A people ripe for conquest

The picture that emerges of the Celts in the late Iron Age is not one of a simple otherworldly folk but of a sophisticated people moving quickly

Towards the development of full-blown urban civilisation. Although Greek and Roman writers, for their own reasons, emphasised the differences between the Celts and the Mediterranean civilisations, they were in reality not so very different. Unfortunately for the Celts, it was this that doomed them. Their individualistic military system, centralised political structures, well-established social hierarchy and prosperity made the conquest and assimilation of the Celts both an attractive and a practical proposition for the Romans. Neither the Celts’ religion nor their values were obstacles to this. The Roman Empire was not built on military force alone; it could not have lasted as long as it did if it had been. Long-term military occupation would have been economically unsustainable. Rome’s success as an imperial power was due as much to its ability to Romanise people as to its conquering legions. Though provincial governors and a few other senior officials might be centrally appointed, most government in the Roman Empire was local government and that was in the hands of the provincials themselves. Rome coopted the local aristocracies of the peoples they conquered by offering them secure status and a comfortable Romanised lifestyle, in turn exploiting their prestige in the local community and traditional ties of patronage and loyalty. Even if the peasantry was discontented under the burden of Roman taxation, it was leaderless and capable of nothing more serious than banditry. For this to be possible the societies the Romans conquered had already to have a high degree of centralisation - this was why Rome was so successful in the Mediterranean world. It was these conditions that defined the limits of conquest for the Romans. The Romans could win battles against peoples like the Caledonians of northern Britain and the Germans, who had not attained a high degree of centralisation, but they could not assimilate them, so neither could be conquered. The same factors would have pertained in Ireland had the Romans tried to conquer it. Ironically, the Celts were vulnerable to conquest not because they were too primitive but because they were too civilised.