The Celts, a diverse group of tribal societies with shared linguistic and cultural traits, played a complex role in the history of ancient Europe. While often depicted as wild barbarians clashing with the disciplined legions of Rome, the reality of their relationship with the Romans is far more nuanced. Over centuries of interaction—through war, trade, diplomacy, and cultural exchange—the Celts were at times both adversaries and allies of the Roman world.

Who Were the Celts?

The Celts were not a single nation or people, but a collection of tribes spread across much of Europe from the British Isles to Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). Their heartlands in the early Iron Age were in Central Europe—particularly in the regions of what are now Austria, Switzerland, southern Germany, and eastern France. By the time the Romans began their expansion, Celtic tribes had already spread into Gaul (modern France and Belgium), the Iberian Peninsula, the British Isles, and northern Italy.

Celtic society was tribal and decentralized, with a warrior aristocracy and a strong religious class, the druids, who played an important role in spiritual and judicial matters. Their art, mythology, and oral traditions were rich, though little was written down by the Celts themselves.

First Contact: War and Wonder

The first major encounter between Romans and Celts was traumatic for Rome. In 390 BCE, a Celtic tribe known as the Senones, under their leader Brennus, invaded Italy and sacked Rome after the Battle of the Allia. The Romans never forgot this humiliation. The phrase "Vae victis!"—“Woe to the vanquished!”—was attributed to Brennus as he demanded a ransom in gold. The event left a psychological scar that shaped Roman attitudes toward the Celts for generations.

In the following centuries, the Romans engaged in a series of wars with Celtic tribes in northern Italy, eventually subduing the region known as Cisalpine Gaul by the late 2nd century BCE. These campaigns laid the groundwork for Rome's expansion into wider Gaul and further northwest. shutdown123