Defensive war against the Celts

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
This article or section needs to be revised. Details should be given on the talk page. Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

As a defensive war against the Celts , from the Roman point of view, the war against some Celtic tribes around 400 BC. Chr. Designated. Roman historians also speak of the Gauls disaster .

background

Some Celtic tribes left towards the end of the 5th century BC. Their settlement areas north of the Alps and migrated south. Around 400 BC They reached northern Italy and settled in the fertile Po plain . Above all, the Senones and the Boier should be mentioned here .

Around 390 BC Finally, at Clusium, the first clash with the Etruscans and the emerging Rome occurred . The Celtic War took a terrible turn for Rome when the Roman army was crushed in the Battle of the Allia .

Under their leader Brennus , the Celts then conquered Rome, burned it down and besieged the Capitol . Only after paying a ransom of 1,000 pounds of gold did the Celts leave. It is disputed whether the victors got home with their booty. According to the older source by Polybios (2.18), the Celts managed to retreat, according to Titus Livius (5,49,6) the Roman Camillus was able to restore the honor and prosperity of Rome through a victory.

Legend

According to a Roman story, a night attack by the Gauls on the Capitol was thwarted by the loud cackling of the Capitolian geese. Historians assume, however, that this is just a Roman legend from later times, which should show the Romans the invincibility of their city.

The event is described by Roman chroniclers as a Gaul disaster and is also the cause of the emergence of the Roman proverb “ Vae victis !” Translated it means “Woe to the vanquished!”. Brennus said this because the defeated general of the Romans, Quintus Sulpicius Longus , had claimed the heavier weights used by the Celts to weigh the ransom.

literature