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When trying to reconstruct the events connected with the Celtic Kingdom in South-Eastern Tracethe main focus falls, of course, on the testimonies of the ancient historians Polybius, itus Liviusand Pompeius rogus/Justinus, which unfortunately are very scanty. uite surprisingly more his-tory is to be found in the reports of someone who has been traditionally regarded as a Periegetes(Calame ; Pritchett ), a traveler and geographer ( , ) or more generallyas a travel writer (Grant , ) and even just as a traveler (Potter , XXV). One can

easily recognize Pausanias in this description: he has only recently been approached as a historian(Bingen ).Nowadays it is mainly Pausanias text which supplies us with chronological data concerning

Celtic invasion in the Balkan area. When reporting the Celtic attack on Delphi, he speaks about asevere frost and snow with it (X..), as well as about Celts who perished in the wintry storm(X..). We owe to Pausanias the information that the expedition of the Celts against Greece,and their destruction, took place when Anaxicrates was archon at Athens, in the second year of thehundred and twenty-fih Olympiad [i.e. / BC] (X..). Tus his description fits thetimeframe between the last three months of and the initial four to, at the most, five months of.

Te loose dating of / BC for the attack on Delphi is accepted by some modern his-torians (Eilers , ; Grainger , ; Lewis , ; Nachtergael , -) butmany prefer to date it definitely to BC (Heinen , ; ael Kos , -; , ; Champion ; Champion , -; Elwyn , ; Boardman et al. ,; , ).

An important piece of epigraphic evidence supplies further information about the defeat ofthe Gallic chieain Brennus forces before the sanctuary of Delphi. Tis is a decree from Cos (Syll..-) dated to between March and July (Champion , with footnote ), which sofar is the earliest testimony of the Gallic attack against Delphi (Champion , )obviously

issued very soon aer the attack. Tus the Coan decree supports the dating of the Gallic defeatto between the last three months of and the initial four to, at most, five months of un-fortunately it does not help in giving a more precise chronology. Still it gives some chronological

On Pausanias linear sequence of the wars of the Phocians starting with the rojan War and ending with the de-fence of Greece against the Gauls opposed to his heroic/post-heroic division of the past see Sidebottom , .

See however Walbank et al. (, ): / the Aetolians and other Greeks repel the Gauls from centralGreece.

Petzl (, -) dates in der Zeit um v. Chr. the start of the Galatian invasion of Illyria, Macedonia andTrace, and the attack on Delphi to the summer of BC. Fontenrose (, and ) also dates the Gallic attack

on Delphi to BC. Champion (, and footnote ) refers to the Coan decree in question as Syll. (sic). According to Petzl (, , n. ) the decree was issued immediately aer the attack: die unmittelbar nach

dem Galaterueberfall (Sommer ) abgefasste Inschri von Kos (Syll., ).


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terminus for the start of the great Celtic invasion of Macedonia, Trace and Greece. It is variouslydated to BC (Walbank et al. , ; ael Kos , ; Teodossiev , ; , and ; Grainger , ; Petzl , )and BC (Boardman et al. , ;Delev , ).

Although the testimonies of the ancient authors have oen been discussed with regard tothe Celtic raids in Trace (Teodossiev with lit.; , - with lit.; Delev ,- with lit.; Teodossiev , - with lit.; , - with lit.; acheva ; , -; Danov , - with lit.; Mihailov with lit.), each re-readingis worthwhile when trying to create a correct historical picture of the Celtic presence at the ba-sileionof ylis. Some modern historians try to connect with the history of ylis not only Polybiusreport the only narrativewhich explicitly refers to this Celtic basileion but the informationabout the Celtic raids in Trace of the other ancient authors as well. Because of this the testimoniesabout all Celtic incursions in Trace will be analyzed and re-evaluated here. Te aim of the study is

to make a clear distinction between the data handed down to us from the ancient writers and theconclusions one might draw on this basis, thus showing some further possibilities for understand-ing the evidence and reconstructing the historical events.

Presented in the chronological order of the ancient historians, the relevant testimonies are asfollows:

1. P IV.. .

Year: ?

