Celtic or Gallic warrior -Vacheres

Golden is their hair and golden their garb. They are resplendent in their striped cloaks, and their milk-white necks are circled with gold."

-- Virgil, 1st century B.C. poet

 

 

Statue of a Gallic warrior only partly Romanised -Museum Calvet – Avignon, France , a Trajanic short hair style , often what slaves had.

 

 

 

Front face and shield shot here :

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Guerrier_de_V...

 

Comparison on Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/nerdimus_prime/457946597/

 

This armour uses a highly unusual vertical orientation of the rings.The Vachères warrior, a statue of a Gaulish warrior is also wearing roman clothing (ca. 1st century BC). After the Roman conquest of Gaul (finished in 51 BC), "romanisation" of the Celtic upper classes proceeded more rapidly than the "romanisation" of the lower classes. These classes may have spoken a Latin language mixed with Gallic. The Gauls wore the roman tunic instead of local vestimentary inhabits. The roman-gauls generally lived in the vici, small villages built like in Italy or in villae, for the richest.This process spread among many other Celtic tribes as far east as Pannonia or modern Hungary at least.A museum in Budapest has several Romano-Celtic tombs from a century later.Upon subduing the Gauls, who esteemed long hair as a distinct honour, Julius Caesar required them to cut their hair as a token of submission. (Kentsmith, 1973 at pg. 573).

 

The first literary reference to the collective Celtic people, as Κελτοί (Κeltoi), is by the Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus in 517 BC some three hundered years after they crossed Europe ; he locates the 'Keltoi' tribe in Rhenania (West/Southwest Germany). The next Greek reference to the ''Keltoi'' is by Herodotus in the mid 5th century B.C. He says that "the river Ister (Danube) begins from the ''Keltoi'' and the city of Pyrene and so runs that it divides Europe in the midst (now the ''Keltoi'' are outside the Pillars of Heracles (Rock of Gibraltar) and border upon the Kynesians, who dwell furthest towards the sunset (West) of all those who have their dwelling in Europe)".

Indigenous tribes names were known collectively by others outside the culture, tribes would have been related under a confederacy,not one nation, perhaps two main branches going by language in the far western isles Brythonic/Cumbric (British) and Golidelic (Gaelic). There was also a tribe called 'Celti' inhabiting Spain (Iberia) .

 

Surviving Celtic influences also infiltrated back into the Roman Imperial culture in the 3rd century. For example, the Gaulish tunic—which apparently gave Emperor Caracalla his surname—had not been replaced by any Roman vestment fashion. Similarly, certain Gaulish artisan techniques, such as the barrel (more durable than the Roman amphora) , cleanliness and use of soap , and chain mail were adopted by the Romans.

 

"The voices of the generality are formidable and threatening, whether they are in good humour or angry: they are all exceedingly careful of cleanliness and neatness, nor in all the country, and most especially in Acquitania, could any man or woman, however poor, be seen either dirty or ragged."

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorica_hamata

 

The knowledge on the manufacturing of mail may have come from third century BC conflicts with the Celts, though the first documented use occurred during the Roman conquest of Hispania. There were several versions of this type of armour, specialized for different military duties such as skirmishers, cavalry and spearmen.

 

Gaul (Latin: Gallia) was the Roman/Latin name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine. In English, the word Gaul (French: Gaulois) may also refer to an inhabitant of that region, although the expression may be used more generally for all ancient speakers of the Gaulish language (a derivative of early Celtic) who were widespread in Europe and extended even into central Anatolia by Roman times.

 

Gauls under a chieftain Brennos I (or Brennus with latin ending) sacked Rome circa 390 BC. This created a long held fear exploited by Caesar ,Tacitus etc of the "terror Gallicus".

In the Aegean world, a huge migration of Eastern Gauls appeared in Thrace, north of Greece, in 281 BC. Another Gaulish chieftain also named Brennus or Brennos II, at the head of a large army, was only turned back from desecrating the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece at the last minute — he was alarmed, it was said, by portents of thunder and lightning. At the same time a migrating band of Celts, three tribes, some 10,000 warriors, with their women and children and slaves, were moving through Thrace. The three tribes of Gauls crossed over from Thrace to Asia Minor at the express invitation of Nicomedes I, king of Bithynia (which was a small geographical location just south of the Bosphorus and the Euxine (Black Sea) in the northern area of modern-day Turkey, i.e just south and southeast of the latter-day city of Constantinople, or modern-day Istanbul), who required help in a dynastic struggle against his brother. Eventually they settled down in eastern Phrygia and Cappadocia in central Anatolia, a region henceforth known as Galatia.

 

Chain Mail was invented some time in the mid 1st millennium BC, but it is unknown where and by whom it was first used. It may have been invented independently in East Asia and in Europe. The earliest finds are from a 4th century BC (Rusu, M., “Das Keltische Fürstengrab von Ciumeşti in Rumänien”, Germania 50, 1969, pp.267-269) Celtic chieftain's burial located in Ciumeşti, Romania. "The earliest finds of mail are from the 3rd century BC from Horny Jatov, Slovakia and a Celtic chieftain's burial located in Ciumeşti, Romania"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_%28arm…

 

www.gallica.co.uk/celts/clothing2.htm

 

The Celtic peoples of Europe are descended from an Indo-European group who spread their culture across central Asia, the whole of Europe, and as far north as Jutland or Scandinavia. They were a lively extrovert people who loved decoration and bright colours and had been influenced by the Asian cultures towards India. By the time they had reached Britain, the Celtic tribes had developed a distinctive style of their own. The information that follows is based on archaeological evidence, Roman and Greek sculptures, and descriptions written by observers at the time.

 

Materials

 

The first cloth that was produced in prehistory was made of vegetable fibres. The earliest 'cloth' was woven grass or bark strips. This was followed by linen, which is the fibre from the stalk of flax. The earliest linen found, so far, is dated to 5,000 BC. Nettles also produce a fibre very similar to linen. Once animals were domesticated, the hair and wool became accessible and the prime fibre became sheep's wool. The early sheep were coloured brown and grey, but as the sheep were bred and tamed, white wool was produced in large quantity. Most of the Celtic clothing was made of wool, and it was such good quality that it was exported to the Roman empire long before the Romans arrived in Britain ! The only other material that was added to the list was the occasional imported piece of silk. The Romans comment on Celtic clothing was that it was bright and garish, with coloured checks and stripes, and after the pale colours in the heat of the Mediterranean, the sight of the Celts must have come as a bit of a shock . The main dyes that were in use were as follows;

 

*Red - Madder (the roots of 5 year old plants)

Yellow - Weld (the whole plant)

Blue - Woad (the fermented leaves)

 

 

It is believed that the Roman Republic first came into contact with chain-mail fighting the Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul, now Northern Italy. The Roman army adopted the technology for their troops in the form of the lorica hamata which was used as a primary form of armour through the Imperial period.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_warfare

 

www.theinsider.com/photos/11205_Shields

 

 

www.flickr.com/photos/nerdimus_prime/457946597/

 

 

The use of chain mail was prominent throughout the Dark Ages, High Middle Ages and Renaissance, and reached its apex in Europe, in terms of coverage, during the 13th century, when mail covered the whole body.

 

 

Gaul was the ancient designation for the land south and west of the Rhine, west of the Alps, and north of the Pyrenees.See Map here.

www.ancientsites.com/aw/Places/Place/325166

 

 

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