Who Were the Celts?
To the ancient Greeks and Romans the Celts were enemies. Celts were merely the barbarians of Western Europe who had to be defeated or at least contained. From the fourth century BCE forward, the world of Mediterranean culture clashed with the world of migrating Celtic culture. The Greeks and Romans identified the barbarians by various names: Keltoi, Celtae, Galatae and Galli. These groups of raiders, mercenaries and settlers became the source material for Grecco-Roman accounts that identified the Celts as warriors.
During the Iron Age, roughly the fifth century BCE, the Le Téne culture emerged within central Gaul as the elite group of Celts. From this central location what is today recognized as “Celtic Art” spread throughout the Atlantic zone. However, to the south and east of Gaul, a different form of Celtic culture impinged upon the boarders of the civilized world in Italy, Spain, Anatolia and the Balkans. It is impossible to know of the people modern scholars identify as “Celts” actually thought of themselves as Celts. The modern popular notion of all things "Celtic" is a backward construction based on a few facts and large doses of creative fiction and baseless assumptions.
The ancient Celtic regions fell under two irrepressible forces. One was the demographic blending of Celtic people with peoples from other places, notabley, the Mediterranean, Africa, Turkey and the Balkans. The second force was Roman culture imposed by conquest. Both of these forces resulted in the Celts adopting new languages and new identities. In a short time, memories of ancestry and tribe were superseded by new understandings of ethnicity. European Celts were never truly defeated. They simply blended into a new and changing population. By the seventh century CE most of Gaul and much of Britain had lost their Celtic identity. The Viking and Norman expansions that followed obliterated most continental remnants of Celtic culture.
The usurpation of continental Celtic culture during first eight centuries of the Common Era did not occur in the British Isles, Ireland and that portion of France the Romans called “Armoica” (more or less today’s Brittany). The peoples of these places held onto their Celtic languages and identities. In fact their sense of belonging to a common culture intensified. The sea continued to be their primary transportation, trade and communications link with each other. From the third century CE forward the Celts created a unique interpretation of Christianity which is vividly recognizable in Celtic Christian art.
By the eighteenth century CE the understanding of ancient Celtic identity was embraced as a tool of nationalism. A stew of wholly false modern inventions, folk traditions, yearnings for pedigree and political aspirations was in full play. Much of that dubious reading and application of historic and archaeological facts can be seen in the neo-Celtic revival of today.
The truth of history is that the Celts were an ancient and storied people whose identity is constantly redefined to meet contemporary needs and aspirations. Those living today who were born in the Six Celtic Nations may have bona fide claims on being Celtic. Their connection to antiquity is most certainly through the Celtic language and to some extent through the arts. However, the beliefs and behaviors of the original Celts are long gone and unlikely to return.
So, who is a Celt today? The scholarly debate will certainly continue. However, Professor Barry Cunlifee of Oxford University offers the best definition:
To the ancient Greeks and Romans the Celts were enemies. Celts were merely the barbarians of Western Europe who had to be defeated or at least contained. From the fourth century BCE forward, the world of Mediterranean culture clashed with the world of migrating Celtic culture. The Greeks and Romans identified the barbarians by various names: Keltoi, Celtae, Galatae and Galli. These groups of raiders, mercenaries and settlers became the source material for Grecco-Roman accounts that identified the Celts as warriors.
During the Iron Age, roughly the fifth century BCE, the Le Téne culture emerged within central Gaul as the elite group of Celts. From this central location what is today recognized as “Celtic Art” spread throughout the Atlantic zone. However, to the south and east of Gaul, a different form of Celtic culture impinged upon the boarders of the civilized world in Italy, Spain, Anatolia and the Balkans. It is impossible to know of the people modern scholars identify as “Celts” actually thought of themselves as Celts. The modern popular notion of all things "Celtic" is a backward construction based on a few facts and large doses of creative fiction and baseless assumptions.
The ancient Celtic regions fell under two irrepressible forces. One was the demographic blending of Celtic people with peoples from other places, notabley, the Mediterranean, Africa, Turkey and the Balkans. The second force was Roman culture imposed by conquest. Both of these forces resulted in the Celts adopting new languages and new identities. In a short time, memories of ancestry and tribe were superseded by new understandings of ethnicity. European Celts were never truly defeated. They simply blended into a new and changing population. By the seventh century CE most of Gaul and much of Britain had lost their Celtic identity. The Viking and Norman expansions that followed obliterated most continental remnants of Celtic culture.
The usurpation of continental Celtic culture during first eight centuries of the Common Era did not occur in the British Isles, Ireland and that portion of France the Romans called “Armoica” (more or less today’s Brittany). The peoples of these places held onto their Celtic languages and identities. In fact their sense of belonging to a common culture intensified. The sea continued to be their primary transportation, trade and communications link with each other. From the third century CE forward the Celts created a unique interpretation of Christianity which is vividly recognizable in Celtic Christian art.
By the eighteenth century CE the understanding of ancient Celtic identity was embraced as a tool of nationalism. A stew of wholly false modern inventions, folk traditions, yearnings for pedigree and political aspirations was in full play. Much of that dubious reading and application of historic and archaeological facts can be seen in the neo-Celtic revival of today.
The truth of history is that the Celts were an ancient and storied people whose identity is constantly redefined to meet contemporary needs and aspirations. Those living today who were born in the Six Celtic Nations may have bona fide claims on being Celtic. Their connection to antiquity is most certainly through the Celtic language and to some extent through the arts. However, the beliefs and behaviors of the original Celts are long gone and unlikely to return.
So, who is a Celt today? The scholarly debate will certainly continue. However, Professor Barry Cunlifee of Oxford University offers the best definition:
“To what extent the Celticism of the Atlantic facade is a survival or revival is a matter for
anthropologists to debate. What is not in doubt, as anyone familiar with Galicia, Brittany,
Ireland, Scotland, or Wales will well know, is the very strong emotional appeal which the
idea of sharing a common Celtic heritage has. Perhaps the only real definition of a Celt,
now as in the past, is that a Celt is a person who believes him- or herself to be Celtic.”
anthropologists to debate. What is not in doubt, as anyone familiar with Galicia, Brittany,
Ireland, Scotland, or Wales will well know, is the very strong emotional appeal which the
idea of sharing a common Celtic heritage has. Perhaps the only real definition of a Celt,
now as in the past, is that a Celt is a person who believes him- or herself to be Celtic.”