Hat 8140 Celtic Chariot with Queen

The Celts are a group of Indo-European peoples, the birthplace of which was probably the area of today's southern Germany and Bohemia, and central-western France. The greatest expansion of the Celts reached the so-called the La Tene period, the beginning of which is dated around 450-400 BC and the end of which is 150-100 BC. During this period, the Celts conquered all of today's France, the British Isles, a large part of Spain, but also reached the Balkans and even Asia Minor! It is worth adding that the Celts developed a high-standing culture, with an extensive religious system, with extensive defensive settlements (oppida), the area of which sometimes covered several hundred hectares, but also with highly developed iron processing. This, of course, influenced the Celtic military. Quantitatively, the armies deployed by the Celts were dominated by infantry, but especially at the beginning of their expansion, war chariots probably also played a significant role. It is assumed that by the 3rd century BC they were largely displaced by the cavalry in continental Europe, but they survived on the British Isles. It is worth adding that Julius Caesar (writing in the 1st century BC) in his works mentions the use of chariots by the Celts in battle. The Celtic chariot of this period (1st century BC) was a very light and small vehicle, equipped with two spoked wheels and also harnessed by two horses. Most often, chariots were used by the Celts at the beginning of battles, and the warriors fighting in them used mainly javelins, which they threw at the opponent. After such initial "volleys" they returned to their comrades-in-arms and probably fought later on foot. Chariots were also used as transport vehicles by Celtic commanders and chiefs, as an external sign of their status.