What can be cooked from squid: quick and tasty

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Celts are tribes of Indo-European origin in antiquity and at the turn of the era that occupied vast areas in Western and Central Europe. They were a very warlike people who, in 390 BC. even captured and plundered Rome. But internecine wars weakened the warlike people. As a result, the Germans and Romans drove the Celts out of their lands. These tribes remained surrounded by numerous secrets, intrigues, and therefore myths. Let's try to understand who they really were.

Celts lived in what is now Britain and Ireland

It is difficult to say anything definite about the origin of the Celts. Some historians believe that they inhabited Britain as early as 3,200 years ago, while others believe that long before that. But one thing is clear - the migration of the Celts began around 400 BC. from Central Europe. The tribes began to spread in all directions, but to the south they had to face strong Romans. It turned out that the militant, but scattered Celts were opposed by a single unified empire. The tribes, on the other hand, constantly fought with each other, not thinking about uniting against a common enemy. As a result, some of the tribes were completely destroyed, others submitted to the Romans, adopting their culture, and still others went to the remote corners of that world - to Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are still communities of modern Celts who even strive to preserve their culture. And in their travels the Celts even reached Greece and Egypt.

Celts fought naked

When mentioning the Celts, there is always someone who mentions their tradition of fighting naked with a gold band around his neck, a neck gryvnia. This Celtic myth is one of the most popular. But one has only to think about such a statement, as its absurdity immediately becomes clear. And this false statement appeared thanks to the Romans. Today, almost all the information that we have about these ancient tribes is obtained from the records of the historians of Rome. There is no doubt that they exaggerated their exploits, and described the enemy as absolutely primitive savages. In this case, history was made by the winners, was it worth expecting honesty from her in relation to the defeated? But there is another side to this story. The Celts lived in a period of history called the Iron Age. Then, instead of bronze, they just began to use iron. It went into the manufacture of armor, weapons and tools. The Celts had the opportunity to arm themselves with swords, axes, hammers, create metal armor, chain mail, rivet leather. Given the existence of armor, it would be foolish to assume that warriors abandoned them and fought naked.

Druids were ancient wizards

For that time, the Celtic druids were truly powerful characters. They didn't just wear white clothes and do human sacrifice but did some really incredible things. Druids acted as advisers to tribal leaders and even kings. With their help, laws were born, just as today the English parliament "invites" the Queen to sign acts. Druids often acted as judges, enforcing their own rules. For the Celts, Druids were the personification of wisdom. It was not without reason that one had to study for 20 years to deserve such a title. Druids possessed knowledge of astronomy, they kept folk legends and cultivated natural philosophy. The Celtic sages informed the villagers when they should start sowing. Druids even believed that they knew how to predict the future.

Celtic traditions died with them

Thanks to the Celtic druids, one interesting tradition appeared and survived, which we know today. The fact is that in those days the oak was considered a sacred tree. Druids believed that the gods lived in everything that surrounds us, including rocks, water, plants. No less holy thing than an oak was mistletoe, which just grew on it. Beliefs in the power of these plants have survived to this day. It is no coincidence that in the English-speaking world there is a tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas.

Celtic women were morose

Based on the assumption that the Celts were savages (thanks to the Romans!), It is logical to consider women as gloomy and downtrodden. But this is a myth. In fact, Celtic women could be very powerful and influential, own their own land and even divorce at will. For those times, such freedoms seem incredible. Roman women were essentially limited in their rights, but among the Celts, women could make a career by climbing the social ladder. High status could be inherited or acquired through merit. Among the Celts, the landowners followed the leader into battle. If a woman turned out to be such, then she went into battle. In fact, among the Celts, female warriors even taught boys and girls the art of war. Women could even become druids, creating the laws of society. These norms were guarded by everyone in the Celtic tribe, including the elderly, sick and infirm, children. It was believed that the latter were still innocent, so they should be protected. But in Roman society, children were often abandoned, leaving them to die hungry in the trash heaps. So the Celts were not savages at all, as the Romans convince us.

The Celts did not build roads

It is difficult to argue with the fact that it was thanks to the Roman engineers that a network of roads appeared that enveloped the whole of Europe. In fact, one cannot agree with this. After all, long before the Romans, the Celts built a whole network of wooden roads connecting neighboring tribes. These routes of communication allowed the Celts to engage in trade with each other. It's just that the wooden roads turned out to be short-lived, practically nothing remained of this material - it rotted away. But today in the swamps of France, England and Ireland, there are still some wooden planks, parts of the road. Based on the fact that the Romans were never able to conquer Ireland, we can safely assume that the old boards were created by the Celts as part of the roadway. In the same Ireland, there is the Corlea Trail, on which there are many parts of the old road. In some places it was even reconstructed so that one could see the path along which the Celtic tribes moved at one time.

The Celts had strange but monotonous helmets

Based on the fact that the Celts had metal armor, it is logical to assume the existence of the corresponding helmets. They were often unusual - the Celts did not hesitate to experiment with designs. One such piece of equipment was found in the Romanian village of Chumeshti, where these tribes also climbed. Here archaeologists have found an old cemetery dating back to the Iron Age. Among 34 graves, there was also one that belonged to the Celtic leader. He was buried along with numerous objects, among which were bronze axes and rich armor. It was believed that they were supposed to help the deceased in the afterlife. But an unusual helmet stood out among all the vestments. On it, an unknown master forged a large bird of prey, spreading its bronze wings. The design of this decoration looks unusual - the bird's wings were suspended on hinges, so when the owner of the helmet walked, the creature seemed to fly. Historians believe that a fluttering helmet in battle was still quite impractical and the leader wore it only on special occasions. But the helmet has become one of the most famous and copied masterpieces of Celtic art. Even Asterisk with Obelix has something similar.

