Indo-European War Bands Kóryos
In Indo-European cultures it was a common practice for a group of young men in their teenage years to participate in a war band (kóryos). The men had not yet built up wealth or influence and had to prove themselves. These small groups often formed a cult in which a god was central and associated itself with the wolf, boar, or bear. Examples of this appear throughout Indo-European cultures, such as the Germanic Berserker, the Celtic Fianna, the Roman Velites, and the Spartan Crypteia. The animals represented their cunning, strength, and aggression.
After undergoing painful trials to enter the group, they were sent off to live as landless warriors in the wild for a number of years. They lived in groups ranging from two to twelve members. Within a group, lawless actions such as night raids and cattle theft were common. The young men had no possessions other than their weapons. They lived on the fringes of society and off what nature provided them. Their lives revolved on one side around fighting, hunting wild game, and plundering settlements, and on the other side around reciting heroic stories. Those stories told of the deeds of heroes from the past and described legends of cattle theft. The initiation within the kóryos was seen as a transition phase preceding the status of adult warrior and was usually crowned with participation in the tribe or city-state. The kóryos were symbolically associated with death and liminality, but also with fertility and sexual excess.
Celtic Mythology
The Celtic warfare had a strong mythological character. In the tribal structure of Celtic society small armed conflicts were presumably a daily occurrence. Due to the war-focused culture, relations between tribes were likely continuously tested. This led to a form of competition in which tribes were forced to perform their best militarily. The Celtic tribes seem to have viewed warfare more as sport than as a means of conquest. Cattle raiding created a certain degree of economic damage to other tribes, but war bands used it primarily to prove themselves.
Celtic mythology suffered from the influence of Roman conquest, which resulted in fragmentation. Most continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls, Galatians, and Celtiberians, saw their mythologies disappear. What remains are only fragments, found in Greek-Roman sources and archaeological finds. The most intact Celtic mythologies can be found among the Insular Celtic peoples who passed their stories and traditions down orally. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that these were written down by Christian scholars, long after the pre-Christian period in which they originated had passed. Irish mythology has the largest collection of written myths, followed by Welsh mythology. Other remains can be found in Cornish mythology, Breton mythology, and Scottish mythology.
Celtic Political Structure
Celtic tribes were not only involved in conflicts within their own communities, but sometimes also formed alliances with external powers such as the Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians, Etruscans, and Germanic tribes. These alliances were directed both at each other and against other Celtic groups. The organizational structures of Celtic tribes and societies varied greatly. While some groups had tight hierarchical systems, with a monarchy at the top, others displayed a more representative organizational structure typical of a republic, especially during the Gallic Wars.
The historical Celtic groups were diverse and included the Belgae, Bituriges, Boii, Britons, Celtiberians, Gaels, Galatians, Gallaeci, Gauls, Helvetii, Lepontii, Norici, and the Volcae. These groups were often sources of cultural spread and change through descent, migration, and the spread of Celtic influences. This created a patchwork of thousands of different Celtic tribes that ruled over large parts of Europe. Each tribe viewed the territory they ruled as their territory and linked their structure to that territory. In some cases, tribes could conquer each other, but the inhabited territory remained with the respective tribe. This created a structure of kings and high kings.
Archaeology
Archaeology has provided much insight into the material culture of the Celts, especially that of the La Tène culture and the Hallstatt culture. Nevertheless, the interpretation of these finds remains subject to much speculation and debate. For a long time, for example, it was thought that the Celts were headhunters, but recent research in France suggests that the collected heads may have come from slain allies, which were displayed in colonnades, while the vanquished were buried in mass graves and their weapons ritually broken.
Champion Fights
Champion fights formed a significant part of Celtic mythology, as seen in stories such as the Ulster Cycle, the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, and the Arthurian Cycle. In the Táin Bó Cúailnge, particularly the epic story of the Ulaid hero Cú Chulainn, he defeats an entire army from Connacht one by one in a heroic duel.
These legends paint vivid pictures of battle, in which the spear (gae) and the gá-ín (Old Irish has dozens of words for 'spear') play a central role, without mentioning helmets or metal armor, which is consistent with archaeological findings. War chariots were also of great importance in the warfare and culture of various Celtic groups. The burial of these chariots served as an important and unifying element in Celtic cultures such as the Hallstatt culture, La Tène culture, Gallic and Brythonic cultures. Notably, no remains of such vehicles from that period have yet been discovered in Ireland.
