The Celts
The term ‘Celt’ is a generic one, applied to a group of northern European Indo-European tribes with a shared language and culture. Warfare was a large part of that culture, and the Celts were renown for their ferocity and bravery. They were regarded as a plague by the Romans until they finally subdued them. But even so, the army of Rome was not above using Celtic mercenaries and auxiliaries in the military.
The Celts first make their appearance in written history in 390BC when a group from Gaul attacked the Etruscans in the Po valley. The Romans were called in to negotiate between the two sides. During the talks, the Roman emissary killed one of the Gaulish leaders. Outraged, the Celts demanded the death of the murderer. When the Senate refused, the Celts besieged Rome. They invaded the city and besieged the Romans on the Capitoline Hill. They only left when the defeated Romans paid a high ransom.
Terror and intimidation seemed to be the key Celtic tactics. Polybius, writing of Celts in the second century AD, describes their enemies as: “terrified by the fine order of the Celtic host, and the dreadful din, for there were innumerable horn -blowers and trumpeters, and…the whole army were shouting their war-cries…Very terrifying too were the appearance and the gestures of the naked warriors in front, all in the prime of life and finely built men, and all in the leading companies richly adorned with gold torcs and armlets.”
So appearance and behavior played a part in Celtic tactics. The furor celtica as the Romans called it saw the Warriors’ race headlong into the fight, wild with battle rage. But it would be wrong to assume that Celtic battle tactics were haphazard. Chariots, in particular, were utilized skillfully in combat. The Celtic chariot was lightweight and had a flexible rope suspension that made it easy to steer and drive along rough terrain. These chariots could be driven skillfully into the midst of battle, allowing warriors to throw spears and intimidate the enemy infantry or else jump down and join the fray.