The Celts only thought about who to fight

This people became famous not only for their travels, but also for their love of battles. However, the Celts fought on anyone's side, but not at all for free. Even Tsar Ptolemy II, a representative of the glorious Egyptian dynasty, took these soldiers as mercenaries. And the European tribes turned out to be such cool soldiers that the king was afraid that they might take over his country. Ptolemy therefore ordered the Celts to be landed on an uninhabited island in the Nile. The Greeks also met the Celts. In those days, the tribes just expanded their territories. Those events are known in history as the Gallic invasion of the Balkans. Its culmination was the Battle of Delphic, which ended in the defeat of the intruders. The fact is that again the scattered Celts were opposed by trained united armies. So in 270 BC. the Celts were expelled from Delphi.

The Celts cut off the heads of their enemies

This fact is almost the most famous about the Celts, it is still true. Indeed, the tribes were on a real bounty hunt. It was this part of the body of the defeated enemy that was considered the most coveted trophy for the Celts. The reason for this is religion, which asserted the existence of spirits in all things. So the human head was represented as a place where the souls of defeated enemies live. The warrior who had such a collection was honored. And the heads of enemies around gave the Celts self-confidence, a sense of significance. It was customary to decorate the severed heads of enemies and saddles, and the doors of houses. It was something of owning a collection of luxury luxury cars in the modern world. Today people brag about a stylish new car, and then they boasted about the head of a powerful hostile leader that appeared in the collection.

The Celts were a poor people

To debunk this myth, it is worth plunging into history a little. For the time being, the Celts and Romans peacefully coexisted next to each other. But then Julius Caesar appeared on the stage. His political career did not work out, and besides, he was burdened with onerous debts. It seemed obvious that a small victorious war against the primitive barbarians, the Celts, could fix the situation. The Gaulish Wars are often considered the most important military manifestation of Julius Caesar's genius. Thanks to that campaign, the empire's frontier began to expand rapidly. Along with this, Caesar, one by one, defeated the Celtic tribes and seized their territories. This victory changed the fate of that region, known in the ancient world as Gaul, with the Celtic tribes who lived there. Caesar himself gained fame and influence. But why exactly did he attack Gaul? The Roman himself wrote that he was trying to push back the barbarian tribes that threatened Rome. But historians see the reasons for something else. One of these conquering tribes were the Helvetians, who lived near the Alps. Caesar promised them protection when they moved to Gaul. But then Rome changed its mind, and the barbarians decided to act on their own. Caesar declared that it was necessary to protect the Celts living in Gaul. As a result, the Romans exterminated more than a quarter of a million "invaders", in the process of defending the territories, almost all the Celts were destroyed. Gaul itself became part of a powerful empire. And this has the most direct relation to wealth. Caesar needed money to pay off debts and gain influence for his career. Not only did Gaul bring him the fame of a commander, this territory was very rich in gold deposits. The Celts were known to have gold coins and jewelry, but they were believed to have been obtained through trade. But Caesar did not believe it. It turned out that in Gaul there were more than four hundred gold mines. This testified to the incredible wealth of the Celts, which was the reason for Caesar's interest in them. Interestingly, Rome began minting its gold coins just after the conquest of Gaul.

Celts were poorly educated

And again, it is worthwhile to understand that the Romans in every possible way sought to expose their rivals in the most bad light. In fact, these people were not at all as simple as they are represented. Moreover, the Celts possessed something that even the Romans did not have - an accurate calendar. Yes, there was a Julian calendar, but the Celts owned their own calendar from Coligny. It was found in this French city back in 1897, which gave the name to the discovery. Not only does it have an unusual look, but the calendar turned out to be made of mysterious metal plates with numerous marks: holes, numbers, lines, a set of Greek and Roman letters. For a hundred years, scientists could only understand that they were dealing with a calendar, but the principle of its operation remained a mystery. It was only in 1989 that the invention of the Celts was successfully deciphered. It turned out that the find was a solar-lunar calendar, which, based on the cycles of the appearance of celestial bodies, calculated the time of the year. For that state of civilization, the calendar was very accurate, being an advanced invention. With the help of it, the Celts could predict where the sun will be in the sky in the coming months. This find clearly proved that the Celts had developed scientific and mathematical thinking. It would be interesting to compare the invention of the "barbarians" with the calendar used by the Romans. It was also considered fairly accurate for its time, with an error of only 11.5 minutes per year with the actual solar calendar. But over the centuries, this error is rapidly accumulating. As a result, in our time, the Romans would celebrate the beginning of spring when it would be August in our yard. But the Celtic calendar, even today, could correctly predict the season. So the Romans had a lot to learn from the "uneducated" barbarians.

Celts- one of the most famous and mysterious ancient peoples. There was a time when the sphere of their military activity covered most of Europe, but by the beginning of the new era, only a tiny part of this people in the very north-west of the continent retained independence. During the period of maximum power ancient celts their speech was from Spain and Brittany in the west to Asia Minor in the east, from Britain in the north to Italy in the south. Celtic culture is one of the basic foundations of a number of cultures in modern Western and Central Europe. Some of the Celtic peoples still exist today. The peculiar art of the Celts still amazes both professional art critics and a wide range of connoisseurs, and the religion that embodied their subtle and complex perception of the world remains a mystery. Already after the unified Celtic civilization left the historical stage, its heritage in different forms experienced a revival more than once.

