Although they were hired to fight for Nicomedes of Bithynia against his rival the king of Pontus, the Celts who crossed the Hellespont (now Dardanelles) soon entertained other ideas. Indeed, the fact that about half of the Galatian force were non-combatants suggest that long-term settlement was always intended. The Celts' martial skills were soon in great demand, and the long coastline, populated by many rich cities, provided fertile ground for pillage.
The antics of these Celtic newcomers infuriated Antiochus I of Syria (324-C.262 bc), the greatest single power in the region. Antiochus assembled a mighty army (including war elephants) that ended the Celts' first surge of freebooting activity in c.275 bc. For his troubles, Antiochus earned the title 'Soter' (saviour), while the Celts were forced to assume a more settled lifestyle in central Anatolia.
The Celts continued, howe er, to pursue a warrior ethos, either ser ing as mercenaries or reverting to raiding. They extracted bribes by menace from rulers of cities such as Pergamum (Pergamon), and in 261 bc, they killed Antiochus II of Syria (c.287-246 bc). In 246 bc, engaged as mercenaries in a dynastic dispute, the Celts defeated Seleucus II outside Ancyra (now Ankara).
Attains I (269-197 bc), king of Pergamum, tired of paying tribute to the Celts, now organised resistance to their raids, defeating the Celts in 240 bc, and again in 232 BC, at the Battle of Kaikos. In return for peaceful coexistence. Attains formally recognised Celtic rights to lands around the River Halys (now River Kizilirmak), thus giving international recognition to the Galatian state. Attains celebrated the concord by commissioning statues for his palace.
The Stale of Galatia
According to Greek historians, the Celts who settled in Anatolia (Asia Minor) comprised three tribes: the Tolistobogii, the Trocmi and the Tectosages. The Galatian state was ruled by a council led by 12 tetrar-chs (four from each tribe). The council met at Drunemeton, which literally means 'sacred oak-grove'. Some commentators have interpreted this as evidence that druids mediated the Galatian council, but there is no direct evidence of druidic activity in Anatolia, and the Romans did not note it.
The main settlements were the towns of Ancyra, Tavium and Pessinus, which served initially as fortresses/markets but, by 200 bc, emerged as tribal capitals. Celtic immigration from Europe may well have continued on a small-scale, but it was not encouraged by the other powers in the region. Precious few examples of La Tene style material have
< Galatians Rich cities along the Mediterranean and Aegean coast were the initial attraction for the Celts recruited into Anatolia. Later, they were 'persuaded' to move eastwards into the highlands of Anatolia where they established Galatia.
< War elephant trampling on a Galatian soldier. This Hellenistic terracotta statuette, which measures 11.3 centimetres (4.5 inches) high, was found at Myrina, on the island of Lemnos.
It dates from the mid-2nd century BC. The statuette graphically conveys the force with which the Celts were crushed in Anatolia.
Been found in Anatolia, which may indicate that the Galatians adopted local styles of ornament and manufacture, but retained their language and social structure. This may sere as a timely reminder of how artistic form is often only loosely attached to ethnicity.
Celtic alliance with Syria In the 2nd century bc, the Romans began to make their presence felt in the region. In 190 bc, the Galatians allied themselves with Antiochus III of Syria (242-187 bc) against the Romans, but their joint forces were defeated at the Battle of Magnesia (now Manisa) in ancient Lydia. The following year, the Romans mounted a punitive expedition into Anatolia and defeated the Galatians at Mount Olympus, west of Ancyra, and again at Mount Magaba. Some 40,000 Celts were taken as slaves, the rest were left under the rule of Pergamum, which was allied to Rome.
The Tolistobogii chieftain Ortagio, keen to make alliances against Pergamum, forged diplomatic links with Pontus and Bithynia, and thus reunited the Celts. In 165 bc, they felt strong enough to launch a war against Eumenes II of Pergamum (d. c.159 bc), son of Attains I, but although they met with some initial success, they were soon defeated.
Any hopes of a Celtic recovery were dashed in 88 BC, when King Mithradates VI (d. 63 bc,) of Pontus invited 60 Galatian officials to a meeting and then treacherously had them and their families massacred. A survivor of the massacre, one Deiotarus, was
Recognised as king of Galatia by the Roman general Pompey (106-48 bc), who defeated Mithradates. Mark Antony (c.82-30 bc) later confirmed this title but unfortunately for the Celts, he then lost the struggle to rule the Roman Empire. In 25 bc. Emperor Augustus (63 BC-AD 14), formally annexed Galatia to the Empire.
World History
