Pictish Warrior (Civ5)/Civilopedia

The Picts were a Late Iron Age people residing in what is now eastern and northern Scotland, one of the many Celtic tribes of the British Isles. Their warriors were feared not only amongst other Celtic peoples but even by the vaunted Roman legionnaires. The Greek historian Dionysius would write during the reign of Caesar Augustus that their "manner of fighting, being in large measure that of wild beasts and frenzied," brought considerable success against unwieldy military formations operating in the forests and hills of northern Europe.
Adding to their frightful reputation was the use of the carnyx, a bronze trumpet sounded incessantly during battle, both to incite the Picts and intimidate opponents. Finally, firmly in the minds of their opponents were the reports of the severed heads Pictish Warriors would carry. Carrying the heads of defeated foes into combat was believed by the Picts to imbue the bearer with courage and perhaps divine wrath.