Celtic Tribes in 218 B.C.

Celtic Tribes — Spring 218 BC · The Po valley rises as Hannibal nears.

In 218 BC the Celtic peoples are not a state but a vast family of independent tribes and confederations of the La Tène world — spread across Gaul, the Alps, the Cisalpine Po, the lands of central Europe and the island of Britain. They share a culture, not a crown: warrior aristocracies, hillfort towns, fine iron and gold, single combat and the cult of the severed head, and war-bands that have terrified the Mediterranean since their fathers sacked Rome. Nearest and most dangerous to Rome are the Gauls of the Po — Insubres, Boii, Cenomani — whom she crushed at Telamon and is now hemming in with colonies. As Hannibal crosses the Alps, the Cisalpine Gauls rise against Rome and throw in their lot with him, opening the war in Italy itself.

No king rules the Celts. From the Atlantic shore across Gaul, over the Alps and into the broad valley of the Padus, through the heart of Europe and over the sea to Britain, they are a thousand peoples bound by one warrior culture and divided by a hundred rivalries. Nearest and oldest of Rome’s Gallic enemies are the tribes of the Po — the Insubres, the Boii, the Cenomani, the Taurini — whose forefathers sacked Rome itself. Crushed at Telamon only seven years past, and watching Rome plant the colonies of Placentia and Cremona on their land this very year, the Boii and Insubres have risen in arms: they storm the new towns, besiege Mutina and ambush a Roman praetor. And now word comes that Carthage’s general has crossed the Alps — a deliverer descending into the plain.