Celts called these people, the Romans called them Gauls(roosters), but how they called themselves, and whether they had a single name, is unknown. The ancient Greek and Latin (Roman) authors probably wrote more about the Celts than about other peoples of Europe, which is quite consistent with the importance of these northern neighbors in the life of ancient civilization.

Map. Celts in Europe in the 1st millennium BC

The entry of the Celts into the historical arena

First news about the ancient Celts in written sources there are about 500 BC. NS. It says that this people had several cities and were warlike neighbors of the Ligurs, a tribe that lived near the Greek colony of Massalia (now french city Marseilles).

In the work of the "father of history" Herodotus, completed no later than 431 or 425 BC. e., it was reported that the Celts inhabited the upper reaches of the Danube (and, according to the Greeks, the source of this river is in the Pyrenees mountains), mentioned their neighborhood with the kinets, the westernmost people of Europe.

Around 400 BC NS. the tribes of this people invaded Northern Italy and occupied it, subjugating the Etruscans, Ligurians, and Umbras who lived here. Around 396 BC NS. the Celtyinsubras founded the city of Mediolan (now Italian Milan). In 387 BC. NS. the Celtic people led by Brennus defeated the Roman army at Alia and then. True, the city Kremlin (Capitol) was never captured. The origin of the Roman saying “ Geese saved Rome". According to legend, the Celts marched at night to storm the Capitol. The Roman guards were asleep. But the invaders were noticed by geese from the temple of the goddess Vesta. They made a noise and woke up the guards. The attack was repulsed, and Rome was saved from capture.

In those years, the Celtic raids reached the south of Italy, until Rome, seeking hegemony in Italy and relying on a reformed army, put a limit on them. Faced with such resistance, some groups in 358 BC. NS. moved to Illyria (north-west of the Balkan Peninsula), where their movement encountered a counter onslaught of the Macedonians. And already in 335 BC. NS. Celtic ambassadors entered into negotiations with Alexander the Great. Probably, the concluded agreement on the division of spheres of influence allowed the Macedonians and Greeks to go to 334 BC. NS. on the conquest of Persia, without fear for their rear, and gave the Celts the opportunity to establish themselves on the Middle Danube.

From 299 BC NS. the military activity of the Celts in Italy resumed, they managed to defeat the Romans at Clusium, annex a number of tribes dissatisfied with Rome. However, four years later, in 295 BC. e., the Romans took revenge, uniting and subjugating a significant part of Italy. In 283 BC. NS. they occupied the lands of the Senonian Celts, cutting off the access to the Adriatic Sea to their other tribesmen. In 280 BC. NS. inflicted a crushing defeat on the Northern Italian Celts and their allies on Lake Vadimon.

Then the military expansion of the Celts in the south-east of Europe. Perhaps it was the outflow of forces in this direction that weakened their onslaught in Italy. By 298 BC. NS. includes information about their penetration into the territory of modern Bulgaria, though unsuccessful. In 281 BC. NS. numerous Celtic troops flooded a number of areas of the Balkan Peninsula, and the 20 thousandth army of the Celts-Galatians was hired by Nicomedes I, king of Bithynia (on the territory of modern Turkey), for the war in Asia Minor. A huge army of Celts led by Brenna in 279 BC. NS. , having plundered, among other things, the sanctuary in Delphi, especially revered by the Greeks. And although the barbarians were driven out of Greece and Macedonia, they remained the dominant force in the more northern regions of the Balkans, establishing several kingdoms there. In 278 BC. NS. Nicomedes I again invited the Galatians to Asia Minor, where they fortified themselves, establishing in 270 BC. NS. in the area of ​​modern Ankara, a federation under the control of 12 chiefs. The federation did not last long: after the defeats of 240-230. BC NS. she lost her independence. The same or some other Galatians in the second half of the 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd century. BC NS. figure among the tribes that threatened Olbia on the northern coast of the Black Sea.

In 232 BC. NS. again conflict broke out and the Celts in Italy, and in 225 BC. NS. the local Gauls and the kinsmen they called from behind the Alps were brutally defeated. On the site of the battle, the Romans built a memorial temple, where, many years later, they thanked the gods for the victory. This defeat was the beginning of the decline of the military power of the Celts. The Carthaginian general Hannibal, who moved in 218 BC. NS. from Africa through Spain, the south of France and the Alps to Rome, he counted on an alliance with the Celts in Italy, but the latter, weakened by previous defeats, could not help him to the extent that he hoped. In 212 BC. NS. uprisings of the local population put an end to Celtic domination in the Balkans.

Having finished the wars with Carthage, against the Celtic people. In 196 BC. NS. defeated the Insubrs, in 192 BC. NS. - fighting, and their center Bononia (modern Bologna) was destroyed. The remnants of the Boyev left to the north and settled on the territory of what is now the Czech Republic (from them the name of one of the regions of the Czech Republic - Bohemia). By 190 BC. NS. all the lands south of the Alps were seized by the Romans, later (82 BC) establishing here the province of Cisalpine Gaul. In 181 BC. NS. not far from modern Venice, Roman colonists founded Aquileia, which became a stronghold for the expansion of Roman influence in the Danube. During another war, by 146 BC. NS. the Romans took possession of the Carthaginians in Iberia (present-day Spain), and by 133 BC. NS. finally subdued the Celtic-Iberian tribes living there, taking their last stronghold - Numatia. In 121 BC. NS. under the pretext of protecting Massalia from the raids of its neighbors, Rome occupied the south of modern France, conquering the local Celts and Ligurs, and in 118g. BC NS. there the province of Narbonne Gaul was created.

