Classical Descriptions:

Polybius History [2nd century BC].
Note. The following three passages describe the Battle of Telamon in Etruria (northern Italy) which took place in 225 BC.

¶ 2.28.3-I0. THE CELTS HAD STATIONED THE GAESATAE 'Spearmen from the Alps to face Aemilius on the rear, and behind them were the Insubres. On their front they placed the Taurisci and the CisaIpine Boii to face the Romans. They placed their waggons and chariots on the edges of both wings, with the booty being on one of the hills near the road under guard. Thus the Celtic army was double-faced. Their way of arranging their forces was effective as well as designed to inspire fear in their enemies. The Insubres and Boii were clothed in pants and light cloaks, but the Caesatae from conceit and daring threw their clothing off, and went out to the front of the army naked, having nothing but their weapons. They believed that since the ground was covered with brambles which might catch their clothing and hinder the use of their weapons, they would be more effective this way.

¶ 29.5-9. But the Romans, while pleased to have trapped the enemy between two of their own armies, were greatly disturbed by the ornaments and battle noise of the Celts. For there were among them countless horns and trumpets which were being blown simultaneously from every part of the army. The sound was so loud and piercing that the clamour didn)t seem to come from trumpets and human voices, but from the whole country-side all at once. Also terrifying was the appearance and rapid manoeuvring of the naked warriors in front, men at the prime of their strength and magnificence. And all the warriors in front were wearing torques and bracelets. All these sights terrified the Romans, but hope of victory encouraged them to try even harder in the battle.

Diodorus Siculus [c. 60-30 BCE]

¶ 28. The Gauls are very tall with white skin and blond hair, not only blond by nature but more so by the artificial means they use to lighten their hair. For they continually wash their hair in a lime solution, combing it back from the forehead to the back of the neck. This process makes them resemble Satyrs and Pans since this treatment makes the hair thick like a horse's mane. Some shave their beards while others allow a short growth, but nobles shave their cheeks and allow the mustache to grow until it covers the mouth. The result is that their mustaches become mixed with food while they eat, but serve as a sort of strainer when they drink. They do not sit in chairs when they dine, but sit on the ground using the skins of wolves or does. While dining they are served by adolescents, both male and female. Nearby are blazing hearths and cauldrons with spits of meat. They honour the brave warriors with the choicest portion, just as Homer says that the chieftains honoured Ajax when he returned having defeated Hector in single combat. They also invite strangers to their feasts, inquiring of their identity and business only after the meal. During feasts it is their custom to be provoked by idle comments into heated disputes, followed by challenges and single combat to the death. They do not fear death, but subscribe to th'e docfrine of Pythagoras that the human spirit is immortal and will enter a new body after a fixed number of years. For this reason some will cast letters to their relatives on funeral pyres, believing that the dead will be able to read them.

¶ 29. In both journeys and battles the Gauls use two-horse chariots which carry both the warrior and charioteer. When they encounter cavalry in battle they first hurl their spears then step down from the chariot to fight with swords. Some of them think so iittle of death that they fight wearing only a loincloth, without armour of any kind. They use free men from the poorer c!asses as charioteers and shield-bearers in battle. When two armies are drawn up for battle, it is their custom to step before the front line and challenge the best of'their opponents to single combat while they brandish their weapons in front of them to intimidate the enemy. When an opponent accepts their challenge, they recite the brave deeds of both their ancestors and themselves, at the same time mocking the enemy and attempting to rob him of his fighting spirit. They decapitate their slain enemies and attach the heads to their horses' necks. The blood-soaked booty they hand over to their attendants, while they sing a song of victory. The choicest spoils they nail to the walls of their houses just like hunting trophies from wild beasts. They preserve the heads of their most distinguished enemies in cedar oil and store them carefully in chests. These they proudly display to visitors, saying that for this head one of his ancestors, or his father, or he himself refused a large offer of money. It is said that some proud owners have not accepted for a head an equal weight in gold, a barbarous sort of magnanimity. For selling the proof of one's valor is ignoble, but to continue hostility against the dead is bestial.

