themselves. They were joined by Acichorius and the rest of the army, but the
Greeks forced them into a full-scale retreat. Brennus took his own life by
drinking neat wine according to Pausanias, or by stabbing himself according to
Justinus. Pressed by the Aetolians, the Gauls fell back to the Spercheios,
where the waiting Thessalians and Malians destroyed them.
Cursed Gold of Delphi Main article: The Gold of Tolosa In spite of the Greek
accounts about the defeat of the Gauls, the Roman literary tradition preferred
a far different version.[clarification needed] Strabo reports a story told in
his time of a semi-legendary treasure – the aurum Tolosanum, fifteen
thousand talents ( 450 metric tonnes/990,000 pounds ) of gold and silver –
supposed to have been the cursed gold looted during the sack of Delphi and
brought back to Tolosa (modern Toulouse, France) by the Tectosages, who were
said to have been part of the invading army. More than a century and a half
after the alleged sack, the Romans ruled Gallia Narbonensis. In 105 BC, while
marching to Arausio, the Proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul Quintus Servilius Caepio
plundered the sanctuaries of the town of Tolosa, whose inhabitants had joined
the Cimbri, finding over 50,000 15 lb. bars of gold and 10,000 15 lb. bars of
silver. The riches of Tolosa were shipped back to Rome, but only the silver
made it: the gold was stolen by a band of marauders, who were believed to have
been hired by Caepio himself and to have killed the legion guarding it. The
Gold of Tolosa was never found, and was said to have been passed all the way
down to the last heir of the Servilii Caepiones, Marcus Junius Brutus. In 105
BC, Caepio refused to co-operate with his superior officer, Gnaeus Mallius
Maximus, because he thought of him as a novus homo, deciding by himself to
engage in battle against the Cimbri, on the Rhone. There, the Roman army
suffered a crushing defeat and complete destruction, in the so-called Battle of
Arausio (modern Orange). Upon his return to Rome, Caepio was tried for
"the loss of his Army" and embezzlement. He was convicted and given
the harshest sentence allowable; he was stripped of his Roman citizenship,
forbidden fire and water within 800 miles of Rome, fined 15,000 talents (about
825,000 lb) of gold, and forbidden from seeing or speaking to his friends or
family until he had left for exile. He spent the rest of his life in exile in
Smyrna in Asia Minor. His defeat and ensuing ruin were looked upon as a
punishment for his sacrilegious theft. Strabo distances himself from this
account, arguing that the defeated Gauls were in no position to carry off such
spoils, and that, in any case, Delphi had already been despoiled of its
treasure by the Phocians during the Third Sacred War in the previous
century.[20] However, Brennus' legendary pillage of Delphi is presented as fact
by some popular modern historians.
After the Greek campaigns:
Most scholars deem the Greek campaign a disaster for the Celts. Some of the
survivors of the Greek campaign, led by Comontoris (one of Brennus' generals)
settled in Thrace. In 277, Antigonus II Gonatas defeated the Gauls at the
Battle of Lysimachia and the survivors retreated, founding a short-lived
city-state named Tyle. Another group of Gauls, who split off from Brennus' army
in 281, were transported over to Asia Minor by Nicomedes I to help him defeat
his brother and secure the throne of Bithynia. They eventually settled in the
region that came to be named after them, Galatia. They were defeated by
Antiochus I, and as a result, they were confined to barren highlands in the
centre of Anatolia. Celtic groups were still the pre-eminent political units in
the northern Balkans from the 4th to the 1st century BC. The Boii controlled
most of northern Pannonia during the 2nd century BC, and are also mentioned as
having occupied the territory of modern Slovakia. We learn of other tribes of
the Boian confederation inhabiting Pannonia. There were the Taurisci in the
upper Sava valley, west of Sisak, as well as the Anarti, Osi and Cotini in the
Carpathian basin. In the lower Sava valley, the Scordisci wielded much power
over their neighbours for over a century. The later half of the 1st century BC
brought much change to the power relations of barbarian tribes in Pannonia. The
defeat of the Boian confederation by the Geto-Dacian king Burebista
significantly curtailed Celtic control of the Carpathian basin, and some of the
Celticization was reversed. Yet, more Celtic tribes appear in sources. The
Hercuniates and Latobici migrated from the northern regions (Germania).
Altogether new tribes are encountered, bearing Latin names (such as the
Arabiates), possibly representing new creations carved out of the defeated
Boian confederation. To further weaken Celtic hegemony in Pannonia, the Romans
moved the Pannonian-Illyrian Azali to northern Pannonia. The political
dominance previously enjoyed by the Celts was overshadowed by newer barbarian
confederations, such the Marcomanni and Iazyges. Their ethnic independence was
gradually lost as they were absorbed by the surrounding Dacian, Illyrian and
Germanic peoples, although Celtic names survive until the 3rd century AD.
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