At the end of the II century. BC NS. Roman historians wrote about the onslaught on the Celts from their northeastern neighbors, the Germans. Shortly before 113. BC NS. Boyi repelled the attack of the Germanic tribe Cimbri. But they moved south, united with the Teutons (who were probably Celts), defeated a number of Celtic tribes and Roman armies, but in 101 BC. NS. the Cimbri were almost completely destroyed by the Roman commander Marius. Later, other Germanic tribes still drove the Boys from the Czech Republic to the Danube regions.

By 85 BC. NS. The Romans broke the resistance of the Scordisks living at the mouth of the Sava, the last stronghold of the Celts in the north of the Balkans. Around 60 BC NS. The Dacians under the leadership of Burebista almost destroyed the Tevrisks and Boi, which is probably part of the events associated with the expansion of the Thracian tribes, which crushed Celtic rule in the territory east and north of the Middle Danube.

Shortly before 59 BC. e., taking advantage of the civil strife in Gaul, the Suevi and some other Germanic tribes led by Ariovistus captured part of the territory of the Sequans, one of the strongest Celtic tribes. This was the reason for the intervention of the Romans. In 58 BC. NS. Julius Caesar, then proconsul of Illyria, Cisalpine and Narbonne Gaul, defeated the union of Ariovistus, and soon took control of the rest of the "shaggy" Gaul. In response, the ancient Celts revolted (54 BC), but in 52 BC. NS. Alesia fell, the base of the most active leader of the rebels - Vercingetorix, and by 51 BC. NS. Caesar finally suppressed the resistance of the Celts.

During a series of campaigns from 35 to 9 BC. NS. the Romans established themselves on the right bank of the Middle Danube, conquering the Celtic and other local tribes. Later, the province of Pannonia arose here. In 25 BC. NS. Galatia in Asia Minor was subject to Rome, having lost the remnants of independence, but the descendants of the Celts continued to live in these lands, retaining their language for several more centuries. In 16 BC. NS. part of the Roman state was the "kingdom of Noric", which united their possessions in the Upper Danube, in 16 AD. NS. here the Roman provinces of Noric and Rezia were formed.

Following the waves of Celtic settlers, the Romans came to Britain. Julius Caesar visited there in 55 and 54. BC NS. By 43 A.D. e., under the emperor Caligula, the Romans, having suppressed the stubborn resistance of the Celts, captured southern Britain, and by 80, during the reign of Agricola, the border of the Roman possessions on these islands took shape.

Thus, in the 1st century. the Celts remained free only on the territory of Ireland.

The ancient Celts were one of the branches of the Indo-Europeans, which also included the Germans, Slavs, Greeks, Indo-Iranians, etc. There are many versions of their origin and settlement, I will present the one that I like best))))), it looks very slender. The proto-Indo-European homeland of the Celts was the Black Sea and Caspian steppes, from where they went to conquer Europe, Central and South Asia around 4000 BC. At this time, the Bronze Age had already begun in the North Caucasus and the Indo-Europeans were quite advanced in terms of the technologies of that time.

Celtic Princess Tara, bone china figurine, sculpted by Peter Holland, photo from here

Proto-Celts arrived in the Balkans and Central Europe around 2500 BC. Europe at that time did not know horses and wheels, all this, including metal weapons, gave the Celts advantages and they quickly conquered Western Europe from Iberia to the British Isles. Classical Celtic culture originated in Central Europe in the area of ​​present-day Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland. The earliest Celtic settlements ( from 1200 BC) found in Upper Austria, in the Hallstatt region. The continuing Hallstatt La Ten culture spread from the Alps throughout Western and Central Europe between 600 and 400 BC. People in this territory spoke close languages, had close religious ideas, traditions and art. The tribes that settled over a large territory, of course, acquired more differences over time, for example, the houses in Great Britain and Ireland were round among the Celts, and in Gaul (modern France) - rectangular.

Great Britain, Wales, Pembrokeshire, Castel Henllys, reconstructed Celtic fortified " locality". On the picture round house iron age. Rebuilt on original foundations. Compared to similar large fortresses in England, such as Maiden Castle, the fortification is small, occupying only 1 acre. Similar hilltop fortifications have been built throughout Britain.

The term "celt" comes from the GreekKeltoi or galatians(Galatian) and LatinCeltae or Galli(Gauls). It is not known what they called themselves, but it was probably a word reminiscent of a modern word. gael( Gael). Although the Celts did not have their own written language (or in an embryonic state, as some researchers suggest), many inscriptions in the Celtic language, made using the Latin and Greek alphabets, have been found.Celtic languages ​​gradually disappeared in the Middle Ages - today there are very few people who speak them - in Wales, Brittany and western Ireland. Genetic studies have revealed a wide distribution of Celtic genes among European peoples. Celts are considered the main distributors of the gene for red hair :)) Therefore, on the map, the genes are red))

Celtic paternal lineage map (Y-chromosome DNA)

Society, culture and lifestyle

- The Celts actively traded with the Mediterranean world, in particular, exchanging iron tools and weapons for wine and ceramics. They themselves drank beer, but subsequently reached high level in winemaking. They also imported amber from the Baltics, reselling it to the Romans and Greeks.

The Celtic world was decentralized compared to the Roman world, but at least a dozen Celtic cities had high stone walls and could rival Rome. The longest wall was 5 km long.

