WEBVTT 00:00:07.777 --> 00:00:12.620 One summer evening in 335 BCE, Alexander the Great 00:00:12.620 --> 00:00:17.730 was resting by the Danube River after a day of fighting the Scythian tribes 00:00:17.730 --> 00:00:21.080 when a band of strangers approached his camp. 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:24.940 Alexander had never seen anything like these tall, 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:30.399 fierce-looking warriors with huge golden neck rings and colorful cloaks— 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.899 so he invited them to feast with him. 00:00:33.899 --> 00:00:40.662 They proudly said they were Keltoi or Celts who came from the far-away Alps. 00:00:40.662 --> 00:00:44.042 Alexander asked what they feared the most in the world, 00:00:44.042 --> 00:00:46.152 hoping they would say him. 00:00:46.152 --> 00:00:50.665 They laughed and said they feared nothing at all. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:50.665 --> 00:00:54.665 This is one of the earliest stories about the ancient Celts. 00:00:54.665 --> 00:00:57.765 While we don’t know where the first Celts came from, 00:00:57.765 --> 00:01:01.605 by Alexander’s time they had spread across Europe 00:01:01.605 --> 00:01:04.720 from Asia Minor in the east to Spain 00:01:04.720 --> 00:01:09.800 and the Atlantic islands of Britain and Ireland in the west. 00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:15.981 The Celts were never one unified empire, and they didn’t build cities or monuments. 00:01:15.981 --> 00:01:21.845 Instead, they were hundreds of independent tribes who spoke the same language. 00:01:21.845 --> 00:01:25.845 Each had its own warrior-king and religious center. 00:01:25.845 --> 00:01:27.625 The tribes fought each other 00:01:27.625 --> 00:01:31.065 as enthusiastically as they fought their enemies. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:31.065 --> 00:01:33.525 Few armies could stand up to them. 00:01:33.525 --> 00:01:38.281 Somewhat unusually for the time, the Celts believed in reincarnation— 00:01:38.281 --> 00:01:43.637 that they would be reborn on Earth to live and feast and fight again, 00:01:43.637 --> 00:01:47.637 which may have contributed to their fearlessness in battle. 00:01:47.637 --> 00:01:52.017 Some of them fought naked, scoffing at their enemies’ armor. 00:01:52.017 --> 00:01:55.397 The greatest trophy a Celtic warrior could possess 00:01:55.397 --> 00:01:58.057 was the severed head of a foe. 00:01:58.057 --> 00:02:01.747 They preserved these heads in jars of cedar oil 00:02:01.747 --> 00:02:05.187 and showed them to guests who visited their homes. 00:02:05.187 --> 00:02:08.927 Celtic warriors were so valued in the ancient world 00:02:08.927 --> 00:02:13.108 that foreign kings often hired them as mercenary soldiers 00:02:13.108 --> 00:02:15.118 to serve in their armies. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:15.118 --> 00:02:17.998 But the Celts were much more than just warriors. 00:02:17.998 --> 00:02:24.478 Among them were many skilled craftsmen, artists, and great poets called bards. 00:02:24.478 --> 00:02:28.098 The bards sang of the brave deeds of their ancestors 00:02:28.098 --> 00:02:31.338 and praised the accomplishments of warrior kings— 00:02:31.338 --> 00:02:36.375 and composed biting satires about cowardly or selfish leaders. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:36.375 --> 00:02:38.855 The Celts worshipped many gods, 00:02:38.855 --> 00:02:43.133 and priests known as druids oversaw this worship. 00:02:43.133 --> 00:02:45.193 Anyone could become a druid, 00:02:45.193 --> 00:02:49.897 but the training required many years of study and memorization— 00:02:49.897 --> 00:02:54.965 the druids were not allowed to record any of their teachings in writing. 00:02:54.965 --> 00:02:59.357 Druids supervised religious practices and sacrifices to the gods, 00:02:59.357 --> 00:03:04.698 but they were also teachers, healers, judges, and scientists. 00:03:04.698 --> 00:03:09.117 They were so respected that they could step between warring tribes 00:03:09.117 --> 00:03:13.526 in the middle of a battle and call an end to the fighting. 00:03:13.526 --> 00:03:18.958 No Celt would dare to harm a druid, or question their decisions. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:18.958 --> 00:03:24.641 In the 2nd century BCE, the Romans began to encroach on Celtic territory, 00:03:24.641 --> 00:03:27.851 conquering the tribes of northern Italy. 00:03:27.851 --> 00:03:32.073 Rather than unite against the Roman legions in response to this defeat, 00:03:32.073 --> 00:03:35.593 the Celts maintained their tribal divisions. 00:03:35.593 --> 00:03:38.603 The tribes of Spain fell soon after. 00:03:38.603 --> 00:03:44.152 In the 1st century BCE, Julius Caesar marched his armies across France, 00:03:44.152 --> 00:03:49.875 using bribery, threats, and lies to turn tribes against each other. 00:03:49.875 --> 00:03:53.275 Only in the closing days of this great war 00:03:53.275 --> 00:03:56.095 did the Celts unite against their common enemy 00:03:56.095 --> 00:03:59.215 under the leadership of king Vercingetorix, 00:03:59.215 --> 00:04:00.865 but it was too late. 00:04:00.865 --> 00:04:04.645 Countless warriors and their families died or were enslaved 00:04:04.645 --> 00:04:07.585 as the Romans conquered France. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:07.585 --> 00:04:09.685 Protected by the surrounding waters, 00:04:09.685 --> 00:04:14.961 the Celtic tribes of Britain and Ireland were the last holdouts. 00:04:14.961 --> 00:04:17.621 When the Romans finally invaded Britain, 00:04:17.621 --> 00:04:23.246 the queen Boudicca united her tribe in a revolt after her husband was killed. 00:04:23.246 --> 00:04:27.779 She almost succeeded in driving the Roman legions out of Britain 00:04:27.779 --> 00:04:32.852 before dying as she led a final battle against the enemy. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:32.852 --> 00:04:38.281 By the end of the 1st century CE, Ireland alone, far out at sea, 00:04:38.281 --> 00:04:40.761 remained unconquered by Rome. 00:04:40.761 --> 00:04:46.041 There, the ways of the ancient Celts survived untouched by the outside world 00:04:46.041 --> 00:04:49.170 long after Rome itself lay in ruins.