Ancient
The first recorded use of the name 'Celts' – as Κελτοί (Keltoi) in Ancient Greek – was by Greek geographer Hecataeus of Miletus in 517 BC, when writing about a people living near See more

Continental
Gaul
The Romans knew the Celts then living in present-day France … See more

Under Caesar the Romans conquered Celtic Gaul, and from Claudius onward the Roman empire absorbed parts of Britain. Roman local government of these regions closely mirrored pre … See more

Tribal warfare appears to have been a regular feature of Celtic societies. While epic literature depicts this as more of a sport focused on … See more

The Celtic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages. By the time Celts are first mentioned in written records around 400 BC, they were already split into several … See more

To the extent that sources are available, they depict a pre-Christian Iron Age Celtic social structure based formally on class and kingship, although this may only have been a particular … See more

Ancient Celtic religion
Like other European Iron Age societies, the Celts practised a polytheistic religion and believed in an See more