Starting point: Aer escaping from the disaster at Delphi

Commander: COMONORIUSDestination: Reached the H, where instead of crossing to Asia, they remained

on the spot, as they took a fancy to B

Number: ?

Achievements/ate: Conquered the Tracians and established their capital at placing the Byzantines in extreme danger

Number lef: ?

Further direction: During the inroads made under COMONORIUS, the B con-tinued to pay on each occasion three thousand, five thousand, and sometimeseven ten thousand gold pieces to save their territory from being laid waste

Number: ?Achievements: Finally the Byzantines were paying an annual tribute of

eighty talents down to the reign of CAVARUS

Fate: During CAVARUS reign the kingdom came to an end and the whole

tribe were conquered by the Tracians and annihilated

Grainger (, , n. ) even specifies that Macedon was invaded in force in the first half of . Te most authoritative Greek-English dictionary offers three different meanings of the word basileion; under

the first the following translations are offered: a kingly dwelling, palace; but more common in pl. the seat of the em-pire, a capital, royal city (Liddell / Scott , ).

Te information inEthnika(Steph. Byz. .) is not considered here due to its ambiguityas well as the lack ofa narrative explicitly connecting the respective polis with the Celtic presence in Trace.

English translation by W.R. Paton.


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.Polyb. IV.. .: Information& Problems

.. Comontorius reaches the Hellespont aer escaping from the disaster at Delphi, i.e.his expedition should be dated to BC. It is not clear, however, to which of the three groupsformed by Brennus his Celts belonged those who attacked Aetolia, those who were le at theTermopylae, or these who reached Delphi. Te third option seems to me the least likely, due tothe statements of other ancient authors that of so great an army with which Brennus attackedDelphi not a man was le.

.. Noteworthy is the explicit explanation that instead of crossing to Asia Comontoriusremained in the region of the Hellespont and of Byzantium.I am inclined to think that this state-ment was provoked by the precedent of (one or even two) Celtic crossing(s) to Asia most probablyover the Straits (the Hellespont and/or the Tracian Bosporus).

.. Comontorius reached the Hellespont and remained on the spot, taking a fancy to thecountry near Byzantium. He conquered the Tracians and established his capital at ylis placing

the Byzantines in extreme danger... Tis initial conquest was followed by a series of successful inroads upon Byzantium,which

were possible becauseComontorius remained on the spot, i.e. in the region of the Hellespont.Te obvious conclusion is that Comontorius capital ylis should be sought in the region of theHellespont and the country near Byzantium.

.. According to Teodossiev (, ) the Celtic forces () led by Comontorius es-tablished a tribal state in Trace with its capital called ylis, presumably located in the region ofByzantium, where another group of Gauls under the leadership of Leonorius and Loutorius hadalready settled. However Livys report about these two Celtic chieains does not support such a

reconstruction... Te kingdom came to an end during C reign, when the whole tribe of the Celtswas conquered by the Tracians and annihilated.

2. PIV..-

Year: BC

Starting point: ?

Commander: CAVARUS

Destination: B

Number: ?

Achievements/ate: When CAVARUS came to B, he did his best to put an end tothe war [between Byzantium and the Bithynian king Prusias, D.B.]; trea-

Teodossiev (, ) dates Comontorius expedition to BC. See Delev , : Polybius says his [Comontorius, D.B.] army had broken from the hordes of Brennus

either before or aer his failed attack on Delphi. According to Walbank (, ) Comontorius men had never forthe most part been members of Brennus force.

See testimony here below. See testimony here below. Mihailov , ; , ; , and . For location of ylis to the north, close to

the Haemus Range, with the older literature see Oberhummer (), Detschew (, ) and Danov (, ).Surprisingly Smith (, ) places yle on the coast of the Euxine. Tis much debated issue is presented byDelev , - with lit. See also Grainger (, ).

See testimony here below.


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ties were made in the year of Cothon, son of Calligeiton, hieromne-mon in Byzantium, with the Rhodians and with Prusias [ BC]

Number lef: ?