Bowl Schwarzenbach. The Celts had a taste for beautiful things and sought to decorate with rhyme trivial, in their opinion, imported items. For example, a Celtic master from the Rhine region covered a Greek ceramic bowl with an openwork gold net. Diameter 12.6 cm, 4 in BC, Berlin Museum

Recent research has shown that the Celts were more advanced than the Romans in some scientific and economic matters. The Celtic calendar was much more accurate than the Roman calendar, and perhaps even more accurate than the Gregorian calendar in use today.

Each tribe consisted of 4 clans, which were ruled by a head with two assistants and a judge. The central shrine was called Drunemeton.

The Celts were very rich. It is now well known that the main reason that prompted Julius Caesar to conquer Gaul was the desire to lay hands on Celtic gold. More than 400 Celtic gold mines were located in France alone. The Romans had little gold.

The Celtic nobility was clean-shaven and wore haircuts in line with the fashion of the time. Tweezers were found in archaeological excavations (as well as scalpels, with the help of which even eye surgeries were performed).

Outside of a British bronze mirror with Celtic designs, 50 BC. - AD 50

In ancient Celtic society, women were more free than in Roman and Greek, where they could only claim to be housewives. Celtic women could be leaders of the tribe and even participated in wars.

Celtic warfare and technology

The Celts invented chain mail (around 300 BC) and helmets, which were later used by Roman legionnaires. Celtic swords and shields were at least as good as Roman ones.

The decoration of Celtic weapons, chariots and other artifacts is in many ways superior to those of many Mediterranean cultures.

Celtic sword and scabbard, 60 BC, Metropolitan Museum

The use of iron weapons gave the Celts a great advantage over their neighbors.

The Celts had a reputation among the Greeks and Romans as formidable barbarians. Around 400 BC they captured the area between the Apennines and the Alps (Northern Italy) and in 390 BC. plundered Rome. Even Alexander the Great tried to avoid a war with the Celts, willingly signing a peace treaty with them in 335 BC before embarking on the conquest of Persia. After his death, the Celts again became a threat to the Greeks. Attracted by the wealth accumulated in Greek temples, the Galatian Celts invaded Macedonia in 281 BC. NS. and destroyed the temple at Delphi in 279 BC. NS.

Celtic Waterloo helmet, found at Thames (London), Iron Age, 150-50 BC, British Museum

The Celts lost to the Romans, mainly due to disunity and intra-tribal strife.

It is assumed that Julius Caesar destroyed 1 in 10 million Celts in Gaul and drove another million into slavery. In modern terms, this could be called genocide.

Religion and Belief

Like the Greeks, Romans, Germans and Hindus, the Celts had polytheism - they were pagans. Religious beliefs varied from one region to another, but some gods, such as Lug, the sun god, were recognized throughout the Celtic world. Like the Romans, the Celts did not hesitate to honor foreign gods.

The Gundestrup cauldron is a silver, apparently ritual vessel, dated to the 1st century BC, belongs to the late La Tene culture. Found in a peat bog in Denmark, disassembled into plates. Stored in the National Museum of Denmark. Diameter 69 cm, height 42 cm. The images on the cauldron seem to illustrate some kind of Celtic myth, possibly about Cernunnos.

Druids were not only priests, soothsayers and astronomers, they were also judges, mediators and political advisers, they played a large role in decisions related to the declaration of war or peace. To become a druid, you had to study for 20 years.Like the Christian clergy in the Middle Ages, the Druids, as a rule, were from noble families and were trained from childhood. Large druidic centers were located in Great Britain and in the central part of Gaul (French territory).

In Celtic religion oaks were of paramount importance. The druids ritually cut the mistletoe from the oak trees. The word "druid" is associated with the Celtic word for oak, and the gathering place of the Galatian druids was calledDrunemeton, literally "oak sanctuary". "Nemeton" is most often interpreted as a sacred grove. Non-Metones are found throughout the Celtic world - in Spain, Scotland, Central Turkey, etc. The word is associated with the Nemeth tribe, who lived on the Rhine between the Palatinate and Lake Constance, their goddess was called Nemetona.

The Celts practiced ritual human sacrifices to the gods, usually near water (lake, river) and / or in forest groves. The victims were most often prisoners of war or criminals. Druids could be both judges and priests, that is, to make decisions on civil and military executions, which were accompanied by the celebration of the gods.

The Celts did not believe in heaven or hell, but believed in reincarnation on Earth, regardless of their actions in life.Celtic warriors decapitated defeated enemies after battle, and took their heads home as trophies.Sometimes they replaced people with huge amphoras of wine and imitated decapitation by cutting off the top of the amphora with a sword. The spilled wine symbolized blood.

One of the most famous gods in Gaul - Lug (us), in Irish mythology - Lugh. His main sanctuary was in Lugdunum (modern Lyon). This god was the patron saint of trade and commerce, the patron saint of travelers, the inventor of all arts, his attributes allow him to be identified as the equivalent of the Roman god Mercury and the Greek Hermes. His holiday was celebrated on August 1, the patron saint is a crow.

Celts versus Greeks and Romans

Greco-Roman authors were usually horrified by the barbaric Celtic sacrifice practices, but they themselves organized games in which people fought in arenas to death for the pleasure of spectators. In addition, the Romans executed by crucifixion political opponents and fed prisoners alive to wild beasts in the arenas. So, in general, Celtic religious sacrifices were even less brutal than Roman ones.

The Celts, especially the northern ones, were large and tall, the Romans were short, Julius Caesar, with a height of 170 cm, was considered tall for a Roman. The Celts were about a head taller than the Romans.

The Celts did not dilute wine with water, which was considered a barbaric practice by the Romans and Greeks, although in our time it is not considered barbaric at all.

