History of Britain: The Celtic People

This is a part of an ongoing series of articles concerning ''The History of Britain''. Although the series of articles can be read separately, it is advised to read the series starting from the beginning as they are connected to each other chronologically and serve as a piece of puzzle to make up a full set. In the previous article; Prehistoric Britain, until the Iron Age was covered. This article continues with the Celtic People, the warrior elites, who occupied the island until the Roman invasions that ended the Celtic inhabitance.

During the Iron Age, the island witnessed major developments. The abundance of natural materials and proper living conditions after the end of the ice age made Britain a perfect inhabitant place, especially for the mighty warriors called 'The Celtic people' or 'Celts'.

Celtic Mighty Warriors

PART ONE: TRACING A CIVILIZATION

The Celts arrived from central Europe to Britain around 500 BC. Around the years 750 BC to 12 BC, the Celtic people were among the most powerful tribes in both northern and central Europe. It is not entirely known how the Celts emerged or where they came from. There were numerous tribes of Celts scattered around the area. They were farmers who lived in small villages as a close-knit community. Although there were many Celtic tribes, they shared a similar language, customs, traditions as well as religion. They later spread and scattered through Western Europe to various countries such as Spain, Portugal, France as well as England, and Ireland.

Celtic Map

Starting from the first century BCE, The Roman Empire started to expand its territories as they advanced politically which led them to also expand their military forces. By the orders of the emperor Julius Ceaser, a series of attacks on Celts were made attempting to kill and drive them off Europe. The Roman military forces had an opportunity as a well-advanced military force which made them easier to defat Celts as the indigenous people, Although they were barbaric warriors as perceived through the eyes of the Romans, they had no advantage compared to Roman forces. However, the army of Ceaser could not defeat the Celts in Britain. Besides, there were some political difficulties in Rome so their plan to acquire the island was delayed until the death of Julius Ceaser.

PART TWO: THE CUSTOMS - TRADITIONS AND RELIGIONS

There is little evidence to support the religious beliefs of Celts. According to the findings they believed in the afterlife as they were buried with various tools, instruments as well as food products.''The druids, the early Celtic priesthood, taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls and discussed the nature and power of the gods. The Irish believed in an otherworld, imagined sometimes as underground and sometimes as islands in the sea. The otherworld was variously called “the Land of the Living,” “Delightful Plain,” and “Land of the Young” and was believed to be a country where there was no sickness, old age, or death, where happiness lasted forever, and a hundred years was as one day. It was similar to the Elysium of the Greeks and may have belonged to ancient Indo-European tradition.'' (Britannica).

Halloween also has roots in one of the religious Celtic rituals, Samhain, which is a pagan religious festival that was celebrated in Celtic Ireland. ''Samhain was the division of the year between the lighter half (summer) and the darker half (winter). At Samhain the division between this world and the otherworld was at its thinnest, allowing spirits to pass through. The family's ancestors were honored and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. People wore costumes and masks to disguise themselves as harmful spirits and thus avoid harm. Bonfires and food played a large part in the festivities. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into a communal fire, and household fires were extinguished, and started again from the bonfire. Food was prepared for the living and the dead, food for the ancestors who were in no position it eat it, was ritually shared with the less well off.'' (Gilory).

Samhain

Later, inspired by the Celtic tradition, Christianity added the honoring of the dead into the calendar with All Hallows on the first of November followed by All Souls on November 2nd. Wearing masks and costumes to get rid of harmful spirits continued as a Halloween tradition. The Irish migrated to America during the 19th century in a time of famine. Thus, Irish people carried their Halloween traditions to America, which is celebrated as an important holiday of the year. However, over time other traditions have blended with Halloween as well, such as the American harvest-time that created the tradition of carving pumpkins.

PART THREE: THE LINGUISTIC ORIGIN AND DEFEAT OF THE CELTS

It was the Romans who named Celts as a number of them were encountered during their voyages. The word Celt derives from a Greek word, Keltoi, meaning barbarian. The Celtic people did not name themselves as ''Celts'' and no one referred to them as Celts until the 18th century. The name Celt is rather modern and it is used to mainly refer to all the tribes of people living around Northern and Central Europe during the Iron Age. Instead, Romans called them Britons. ''The first report of islands in the far west which can be associated with Britain and Ireland are to be found in Herodotus, the Greek father of history, in the fifth century BCE. Herodotus wrote of islands known as the Cassiterides but of which he had no information beyond their name. We owe the name of Britain to Pytheas of Massalia, a Greek explorer from present-day Marseille, who traveled to Britain in around 325 BCE and recorded the local names of the places he visited.'' (Crowley). Pytheas of Massalia named the island Prettania which later turned into Britannia and eventually Britain.

Julius Ceaser's attempt at invasion and slaughter of Celts

As Emperor Julius Ceaser struggled to drive off the Clets during the series of wars also referred to the indigenous people in his book Gaelic Wars, which is a war account written by the emperor himself;

Most of the inland inhabitants do not sow corn, but live on milk and flesh, and are clad with skins. All the Britons, indeed, dye themselves with wood, which occasions a bluish colour, and thereby have a more terrible appearance in fight. They wear their hair long, and have every part of their body shaved except their head and upper lip. Ten and even twelve have wives common to them, and particularly brothers among brothers, and parents among their children; but if there be any issue by these wives, they are reputed to be the children of those by whom respectively each was first espoused when a virgin. (Ceaser).

Yet, Ceaser is murdered and his glory is postponed until emperor Claudius successfully invades Britain in 43 AD by driving the Celts away. After that, a long period of glorious Roman rule started.

Roman Invasion and Massacre of Britons / Celts

In conclusion, Celtic people or Britons were the indigenous people in Britain where they covered a large area including Scotland and Ireland during the Iron Age. They were the warrior elites who consisted of a number of tribes scattered through Northern and Western Europe. They shared similar customs and traditions as well as spiritual and religious beliefs. When the Roman Empire rose around the first century BCE during the rule of the emperor Julius Caesar, they wanted to gain dominion over Europe and Britain. They launched a series of attacks and war which brought the end of many Celtic tribes. However, Ceaser's attempt to take over England was unsuccessful. During the time of the emperor Claudius, Britain was taken by Romans successfully which marked the start of long Roman rule in Britain.

SOURCES CITED:

Polybius. ''The Histories of Polybius'' Contributor: Otto Hultsch, Friedrich. Translator: Shirley Shuckburgh, Evelyn. November 8, 2013, Project Gutenberg. Accessed from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44125/44125-h/44125-h.htm 11 September 2023

Ceaser, Julius. "De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries'. Project Gutenberg. Translator: W. A. McDevitte. January 1, 2004. Acessed fromhttps://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10657/pg10657.html 11 September 2023

Gilory, John. ''Samhain (Samain) - The Celtic roots of Halloween'' An excerpt from Tlachtga: Celtic Fire Festival . Accessed from https://www.newgrange.com/samhain.htm 11 September 2023

Dillon, Myles and Mac Cana, Proinsias. ''Celtic religion: Druidism, Mythology & Rituals: Beliefs, practices, and institutions''. Britannica. Accessed from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Celtic-religion 11 September 2023