Achievements:

Fate: During CAVARUS reign the kingdom came to an end and thewhole tribe was conquered by the Tracians and annihilated

.Polyb. IV..-: Information & Problems

.. In BC Cavarus came to Byzantium engaging himself in peace negotiations betweenByzantium and Prusias (king of Bithynia) who were waging a war for the control of the trafficthrough the Tracian Bosporus.

.. Such an engagement speaks in favour of Cavarus immediate interests in the region ofStraits. He was able to fulfill his mission doubtless because he was well enough known by and hadinfluence over the two negotiating sides. Both of them were geographically connected with the

Tracian Bosporus... It is clear that in BC Cavarus was still powerful and influential. It is however unclear

when exactly did his kingdom come to end, the whole tribe was conquered by the Tracians andannihilated.

.. Despite the explicit statement of Polybius, J. Grainger (, -) inclines to regard itas an exaggeration speculating that certainly there remained Celts in the Balkan area even aerylis destruction. He points to these Celts as the prime candidates to be the ally of AntiochusIII in his Tracian campaigns. Because of Appians report (Syr.) of Antiochus III alliance withthe Galatians, which he acquired by gis and fear, and from whom he also recruited soldiers, J.

Grainger (, ) insists that Appian is referring to Tracian Galatians, not to the more famil-iar Galatians of Asia Minor. According to him these can only be either the survivors of the de-funct ylis, or the predecessors of the Scordisci in the central Balkans. In this case, however, both

possibilities offered by Grainger seem less convincing. In my opinion the prime candidates to beAntiochus ally in his Tracian campaigns are the Galatians of Asia Minor.

3. T L XXXVIII,

Year: ?

Starting point: Te Gauls under the leadership of B came into the country of the Dardanians.In DARDANIA strife broke out among them; about people (sic), with Lonorius

and Lutarius as their chiefs, seceded from Brennus and turned aside into HRACE.Commander: L and L

Broadly speaking there are two dates for the collapse of ylis earlier and later. For the earlier dating see JohnGrainger (, -), who dates it about twenty years before Antiochus III invasion in Trace, i.e. ca. /,and Peter Delev (, ): during the initial years of the reign of Ptolemy IV (- BC) the Celtic kingdom inTrace came to an end in circumstances that we are ignorant of . For the later dating see Nikola Teodossiev (, ),

who connects the destruction of Cavarus kingdom with the year BC, and Heinz Heinen (, ) with his thekingdom of ylis was to last until c. . Te dating c. appears also in Walbank , . Bringing togetherthe two chronologies, Margarita acheva places this destruction sometime between and BC ( ,

and ). English translation by E.. Sage. Te name of this Gaulish chieain appears more oen in the modern literature as Leonorius. Here I follow the

form which one finds in Livys text as published in the Loeb Classical Library.


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Destination: HRACE

Number o the army:about people; three tribes (rocmi, olostobogii, ectosages) are mentioned

Achievements/ate: Penetrated as far as BYZANIUM, contending against those who resisted andimposing tribute upon those who sought peace, they occupied for some (sic)

time HE COAS OF HE PROPONIS, holding as tributaries the cit-ies of the district. Having taken LYSIMACHIA and occupied HE WHOLECHERSONESUS they came down to the HELLESPON. When the ne-gotiation with A, the prefect of this coast, dragged out longer thanthey had expected, another new revolt broke out between the chiefs.

Number lef: ?

Further direction: ) L with the larger part of the men went backto BYZANIUM whence he had come;

) L took from the Macedonians of A two decked shipsand three cruisers. Using these as ferry-boats day aer day and night af-ter night, within a few days he transported his entire force to ASIA.

Only a little later L, with the aid of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia,crossed from BYZANIUM. Ten the Gauls were once more united and aidedNicomedes in the war he was waging against Ziboetas, who held the greater partof Bithynia. And, principally as a result of their assistance, Ziboetas was con-quered and all Bithynia acknowledged the sovereignty of Nicomedes.

Setting out from Bithynia they made their way into ASIA.

Number: Of their people [sic], not more than were armed

Achievements: Tey inspired a terror in all the peoples dwelling on this side of the aurus

Fate: Since there were three tribes, the olostobogii, the rocmi, and the ectosages,they split up into three divisions, according to the states of Asia which eachheld as tributaries. o the rocmi the coast of the Hellespont was assigned; theolostobogii received by the lot Aeolis and Ionia, the ectosages the interior

parts of Asia. Tey () established their own dwellings along the river Halys.