Dying Gaul. Roman marble copy of a Pergamon original, probably bronze, commissioned by King Attalus I to commemorate his victory over the Celts-Galatians. Sculptor, possibly Epigon. Gallus lies on a shield, he is completely naked, torques around his neck. Capitoline Museum

Tribes and place names

The memory of the Celts is preserved in many modern place names. Bohemia got its name from the Boyi tribe who lived on its territory, Belgium - from the Belga tribe.Switzerland's ancient name, Helvetia, from the Celtic Helvetians, is sometimes still used today. Paris is named after the Parisi tribe, and Lyon is the distorted Lugdunon, after the most important Celtic deity.

This list is very long, I will only add that many rivers especially owe their names to the Celts. The Celtic word "danu", which means "to flow", is the root of some of the longest rivers in Europe, such as the Danube, Don, Dnieper and Dniester. Dora in Iberia, Dordogne, Loire, Meuse, Rhone, Seine and Thames are also of Celtic origin))

I will only add that Dan at is also the name of the ancient mother goddess in Celtic mythology. The riddles that I, in a sense, have wondered for myself, include idols found in Great Britain, reminiscent of idols - "women" of nomads, installed throughout Eurasia, Celtic axes (ibid.), King Arthur's sword, which calls into In memory of the customs of warlike Asiatic nomads, they set up altars for their rituals by thrusting a sword into the ground. Finds of ritual cauldrons, Asian mirrors, the image of a dragon in symbolism can also speak in favor of the nomads. Not to mention the houses that look like yurts or wigwams)) Of course, there is an abyss of differences between the Hallstatt mining worker, the Gaul warrior and the Irish monk) And this topic is very large, with a lot of white spots))

Being interested in any religion, I say to myself "look for a woman" (weren't the French Gauls invented this popular expression?)) The mother goddess is the most ancient component of any religious beliefs, and the very fact that a woman has great rights in Celtic society speaks of the ancient religious beliefs of the era of the mother goddess preserved among the Celts (I keep trying to avoid the word matriarchy, well, let it be ) ... Actually, in all this, perhaps, lies the clue to the red-haired Irish independent sorceresses, who, probably, have preserved some ancient inherited tricks))

In case there is a desire to continue my acquaintance with the Celtic world, I add a film))

Hello, friends!

Welcome to the Celtic World. My name is Suren Israilyan, I am from Bulgaria and I am the chairman of the Bulgarian Society „ Celtic heritage”.

The main goal of the Society- to acquaint our audience with millennial Celtic customs and holidays. Why not celebrate them with you?

You may not know that the Celtic Kingdom existed on the territory of today's Bulgaria „ THILE”In the 3rd century BC We want to recreate the celebration of the Eight Celtic Holidays, to realize the idea, and also to popularize Celtic Dishes and Music.

History of the Celts

Celts- This is probably one of the oldest pan-European civilizations, and Celtic customs and deities had a significant impact on early Christianity.

It is accepted to date the appearance of the Celts VIII-VII centuries BC, but there is evidence of their earlier presence in Europe. There is even archaeological evidence of the presence of Celts in what is now France and western Germany around 1200 BC, but most archaeologists believe that the "first Celts" were found during excavations at Hallstatt in Austria.

The Romans called the Celts - „ Gauls”, Greeks -“ Keltoi”, But in both languages ​​it is translated as“ barbarians ”. In the V-III centuries BC. The Celts are invincible, they conquer most of Europe, especially the northern part (over the Alps), and in the III century BC. head south.

Around 281 BC The Celtic army reaches the lands of today's Bulgaria and founds the Kingdom, which is called Thiele(Thile), then they continue their march to the south and in the lands of today's Turkey, in Anadol, they found the southernmost Kingdom - Galatia(Galatia). Galatia lasted more than 300 years (according to some sources - even longer), but Thiele clearly interfered with the Thracians and they destroyed this Celtic Kingdom around 218 BC.

The influence and power on the Celts is shown on this 3rd century BC map:

• yellow: Greece and the Greek Colonies.
• dark green: Hellenistic Cultures.
• green: Etruscans.
• Bordeaux: the early Roman Empire.

It is believed that the Celts appeared in the British Isles around the 5th-4th centuries BC. At this time, the bulk of the Celts lived on the mainland, but with the rise of Rome and the military campaigns of the Roman legions, the British Isles and the province of Brittany in France remained the safest places. The Romans attacked the islands several times and when England (England) was conquered, the Celtic clans moved to the regions "on the periphery" - to Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

In these lands, the Celtic influence was almost never interrupted, so today most of the Irish believe that they have Celtic roots. Many modern inhabitants of Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Brittany (France) speak Celtic dialects.

Celtic languages

Celtic languages ​​are included to the Indo-European group and are currently used on the territory of the so-called "Six Celtic Nations".

According to the organization "Celtic League" about 3 million people understand or speak Celtic dialects. These facts clearly prove that the Celtic languages ​​and culture are not dead, but are quite active factors that are developing, albeit on a regional scale.

Where do the descendants of the Celts live today?

Nowadays, people who consider themselves descendants of the Celts live in the following regions:

• Republic of Ireland(Ireland), in Celtic - “Eire”.
• Isle of Man(Isle of Man) is an independent community within Great Britain.
• County Cornwall(Cornwall), South England. Cornish (Celtic) - Kernow.
• Scotland(Scotland), in Scottish Celtic - Alba.
• Wales(Wales), in Welsh (Celtic dialect) - Cymru.
• Province of Brittany(Brittany), France, in Breton (Celtic dialect) - Breizh.

What have the Celts left to Europe and the world?