Celtic Weapons
The weapons and armor of the Celts were actually very advanced. They were known as master iron smiths in cultures such as Hallstatt, La Tène, and the province of Noricum. Despite descriptions by classical writers such as Livy and Florus who portrayed the Celts as "fighting like wild beasts," Julius Caesar contradicts this portrayal. In his accounts of battles against Gallic tribes, in the Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Caesar describes continental Celts fighting in an organized manner and even adopting formations, such as a Phalanx or Testudo, as defense against charging cavalry. This stands in stark contrast to the stereotype of the disorganized, naked Celtic barbarian described in other Greek-Roman sources.
Celtic Infantry
Tacitus wrote that the strength of the Celts lay in their infantry, an observation that was often confirmed during early encounters and battles between the Celts and their Greek-Roman contemporaries. Although the tactics and equipment of Celtic infantry differed considerably from group to group, there were some common elements. The average Celtic warrior carried spears, and for the wealthy a spear or sword and a shield. Although some classical sources, such as Polybius, initially suggest that the equipment of the Celts was generally simple and inferior, the adoption of Celtic weapons and technology by many classical contemporaries tells a different story.
Celtic Cavalry
Celtic peoples were also known for their horsemanship, both on and off the battlefield. Horses played an important role in overall Celtic culture, with ownership linked to both social and financial status. Strabo even wrote that, although all Gauls were naturally excellent warriors, they fought better on horseback than on foot, and that the best Roman cavalry was recruited from their ranks. Gallic mounted auxiliary troops were often employed by the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. These Celtic mercenaries, led by Publius Licinius Crassus, held their ground against a Parthian force during this crucial conflict.
War Chariots
In earlier confrontations with the Romans, such as the Battle of Sentinum, some Celts made use of war chariots. Although war chariots fell out of use at the end of the 3rd century BC on the European continent, Caesar discovered that they still played an important role in British warfare. According to his descriptions, he found himself in Britain facing an army that was in a transition phase, with cavalry present, but an elite that still fought from war chariots. He describes how these warriors threw spears from their vehicles before engaging in battle on foot, and then returned to their chariots to retreat or attack again. Cavalry was used for skirmishing. Gauls noted that they had formerly used war chariots themselves, but had since abandoned them.
Their fighting method with war chariots proceeded as follows: initially they rode in various directions, threw their weapons and disturbed the ranks of the enemy, solely through fear of their horses and the sound of their wheels. However, when they had worked themselves between the enemy's horses, they jumped from their chariots and continued the fight on foot. Meanwhile, the chariot drivers withdrew somewhat from the battle, strategically positioned near the chariots, so they could easily retreat to their own troops if their masters were overwhelmed by enemy superiority. Thus they displayed in battle the speed of a horse, combined with the steadfastness of the infantry.
Naked Warriors
At the Battle of Telamon (225 BC), Gallic warriors allegedly wore only breeches and capes. In the Norse tradition, Berserkers scorned the use of armor and preferred to wear only an animal skin. Ancient Italic tribes also had 'mad' warriors in their ranks who fought naked, barefoot, with flowing hair, and often in single combat. Young Vedic boys also wore only a belt and an animal skin during their initiation within the kóryos. The belt stood as a sign of binding to the kóryos. The Greek historian Herodotus mentions that Gauls sometimes fought naked. Tacitus reports of the Germanic tribes the Cimbri and Teutons that they fought naked in a kind of battle frenzy. Many depictions of Gallic warriors also show the warrior naked. Both the Romans and the Celts themselves sometimes depicted their warriors naked, such as on the statue of the Clauberg warrior. But many depictions show the warriors not naked. Which again points to a ritual form of warfare rather than usual military actions.
Terracotta Sculpture Egypt
A terracotta sculpture of a naked Galatian/Celtic warrior, found in Egypt and dating from the 3rd-2nd century BC. The Galatians were hired in large numbers by the Ptolemaic government to serve as mercenaries, with various communities of them residing in the nomes of Egypt. The Celtic warrior is depicted naked and wears a cloak and a belt.
Hirschlanden Warrior
The Celtic warrior of Hirschland is part of a burial mound from the Hallstatt D period, 6th-5th century BC. The sculpture possibly represents the owner of the burial mound. This indicates that warriors did not fight naked for financial reasons.
Composition
In this composition we have created a Celtic warrior who is part of a war band. Often they fought naked or wearing only a cloak or breeches. The character in this composition is called Ambiorix and is 21 years old. He is thus likely at the end of his period as a member of the war band. Soon his war band will return to the tribe to celebrate their heroic victories and to marry and have children. He will then