.Liv.XXXVIII.: Information & Problems

.. Te starting point of the Gauls who invaded Trace according to Livy was DARDANIA.Tey le their country under the leadership of B and separated from him only in Dardaniaaer the strife which broke out among them; about people (most probably from three dif-ferent tribes the olostobogii, the rocmi, and theectosages),with L and Las their chiefs, seceded from Brennus and URNED ASIDE INO HRACE.

E.. Sage translates here about twenty thousand men. Accordingly P. Delev (, ) describes this Gallicforce as the -thousand strong army of Leonorius and Lutarius. However, as Livy speaks about homines, not viri,I would prefer here the translation people, which accords better with Livys report further in his text that of thesetwenty thousand people, not more than ten thousand were armed (Livy ..). I thank my colleague D. Mitov fordiscussing this issue with me.

Heinen (, ) and Parke (, ) read olistoagii. See however Cokun , : olistobogier. For more information about the ectosages with literature on the respective discussion see ael Kos , -

. E.. Sage translates they occupied for a considerable time the coast of the Propontis. However I prefer to trans-

late Livys aliquamdiu as for some time (see Oxford Latin Dictionary , ) in order to keep a more neutralmeaning, because we are not really aware of what Livy actually implied. I thank my colleague D. Mitov for discussingthis issue with me.

On the territories of these three Galatian tribes in the st century BC see Cokun , -.


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.. Tey penetrated as far as Byzantium, occupied for some time the coast of the Propontis,holding as tributaries the cities of the district; having taken Lysimachia and occupied the wholeChersonesus they came down to the Hellespont.

.. Noteworthy is the report that these Gauls occupied for some time the coast of thePropontis. It remains unclear what is meant by for some time but it seems to be no longer than a

year... Negotiations with a certain A took place; their dragging out caused a new re-

volt between the Celtic chiefs. A question of primary importance arises: who was this Antipater?According to Livy he was the prefect of the coast, obviously the coast of the Hellespont. Tishowever is not enough when trying to place this Antipater in the history of the Aegean world be-cause we do not know whose prefect he was, i.e. who was the king, who had appointed Antipater asa prefect of the coast? We can be pretty sure that this was a king of Macedonia due to Livys infor-mation that Lutarius took from the Macedonians of Antipater two decked ships and three cruis-ers. If this is so, then the event doubtless predates the reconciliation between Antigonus Gonatas

and Antiochus I, which is supposed to have taken place either in or in BC . According tothis agreement Antiochus I received the territories to the east of the Nestos river (Veligianni ,). Most probably the crossing of Lutarius army over Hellespont into Asia postdated Seleucusassassinationby Ptolemy Ceraunus, dated to either September (Walbank et al. , )or the spring of BC ( , ). I would even dare to propose that Lutarius crossingshould be dated within the short reign of Ptolemy Ceraunus, because aer his death Macedonia

practically lost control over the Hellespont.

.. As a result of the revolt L with the larger part of the men le the Hellespontand went back to Byzantium whence he had come. Once again Livy states that the Celts whocame to Trace with Lonorius and Lutarius were connected with the region of Byzantium. Special

attention should be paid to the report that Lonorius went back to Byzantium with the larger partof the men.

.. Tis problem could be connected with a further one why does Livy speak of three tribesand only of two commanders? A possible solution would be that two of the tribes had a commonchief. Tis could have been Lonorius, who was followed by the larger part of the men. Here onefurther step seems possible due to some details in Livys account about the Asian territories held astributaries by the Celts. Te rocmi come first with the coast of the Hellespont assigned to them.Tis corresponds to the fact that the first Celtic wave to cross into Asia was led by Lutarius , who

Teir itinerary through Trace as far as Byzantium is unknown. According to M. acheva ( , and) they passed the lands of the Serdi and aer that of the riballi continuing eastwards through the territory be-tween the Danube river and the Haemus Range. P. Delev (, ) describes them crossing through Aegean Trace.Neither of these two routes could be so far considered as convincing.