Love for "Mother Nature"

Each of the Eight Celtic Celebrations (Imbolg, Ostara, Belten, Lita, Lunasach, Lamas, Meybon, Sauin and Yul) contains rituals of veneration for "Mother Nature". At Belten, God Bel wears a tunic with green leaves and is called "Green Jack".

Even the Celtic horoscope is associated with trees: the signs of the zodiac are named with different names for trees and change every 10 days.

Equality between men and women

According to Celtic mythology, life is led by "Triple Deity": Girl, Mother and Grandmother who are symbols Life, Death and Rebirth... For this reason, it is likely that the Celts observed the first gender equality in Europe.

Celtic contemporaries describe with amazement Celtic women generals, women tradesmen and property owners, even women druids.

Iron items

Plow. When the Celts weren't fighting, they were good farmers, so good they could have up to 8 oxen on the field at a time. Therefore, they invented the metal plow, which was much more efficient in combination with an ox cart.

Sword, chain mail. A sword was found in Kirkburn (East Yorkshire), which is assembled from 70 different parts (the likely cause is a secret transport of the sword). The sword and scabbard are assembled from 70 separate parts, which speaks of the great skill of the Celtic armourers.

And here is an even more impressive fact - around the 3rd century. BC Celtic craftsmen invented the Chain Mail, which is still known today. Roman contemporaries write that the Empire copied chain mail from the bodies of the slain Celts and, thus, this attribute spread throughout Europe.

Druids

Druids were the most respected people in Celtic society. They were healers, preachers, judges, scientists and teachers. In certain cases (for example, with a sudden enemy attack) they had more rights than even the king. In practice, they tied the Celtic clans into one community. Druidry has worried people at all times, even in the 17th century it was revived as a tradition (Druid Revival). The influence of the Druids on Celtic society was so strong that the Romans, when attacking Celtic settlements, first of all killed the Druid.

Here is one of the interpretations of the Druid Philosophy - the so-called Seven Talents of Druidry:

• First Talent- a philosophy that asserts that life is a sacred gift and emphasizes the role of man in its creation.
• Second Talent- closeness to Nature, synchronization of our life with the natural cycles of Nature, and from there the development of a sense of community with all living beings.
• Third Talent- healing through experiences that support healing and rejuvenation along with mental and physical health and longevity methods.
• Fourth Talent- the perception of our life as a journey through youth, marriage and death in the name of our children.
• Fifth Talent- the discovery of New realities, New consciousness, New World, which will be built on Celtic and Druidic images and traditions.
• Sixth Talent- the development of our capabilities as a path to self-improvement, the disclosure of our creative powers, mental qualities and intuition, the development of intellectual and spiritual forces.
• Seventh Talent- Magic, which teaches how ideas become reality, how to discover, develop and use the power of the spiritual impulse, which the Druids call Awen (enlightenment, inspiration).

Celtic Holidays - Wheel of the Year

Wheel of the year Is the Celtic concept of the cycle of the seasons of life. All holidays are strongly associated with natural cycles - solstice, equinox, “quarters” (dates in the middle between solstice and equinox).

Each of these holidays has its own energy and at the same time is associated with another, and together they form an eternal cycle of life.

The Celtic Wheel introduces us to the cycles of growth, harvest, rest and renewal. Each cycle is important and cannot exist without the other.

The Celts lived and worked according to these cycles of life so that there was more “mutual understanding and success”. They believed that if they observed the cycles of the seasons and were guided by them, they could reveal many secrets of life, earth and magic.

Celtic holidays:

The dates of the Celtic holidays are not fixed, because each Celtic community celebrated them, according to various sources, from a few days to 2 weeks.

By the middle of the 1st millennium BC, Celtic tribes inhabited the basins of the Rhine, Seine, Loire and the upper Danube. This area was later called Gaul by the Romans. During the VI-III centuries, the Celts occupied the lands of modern Spain, Britain, Northern Italy, Southern Germany, the Czech Republic, partly Hungary and Transylvania.

Separate Celtic settlements were located south and east of these territories in the Illyrian and Thracian regions. In the III century BC. NS. the Celts undertook an unsuccessful campaign in Macedonia and Greece, as well as in Asia Minor, where some of the Celts settled and later became known as Galatians.

In some countries, the Celts mixed with the local population and created a new, mixed culture, such as the Celtiberian culture in Spain. In other areas, the local population was quickly Celticized, such as the Ligurs who lived in the south of France, and minor traces of its language and culture have survived only in a few geographical names and remnants of religious beliefs.

There are almost no written sources about the early period of the Celtic history. They were first mentioned by Hecateus of Miletus, then by Herodotus, who reported on Celtic settlements in Spain and on the Danube. Titus Livy testifies to the campaign of the Celts in Italy during the reign of the Roman king Tarquinius Priscus in the 6th century BC. NS.

Celtic warriors. Embossed frieze from Civito Alba. III century. BC NS. Terracotta.

In 390, one of the Celtic tribes raided Rome. At the beginning of the 4th century, the Celts offered the tyrant of Sicily Dionysius I an alliance against Locre and Croton, with whom he then fought. Later they appeared in his army as mercenaries. In 335, the Celtic tribes that lived along the shores of the Adriatic sent their representatives to Alexander the Great.

These scanty written data are supplemented by archeological materials. The spread of the so-called La Tene culture created by them is associated with the Celts. The name comes from the Bay of La Ten on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where fortifications and a large number of Celtic weapons characteristic of this culture were found.

Monuments of La Tene culture, which in the middle of the VI century BC. NS. replaced by Hallstatt, allow you to trace the gradual development of the Celtic tribes and the history of their penetration into various regions of Europe.