¶ 30. The Gauls wear stunning clothing shirts which have been dyed in various colours, and trousers which they call bracae. They also wear striped cloaks with a checkered pattern, thick in winter and thin in summer, fastened with a clasp. They use uniquely decorated, man-high shields in battle, some with projecting bronze animals of superb workmanship. These animal-figures serve for defensive purposes as well as decoration. Their helmets have large figures on top -- horns which form a single piece with the helmet, or the heads of birds and four-footed animals -- which give an appearance of added height to the warrior. Their trumpets are also of a peculiar and barbaric kind which produce a harsh, reverberating sound suitable to the confusion o battle. Some use iron breast-plates in battle, while others fight naked, trusting only in the protecttion which nature glves. They do not use short swords, but prefer a longer variety which are hung on their right sides by chains of iron or bronze. Some wear gold or silver-plated belts around their tunics. Their spears, called lanciae, have iron heads a cubit [18 inches] or more in length and slightly less than two palms in width. Their swords are as long as the spears of other peoples, and their spears have heads longer than others' swords. Some of the spears have straight heads, but others are twisted in their entire length so that a blow not only cuts but mangles the flesh and withdrawal tears the wound open.

Strabo [64/63 BCE - 21 CE at least] Geography

¶ 4.4.3 Of these they say the Belgae are the best; they are divided into 15 tribes, and live along the ocean between the Rhine and the Loire, so that they alone withstood the incursions of the Germani -- the Cimbri and Teutones. Among the Belgi themselves the best are said to be the Bellovaci, and after them, the Suessiones. Of their populousness, the following is an indication: they say that the number of Belgi of former times that can bear arms amounted to about three hundred thousand. I have already given the population of the Elvettii [=Helvetii] and the Arverni and their allies, from these facts the size of the population is clear as well as (as I stated above) the excellence of the women at bearing and raising children. They wear sagi, let their hair grow long, and wear tight trousers, and instead of normal tunics wear slit ones that have sleeves and extend as far down as the private parts and buttocks. The wool from which they weave the thick sagi (which they call lainai) is coarse and shaggy, but the Romans in the northernmost regions, raise flocks of sheep, clothed in skins, with quite fine wool. The war-gear corresponds in size to the size of their bodies: a long sword, hung€ on the right side, and an oblong shield and spears in proportion, and a madaris, a kind of light javelin. Some also use bows and slings. There is also a certain wooden weapon like a grosphos, cast by hand and not from a thong, and havinga !onger range than arrows; these they use most of all for hunting fowl. Even to the present day many of them sleep on the ground, and eat sitting on beds of straw. Most of their nourishment comes from milk and all kinds of meats, especially pork, both fresh and salted. Their pigs live in the open, excelling in height, strength, and speed; in fact, it is dangerous for an inexperienced person to go up to them, as it is for a wolf. They have houses made from beams and wicker, big and with a conical roof over which they throw a lot of thatch. Their herds of sheep, and swine are so plentiful that they suppIy an abundance of sagi and pickled meat not only to Rome, but to most parts of Italy as well. Most of their tribes were aristocratic, but in earlier times they elected one leader per year, just as one general was chosen by the populace for war. Now, however , they abide by the commands of the Romans most of the time. At assemblies thev have a peculiar practice: if anyone should disturb the person speaking and interrupt him, an officer, approaching him with drawn sword, orders him to be silent with a threat, and if he does not cease, he does it a second and a third time and at last cuts off enough of the man's 'sagus' as to make it useless for the future. As far as the men and women and the fact that they exchange work in an opposite manner from ours is concerned, that is common among many other barbarian peoples as well.

Extracts are from The Celtic Heroic Age, by JT Koch and J. Carey, 1997