page_title: Gauls
section_title: Balkan wars
hierarchical_section_title: Gauls / History / Balkan wars
caption_attribution_description: English: Celtic expansion in Europe &#160;&#160; the core Hallstatt territory, expansion before 500 BC &#160;&#160; maximum Celtic expansion by the 270s BC &#160;&#160; Lusitanian, Autrigones, Varduli and Caristi areas of Iberia, "Celticity" uncertain &#160;&#160; areas that remain Celtic-speaking today Deutsch: Verbreitung keltischer Völker und Sprachen: &#160;&#160; Gebiet der Hallstatt-Kultur im 6. Jahrhundert v. Chr. &#160;&#160; Größte keltische Ausdehnung, um 275 v. Chr. &#160;&#160; Lusitania, Autrigon, Varduli und Caristi (keltische Besiedlung unsicher) &#160;&#160; Das heutige Verbreitungsgebiet keltischer Sprachen Português: Expansão dos povos e línguas celtas na Europa &#160;&#160; o território da cultura de Hallstatt, expansão anterior a 500 a.C. &#160;&#160; expansão celta máxima na década de 270 a.C. &#160;&#160; Lusitanos, Autrigões, Várdulos e Carístios, povos ibéricos cuja "celticidade" é incerta &#160;&#160; áreas em que ainda se fala línguas celtas nos dias de hoje
context_page_description: The Gauls were a group of Celtic peoples of Continental Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period. The area they originally inhabited was known as Gaul. Their Gaulish language forms the main branch of the Continental Celtic languages.
  The Gauls emerged around the 5th century BC as the bearers of the La Tène culture north of the Alps. By the 4th century BC, they spread over much of what is now France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia by virtue of controlling the trade routes along the river systems of the Rhône, Seine, Rhine, and Danube, and they quickly expanded into Northern Italy, the Balkans, Transylvania and Galatia. Gaul was never united under a single ruler or government, but the Gallic tribes were
  capable of uniting their forces in large-scale military operations. They reached the peak of their power in the early 3rd century BC.
context_section_description: During the Balkan expedition, led by Cerethrios, Brennos and Bolgios, the Gauls raided the Greek mainland twice.
  At the end of the second expedition the Gallic raiders had been repelled by the coalition armies of the various Greek city-states and were forced to retreat to Illyria and Thrace, but the Greeks were forced to grant safe-passage to the Gauls who then made their way to Asia Minor and settled in Central Anatolia. The Gallic area of settlement in Asia Minor was called Galatia; there they created widespread havoc. But they were checked through the use of war elephants and skirmishers by the Greek Seleucid king Antiochus I in 275 BC, after which they served as mercenaries across the whole Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean, including Ptolemaic Egypt, where they, under Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), attempted to seize control of the kingdom.
  In the first Gallic invasion of Greece (279 BC), they achieved victory over the Macedonians and killed the Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos. They then focused on looting the rich Macedonian countryside, but avoided the heavily fortified cities. The Macedonian general Sosthenes assembled an army, defeated Bolgius and repelled the invading Gauls.
  In the second Gaulish invasion of Greece (278 BC), the Gauls, led by Brennos, suffered heavy losses while facing the Greek coalition army at Thermopylae, but helped by the Heracleans they followed the mountain path around Thermopylae to encircle the Greek army in the same way that the Persian army had done at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, but this time defeating the whole of the Greek army. After passing Thermopylae the Gauls headed for the rich treasury at Delphi, where they were defeated by the re-assembled Greek army. This led to a series of retreats of the Gauls, with devastating losses, all the way up to Macedonia and then out of the Greek mainland. The major part of the Gaul army was defeated in the process, and those Gauls survived were forced to flee from Greece. The Gallic leader Brennos was seriously injured at Delphi and committed suicide there. (He is not to be confused with another Gaulish leader bearing the same name who had sacked Rome a century earlier (390 BC).
caption: Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples, on the traditional view:  Core Hallstatt territory, by the sixth century BC  Maximal Celtic expansion by 275 BC
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