At the first stage of its development, in the middle of the 6th - the end of the 5th century, the La Tene culture was spread from France to the Czech Republic. A large number of swords, daggers, helmets, bronze and gold jewelry testifies to the fact that even then the Celtic craft reached a high level.

Art was also on a high level, which is proved, for example, by artistically decorated dishes. At the same time, Greek things appeared in the burials, which penetrated to the Celts through Massalia along the Rhone and Sona rivers. Greek art had a noticeable influence on the Celtic, although local craftsmen did not blindly follow the Greek patterns, but reworked them, adapting them to their tastes and traditions.

In the V-III centuries, in connection with the settling of the Celts, the La Tene culture gradually spread to other regions of Europe. The products of Celtic artisans are being improved more and more. The Greek influence is less and less felt. In the west, the typical Celtic enamel things appear. Pottery made on a potter's wheel is gaining popularity.

Celtic agriculture reaches a high level. It was the Celts who invented the heavy plow with a cutter. This plow could plow the land to a considerable deeper depth than the light plow that was used at that time by the Italians and Greeks. In agriculture, the Celts used a three-field system, which ensured good yields. In Italy, they willingly bought flour from the Celtic regions.

Moving into new areas, the Celts distributed the lands to the pagam - tribes or clans. In Britain, little connected with the outside world, tribal land ownership persisted for a long time.

On the continent, where the Celts entered into trade relations with Greek and Italian merchants, private ownership of land gradually arose. The clan community was replaced by a rural one, and the nobility stood out from among the community members, who managed to seize more land.

Weapons and household items from the burial grounds of the Laten culture (Middle Moravia).

From this nobility, the Celtic cavalry was formed, which constituted the main force of the army. The cavalry drove out the chariots that were common among the Celts, which survived only in Britain.

The remains of their fortifications - huge walls made of stone blocks, fastened with oak beams, testify to the high skill of the Celts in fortification. These so-called Gallic walls were later adopted by other peoples.

By the end of the III - beginning of the II century, trade among the continental Celts reached such a level that they began to mint their own gold and silver coins, similar to the coins of Massalia, Rhodes and Rome, as well as the Macedonian ones. At first, the coin appears among the tribes that were closely associated with the policies of the Greek and Roman world, but by the 1st century it began to be minted by more distant tribes, in the same force, the tribes of Britain.

The development of trade led to the disintegration of primitive communal relations, which proceeded especially rapidly among the tribes in direct contact with the ancient world. In the II century, the expansion of the Celts ceases. One of the reasons is a meeting with such strong opponents as the Germans, who were advancing to the Rhine, and the Romans, who in 121 captured the southern, so-called Narbonne, Gaul and increasingly asserted their influence and domination in the Danube regions.

The last major movement of the Celtic tribes was the arrival of the Belga tribe from the trans-Rhine regions, who established themselves in the north of Gaul and in some of the Rhine regions of Germany. By the end of the 2nd century BC. NS. the Celts have already reached the last stage of the decay of the primitive communal system. The tribal nobility owned vast lands and slaves, which were used as servants.

Many clan members of the community fell into dependence on the nobility and were forced to cultivate their land, paying a certain fee, as well as join the squads and fight for their leaders. By this time, individual pags had already united into more or less large tribal communities. The most significant of these were the Aedui and Ervern communities.

Communities subjugated less powerful tribes, which fell into dependence on them. Cities began to emerge, which were centers of crafts and trade, and in some cases, political centers. The cities were usually well fortified.

Most of the Celtic tribes developed a semblance of an aristocratic republic, somewhat similar to the early Roman republic. The former tribal leaders, whom the ancient authors called kings, were expelled. They were replaced by the council of the aristocracy and magistrates chosen from among them - the so-called vergobrets. The main task of the vergobrets was the introduction of the court.

Often, individual representatives of the nobility tried to seize sole power. They were supported by the squad and the people, who hoped that they would limit the power of the landowners who oppressed him. But such attempts were usually quickly suppressed.

Along with the nobility, which the Romans called horsemen, the priesthood, the druids, also played an important role. They were organized into a corporation led by the arch druid, freed from military service and payment of taxes and were revered as keepers of divine wisdom and some, however, rather meager knowledge. Among the druids, representatives of the aristocracy were accepted, who mastered their teachings.

Druids met annually and performed their judgment. The decisions of this court were strictly binding on all Gauls. The rebellious Druids were forbidden to participate in religious ceremonies, which separated them from society.

The teachings of the Druids were secret and taught orally. It took up to 20 years to master it. Little is known about its content. Apparently, the basis of the teachings of the Druids was the idea of ​​the immortality of the soul or the transmigration of souls and the idea of ​​the end of the world, which will be destroyed by fire and water. It is difficult to determine how much this teaching influenced the religion of the Celts, about which very little is also known. Along with the cult of the spirits of the forest, mountains, rivers, streams, etc., the cult of the gods of the sun, the thunder of war, life and death, crafts, eloquence, etc. was formed. Human sacrifices were made to some of these gods.

Not all Celtic tribes were at the same stage of development. The northern tribes more distant from Italy, in particular the Belgae, still lived in a primitive communal system, just like the British Celts. Attempts of Roman penetration were met with sharp resistance here. On the contrary, the tribes of southern Gaul, especially the Aedui, were already on the verge of transition to a class society and state. The local nobility, in the struggle with their fellow tribesmen and other tribes, sought the help of Rome, which subsequently facilitated the conquest of Gaul and its transformation into a Roman province.