According to Delev (, ) these Celts pillaged for a whole year the region of the Propontis. My impressionfrom Livys report is that this period could have been even shorter.

Polyaenus (IV..) mentions a certain Antipater, against whom the Gauls were engaged [as mercenaries underthe command of Ciderius, D.B.] by Antigonus.

Te chronology is unfortunately obscure. For BC as the year of the reconciliation between AntigonusGonatas and Antiochus I see E. Will (, ), F.W. Walbank (, ), (, , ). Veligianni (, with lit.) accepts BC with a question mark.

Seleucus army consisted mainly of Greeks and Asians (Paus. I..). Parke (, ) defines Lutarius of the rocmi. It is Lutarius who is recognized in the wolf of crooked clawsand terrible, which appears in the oracle reported by Zosimus (II.). Because of this H. W. Parke (, ) wondersif it is possible that before the historians settled on this form of his name in Greek the popular version was Lykorios?


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crossed to Asia over the Hellespont. Only aer that does Livy mention a lot and an impression isle that this lot affected only two of the tribes (the olostobogii who received Aeolis and Ionia,the ectosages the interior parts of Asia). Most probably these two tribes were under the com-mand of Lonoriusand crossed to Asia only a little later via Byzantium.

.. Tere is no secure dating for the events connected with the Celtic forces led by Lonoriusand Lutarius. Teir arrival in the region of Propontis is dated to BC , while their crossinginto Asia Minor is placed in BC, or /. In any case, one could insist that their arrivalin Southeastern Trace predates the Celtic defeat in Delphi, as well as that their crossing to AsiaMinor predates the arrival of Comontorius army in the country near Byzantium.

4.J (P T)XXIV..-, .- and .-

Year: ?

Starting point: PANNONIA

Commander: B

Destination: In the meantime B, under whose command a part of the Gauls had made anirruption into GREECE, having heard of the success of their countrymen, who, underthe leadership of Belgius, had defeated the Macedonians, and being indignant that sorich a booty had been so lightly abandoned, assembled an army of a hundred and fiythousand foot and fieen thousand horse, and suddenly invaded MACEDONIA.

Number o the army: foot & horse

Achievements/ate: Brennus ravaged the lands throughout the whole of Macedonia.

Number lef: ?

Further direction: DELPHINumber o the army: XXIV..: [at Delphi] Brennus had infantry, selected from his whole army.

Achievements:

Fate: XXIV.. a part of the mountain, broken off by an earthquake, overwhelmeda host of the Gauls, and some of the densest bodies of the enemy were scatteredabroad, not without wounds, and fell to the earth. A tempest then followed,

which destroyed those that were suffering from bodily injuries. Te generalBrennus himself, unable to endure the pain of his wounds, ended his life

Neither was fortune more favourable to those [ wounded] men,

who fled [from Delphi] Of so great an army not a man was le.

See however Parke (, ) who speaks of Leonnorius (sic), the leader of the olistoagii (sic). Whateverit should be, one is le to wonder who the leader of the third tribe mentioned by Livy the ectosages was. Parke(, ) further asserts that in the oracle reported by Zosimus (.) the mighty lion with crooked claws andterrible, who will disturb the treasures () and will seize territory without toil is Leonnorius. Te allegory was partlysuggested by his name.

Delev , . Obviously N. Teodossiev (, ) advocates an earlier date since according to him in BC... Komontorios established a tribal state... in the region of Byzantion, where part of Leonorios and Loutarios Celtshad already settled.

Delev , : presumably; Parke , .

Heinen , ; Walbank et al. , : / Gaulish invasion of Asia Minor under Lutarius andLeonnorius. For another opinion see comment . here above. English translation by Rev. J.S. Watson.


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.Justin. XXIV..-; .-; .-: Information & Problems

.. Te impression from this report is that Brennus had made an irruption into Greece andonly aer thathe heard of the success of their countrymen under the leadership of Belgius. Tenhesuddenly invaded Macedonia and ravaged the whole country, which obviously happened onlyaer Brennus initial irruption into Greece.

