The warrior class
Most primitive societies had a warrior class: both the
early Greeks and the Romans did. The Celts were no
exception. Their warriors were drawn from what we would
describe as the middle and upper class. The warrior class
did the actual fighting: the free poor served as chariot
drivers. The Celt was a warrior in the heroic sense.
Everything had to be larger than life. He lived for war.
His glorification of bravery often led him to
recklessness. Part of a warriors ritual was to boast of
his victories, and fighting between warriors was an
important part of life.Armour and
weapons
Most Celts scorned the use of armour and before about 300
B.C. preferred to fight naked. Some Celtic tribes still
fought naked at the battle of Telamon in 225 B.C. The
Celt was renowned as a swords-man but he also used
javelins and spears. Two spears which were found at La
Tene in Switzerland were nearly 2.5m long. His only
protection was his large shield which was usually oval.
The suggestion that the Celt wore heavy bracelets in
battle has to be questioned, as it is hard to understand
how they would stay on his arm whilst he wielded his
sword. Dionysius tells us that in battle the Celts
whirled their swords above their heads, slashing the air
from side to side, then struck downwards at their enemies
as if chopping wood. It was this use of the sword that so
terrified their enemies. The Celts did not fight in a
rabble as is so often supposed. They were organized in
companies. This can be proved by their use of standards.
Headhunters
The Celt was a head-hunter. In battle he would cut off
the head of his fallen enemy and often hang it from his
horse's neck. After battle he would display the severed
head at the entrance to his temple. The severed head is a
constant theme in Celtic art. At the battle of
Beneventumin 214 B.C. the Roman general Gracchus had to
order his army of freed slaves (presumably Celts) to stop
collecting heads and get on with the fighting. After a
battle the Celts would often dedicate their enemies
weapons to the gods and throw them into a river or lake.
The hundreds of weapons that have been dredged from the
Lake of Neuchatel at La Tene were such offerings. In fact
the site at La Tene has revealed so many Celtic artifacts
that its name has been given to the whole Celtic culture.
The chiefs
The chiefs and the wealthiest Celts often did wear armour
particularly when they came into contact with the Greeks
and Romans. They often adopted items of Greek or Roman
armour. A pair of greaves were found in the chieftain's
grave at Ciumesti. Several graves have been found in
Northern Italy which contain Etruscan armour and Celtic
weapons. Before a battle the chiefs would ride out, in
front of the army clashing their weapons on their
shields, proclaiming their great deeds and challenging
the enemy to single combat. Caesar describes the British
as dressed in skins (meaning leather) and decorated with
woad, a blue dye. Some tattooed skin from a Scythian
grave of this period suggests that the Britons were
tattooed in blue.
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