The Celtic Tribes of Italy: How They SACKED ROME and Founded Milan
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2023-11-05

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The Celtic Tribes of Italy… Cisalpine Gaul VS Rome

Who were the Celtic tribes of Italy? When you think of Italy, you would be forgiven for immediately thinking of the Roman Empire and Latin culture in general. In fact, arguably the most famous Roman, Julius Caesar, completely wiped out the home of Celtic civilization in the ancient world, Gaul. But Celts have played their part in the history of Italy.

This is Cisalpine Gaul, an area around the Alps in the north of modern Italy. Cisalpine means "on this side of the Alps" (from the perspective of the Romans), as opposed to Transalpine Gaul (meaning "on the far side of the Alps"). It was an area that was inhabited by Celtic tribes most of which were originally from Gaul, an area centred around modern France, particularly in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. But how did Cisalpine Gaul form? 

Well it formed over centuries. In fact, one of the oldest Celtic languages that has left us inscriptions to this today is the Lepontic language, which was spoken in parts of modern Switzerland and Northern Italy from around 550 BC until around 100 BC. It was spoken by an ancient Celtic people known as the Lepontii who lived around the Alps. This people seemed to be one of the earliest Celtic people that we know about that settled this area. Another Celtic tribe to settle this area early on were the Insubres, an ancient Celtic population who settled in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of the ancient city of Mediolanum, modern-day Milan. Other Celts would soon follow however. 

Various Celtic tribes migrated from Gaul and across the Alps to eventually settle near the mouth of the Po River in Italy around 400 BC. The Lingones were one of those ancient Celtic tribes, an agricultural people known for their skill in metalworking and in weaving. Other Celtic tribes that entered Italy in this wave of migration included the Cenomani, the Boii and the Senones. As well as settling in Cisalpine Gaul, the Boii had a presence in various other parts of Europe. The Senones had led Celtic tribes in the sack of Rome around 390 BC under their leader Brennus, but they soon fell back north to the northeast of modern Italy. They ousted the Italic people known as the Umbrians in the process. 

Sources:

Cisalpine Gaul - https://www.britannica.com/place/Cisalpine-Gaul 

Lingones - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lingones 

Lepontic language - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepontic_language 

Senones - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senones 

Celtic History Decoded - What Does Celtic Even Mean? From the Ancient Celts to the Celtic Nations of Today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es-vw4qY6Ys 

Second Punic War https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Punic-War 

Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenomani_(Cisalpine_Gaul) 

Creative Commons Imagery:

Med https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brennus_mg_9724.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en 

Barbax https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venetic_Raetic_Camunic_Lepontic_alphabets.png Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venetic_Raetic_Camunic_Lepontic_alphabets.png 

Nancy Todd - Derived work from Gallia_Cisalpina-fr.svg by Sémhur https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gallia_Cisalpina-en.svg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 

#celtic #romanhistory #italy