..Brennus fought against the Delphians with infantry, selected from his whole army.Tis most probably implies the number of the Celts who aer Termopylae continued againstDelphi. However the number given here contradicts Pausanias information about a detachmentof with which Brennus marched against Delphi.

.. Te statement that not a man was le of the Brennus great army contradicts at firstglance both Justin XXXII. (about the origin of the Scordisci) and Polybius IV.. (aboutComontorius and his escaping from the disaster at Delphi). A possible solution would be tosearch for Comontorius either among the Celts who invaded Aetolia under the command ofOrestorius and Combutis, or among the main army le at the Termopylae with Acichorius incharge.

5.J (P T)XXV.-

Year: AFER peace was made between the two kings, Antigonus and Antiochus, a newenemy suddenly started up against Antigonus as he was returning to Macedonia.

Starting point: HE BORDER S OF HE GAULS COUNRY

Commander: ?: Gauls, who had been le behind by their general Brennus, when hemarched into Greece, to defend the borders of their country

Destination: Having routed the forces of the Getae and riballi (sic)and preparing to in-vade Macedonia, they sent ambassadors to Antigonus to offer him peace in hiscamp. Antigonus had also ordered his ships laden with stores to be displayed.

Number o the army: foot and horse

Achievements/ate: Te Gauls took possession of HE KINGS camp; they reached the coast; theywere cut down by the sailors; slaughter among the Gauls; peace with Antigonus.

Number lef: ?

Further direction: Te Gauls filled all ASIA as with one swarm

Number o the army: ?

Fate: Being called by the king of Bithynia to his aid, and having gained him the victory over

his enemies, they shared his kingdom with him, and called their part of it Gallograecia.During these transactions in Asia, Pyrrhus, having been defeated bythe Carthaginians in a sea-fight on the coast of Sicily, sent ambassa-dors to Antigonus king of Macedonia, to ask for a supply of troops.

Belgius victory over Ptolemy Ceraunus and the latters death are dated either to February B.C. (Heinen, ) or between January th and February th (Nachtergael , ). Delev (, ) disagrees withsuch an early dating. According to him the great Celtic invasion started only in the spring or in the summer of the same BC, thus connecting Ceraunus death either with the spring or with the summer BC but certainly not with the

winter in early BC.

See testimony () here below. In or BC (on the chronology see footnote above). According to P.R. Franke (Franke , ) as Pyrrhus sailed northwards along the Sicilian coast in the late

summer of , he was surprised by a Punic fleet not far from Rhegium and suffered heavy losses.


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.Justin.XXV.-: Information& Problems

.. Tis evidence gives relative dating to some of the events, connected with the Celtic inva-sion in Trace. Te start is synchronized with the time immediately following the reconciliationbetween Antigonus Gonatas and Antiochus in or BC. Te crossing of the Celts into Asiaand their transactions in Asia are synchronized with the Carthaginians victory over Pyrrhus in asea-fight on the coast of Sicily which is dated to the late summer of BC.

.. It is not exactly clear what is meant by the borders of their (i.e. the Gauls) country.Most probably it refers to Pannonia if we take into consideration the report inJustin.XXIV. thatthe Gauls fixed their abode in Pannonia.

.. Te most problematic part of this evidence is the sequence in which the itinerary of theGauls is given they had routed the forces of the Getae and riballi (sic) and were preparing toinvade Macedonia. Without even discussing the case, very oen modern scholarship changes the

places of the two Tracian ethnonyms, speaking about Gauls defeating the riballi and the Getae

thus following a route from west to east. However, the internal logic of this evidence would be cor-rect if the sequence given by Pompeius rogus follows a north south direction. It is well knownthat according to Arrian, who used Alexanders ephemerides, aer meeting the riballi in BCAlexander the Great crossed the Danube proceeding northwards and defeated the Getae. If wetransfer this information to the evidence under discussion here it could be possible to think thatit refers to the route taken by the Gauls starting from Pannonia, then defeating the Getae north ofthe Danube River, then the riballi living to the south of the Danube. If this reading is correct,it would mean that the Gauls were somewhere in the region of Western Trace when preparing toinvade Macedonia. Bearing in mind the territorial agreement between Antiochus I and Antigonus

