Economy

The economy of Celtic Europe was based on subsistence farming, which occupied probably somewhat more than 90 per cent of the population. It was the surplus agricultural production of the peasantry, delivered as taxes or

Rents, that ultimately supported the chief, his warrior elite and the craftsmen who served them. The exact nature of farming varied according to the environment. In the wet north-west cattle rearing was the most important source of wealth; grain was important in southern Britain, northern Gaul and Spain; in southern Gaul a Mediterranean farming economy, based on grain, olives and vines, prevailed. Not surprisingly, southern Gaul was one of the first Celtic areas to be fully assimilated into the Roman system, while those areas most dependent on cattle, northern Britain and Ireland, were never conquered. Sheep were bred throughout the Celtic world for their wool and milk and pigs for their meat. Horses were bred mainly for war, cattle being the most important draught animals. The Celts’ farm animals were all substantially smaller than their modern counterparts. As well as varieties of wheat, barley and oats, beans, peas and lentils were widely grown. Flax was cultivated to make linen cloth. The landscape of Celtic Europe was much more intensively farmed than is generally realised. By the late Iron Age the Celts used ploughs with iron shares and coulters which could work the heaviest soils efficiently and it is likely that rural population densities and distributions were not greatly different from that of the modern European countryside. There were few areas left that were genuinely wild and untamed. Most of the primeval forests that covered Europe after the Ice Age had been felled even before Celtic times and the woodland that survived was intensively managed to ensure a sustainable supply of building timber, fence posts and fuel. Most Celtic peasant families were self-sufficient in everyday necessities, such as food, clothing and pottery. The main stimulus to trade came from the Celtic elite because of its need to underpin its status through the display of material wealth, such as jewellery and fine weapons, and by the conspicuous consumption of exotic luxuries, especially Mediterranean wine. Trade was, therefore, not motivated by modern economic considerations; its function was essentially social. The scale of imports from the Mediterranean world was such that in Gaul, central Europe and south-east Britain, the Celtic elite had already adopted a very Romanised lifestyle even before they had been conquered. This was something even normally dismissive Roman observers noticed. What the Celts used to pay for these imports is unknown, but the likelihood is that it was mainly agricultural products such as grain, hides and salted meat.

In technological terms, the La Tene Celts lacked the Romans’ building skills but in other respects they cannot be considered backward. The Celts were skilled shipbuilders and their efficient ‘frame first’ construction method was adopted by the Romans. Other Celtic innovations that the Romans adopted included chain mail, barrels and iron tyres for cartwheels. The Romans even copied the pattern of their legionary helmet from the Celts of central Europe. What the Celts never developed was the Romans’ industrial capacity that allowed them to mass-produce weapons and armour. While the Romans could equip every soldier with an iron helmet and an iron breastplate or coat of chain mail, these remained

Expensive luxuries among the Celts and were out of the reach of all but a minority of warriors.