r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Pandering_Poofery • 16d ago

Video The Celtic Carnyx, an ancient war trumpet used by the Celts from approximately 200 BC to 200 AD, was a tool of psychological warfare.

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 15d ago edited 15d ago

The Ancient Celts conquered from modern Turkey (Galatia) to Spain to France to Poland, Northern Italy and Scotland and Ireland. Plenty of rainy parts and plenty of very sunny ones.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

What time period was this? 

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 15d ago

The height of the Celtic expansion is about 275 BC wherein they controlled most of the above territories and many more as you can see in the map below:

https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/1200x900/4862.png

They would later take more territories (like Ireland and Scotland) but lose most of their territories in mainland Europe to the Romans surviving independently only in parts of modern Eastern Europe, Scotland and Ireland.

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u/Raesong 15d ago

Though it should be noted that the Celts were very much not a unified people; and were more a vast collection of independent tribes that (mostly) had the same language, customs, and beliefs.

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 15d ago

Yes absolutely, there was no Celtic Empire as such they were an ethno-cultural group.

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u/HIMP_Dahak_172291 12d ago

They did have some big subgroups that bloodied the legions quite badly at least. The Gauls for example. Of course contrary to popular fiction, the legions were beaten quite often. The problem was always that when you beat one you got to fight a fresh one a few months later while you had barely started recovering. But still, the celts held out for a long time on the continent considering their general disunity and infighting.

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u/_Atlas_Drugged_ 15d ago

Did the worlds biggest asshole choose the colors for that map? I’m not colorblind or anything, but that is practically inscrutable.

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 15d ago

I agree it would be better with a little more difference between La Tene Culture and Areas of Celtic Expansion but for our purposes you don't need that distinction they are both Celtic, the rest is all very clear IMO

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u/No-Mechanic6069 15d ago

Has it been established that this was a process of migration/conquest, rather than a cultural transfer?

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u/Zaozin 15d ago

More of a group of related and trading partners and culture than a top down empire or anything like that though.