Gonatas

, I incline to connect this report with the territory to the west of the Nestos River... Unfortunately we are informed neither by Pompeius rogus, nor by Justinus, whereAntigonus camp was situated and respectively where Antigonus victory and the slaughteramong the Gauls took place. Obviously however, it was close to a coast with a harbour whereships laden with stores could be displayed. raditionally it is accepted that it happened nearLysimachiabecause of Diogenes Laertius(.), who refers to a victory by Antigonus over cer-

Teodossiev (, ) dates this Celtic invasion to BC, while Delev (, ) dates the campaign to or BC.

Despite Callimachus fr. reporting that Brennus invaded Greece from the West Sea (Petzl , ). Formore details on Pannonia in connection with this issue see ael Kos (, -) and (, ).

Teodossiev , : those Gauls defeated the riballi and the Getae (see also Teodossiev , ); Delev, : a new large Celtic army set out on a major predatory campaign through the lands of the riballi and Getae(see also , ). acheva ( , ) also follows the Gaulish victories against the riballi and aerthat against the Getae. So far she is alone in her idea that the information provided by itus Livius and Pompeiusrogus on the Celts battles with Antiochus I and Antigonus Gonatas complement each other and that there is no rea-son to claim that there had been two Celtic campaigns against Lysimachia and Asia Minor ( , - and; for a criticism of this idea see Delev , , n. ). Danov , also inserts that eine andere Keltenschar scheint gegen die riballer und die Geten eine Zeitlang Kmpfen gefhrt zu haben

Tis is supported by Appian (Illyr. ) who claimed that the Scordisci and riballi destroyed each other in mutualwars to such an extent that those of the riballi who survived, fled across the Ister [i.e. the Danube, D.B.] to the Getae

(ael Kos , -; Teodossiev , ). See comment . here above with literature and footnote . So far this reconstruction has been uniformly accepted and no one has ever questioned the place of Antigonus

victory over the Gauls, reported by Justinus in XXV.-.


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tain barbarians near Lysimachia. In my opinion such a connection between these two testimo-nies is far from evident and I would prefer not to take it for granted. One should not forget thatLysimachia was oen also attacked by the neighbouring Tracianswho are labeled as barbariansin some of the Hellenistic and Roman writings.

.. Despite the obvious lack of needed testimonies, in my opinion there are some details thatcould direct the search for a different area to locate the Antigonus victory over the Gauls as re-

ported by Justinus. Very indicative here is what has come down to us from rogus history evenif only fragmentarily (rog. prol.): His now missing report on how Antigonus destroyed theGaulsis followed by the missing description of the war which he [Antigonus, D.B.] fought withApollodorus, the tyrant of CASSANDREA, and how the Gauls entered Asia and waged war withKing Antiochus and Bithynia: where they occupied regions of ylenus. It could hardly be purechance that according to Pompeius rogus, Antigonus Gonatas was in the region of Cassandrea,i.e. in the West, aer he had destroyed the Galatians, who had routed the forces of the Getae and

riballi and were preparing to invade Macedonia obviously from somewhere in western Trace... Tus, in my opinion, rogus evidence not only supports my conjecture that theseGalatians must have reached Macedonia from western Trace but even helps to define the territory

where the kings camp with the nearby harbour, i.e. the location of the clash, should be sought.Tis region is limited by Nestos to the east and by Axios to the west. Te region in question pro-

vides an epigraphic document a decree from Gazoros (in the Lower Strymon valley), which tes-tifies to a military threat and need for grain in two successive years / and / (Veligianni, -). I am very much inclined to connect the situation presented in the decree fromGazoros with the route of the Gauls before their clash with Antigonus Gonatas. Te question is ifthe two successive years of military threat and need for grain were caused by just one Celtic wave

in the region or by two separate waves... Te further direction and the fate of this Celtic force aer the defeat inflicted by

Antigonus remains ambiguous because of the way Justinus introduces his report on Gauls in Asia(XXV.). It starts more like general information than like a logical continuation of the clash be-tween Antigonus Gonatas and the Celts. Hence it is possible to accept that these Gauls, like thoseunder the leadership of Lutarius and Lonorius, went to Asia Minor. But obviously the rest of thereport in the respective chapter refers to the Gauls in general, including those of the two chiefs justmentioned, who aided the Bithynian king Nicomedes in the war against Ziboetas.

Diog. Laert. II.-: Antigonus too was much attached to him [to Menedemus, D.B.] and used to proclaimhimself his pupil. And when he vanquished the barbarians near the town of Lysimachia, Menedemus moved a decree inhis honour in simple terms and free from flattery, beginning thus: On the motion of the generals and the councilors - -

Whereas King Antigonus is returning to his own country aer vanquishing the barbarians in battle, and whereas in allhis undertakings he prospers according to his will, the senate and the people have decreed (English translation by R.D. Hicks).

For an example see Livy XXXIII..- and the analysis of Grainger (, ). English translation of rogusPrologiby Roger Pearse. In my opinion the text here is obscure and one cannot be sure that regions of ylenus were originally connected

by rogus with Bithynia. However going into further speculations with regard to this issue is certainly not advisable dueto lack of information. Te name of ylenus is not discussed by Smith (, ), neither do we find it separately in

the RE. Oberhummer () makes a reference to it (without any comment) in his article on yle oder ylis. According to (, -) the armies both of Lonorius and Lutarius and of Comontorius reachedByzantium following the route of the future via Egnatia.

See testimony here above.


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6. PX..-

Year: ?

Commander: Te Celts conducted their first expedition under the leadership of C

Number o the army: Tey realized that they were too few in number to be match for the Greeks

Destination: Advanced as far as HRACEAchievements: Tey lost heart and broke off their march

Number o the army: When they decided to invade foreign territory for a second time, un-der the influence of C a large force of infan-

try and no small number of mounted men attended the muster

.Paus.X..-:Information & Problems

.. Te first Celtic expedition was led by C and it advanced as far as Trace.Tis important information is given by Pausanias with neither chronological nor territorial speci-fication. Tus we are le to wonder when exactly did it happen and how far did this expedition

come. Different possibilities have been argued to date: Cambaules expedition could be connectedwith the reported victory of Cassander over the Galatae in Haemus (Seneca nat. quaest.III..,who quotes Teophrastus; Plin. n. h.XXXI.) with a disputed dating of ca. or ca. BC(Teodossiev , - with lit.). Another opinion connects this expedition with the rapidlydeveloping situation aer the death of Lysimachus as a first stage of the great Celtic inasion, pre-ceding more or less immediately the triple incursion into Trace, Paeonia and Macedonia in BC (Delev , -).

.. Probably helpful in searching for a correct interpretation is Pausanias report of the greatinfluence of those who participated in Cambaules march for the undertaking and organization

of the second Galatian expedition. Tere are at least two possible ways of interpreting this informa-tion. It could refer on the one hand to those who had served under Cambaules and were still activewhile the second expedition was in preparation. If this were the case, then Cambaules expeditioncould have predated the second one by not more than ten to fieen years but the length of timebetween the two of them could have been just a year or two. On the other hand, if those who

participated in Cambaules march were not militarily active at the time of the second expedition,then Cambaules undertaking must have predated the second one by about twenty years. Te ques-tion here is whether Pausanias phrasing could indicate such nuances of meaning.

7. PX..-

Year: When they decided to invade foreign territory a second timeCommander: Te army was split up into three divisions by the chieains, to

each of whom was assigned a separate land to invade

Number o the army: Under the influence of C a large force of infan-try and no small number of mounted men attended the muster

Destination: ) C was to be leader against the HRACIANSand the nation of the RIBALLI.

) B and A had command over the invaders of PAEONIA (sic).

English translation by W.H.S. Jones. (, ) dates Cambaules march firmly to BC. W.H.S. Jones translates the Greek word ekstratesantes used by Pausanias here as veterans; thus his transla-

tion reads the influence of Cambaules veterans, which actually predetermines the interpretation.


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) B attacked the MACEDONIANS and ILLYRIANS.

.Paus.X..-: Information & Problems

.. Modern scholarship, referring to Pausanias, uniformly insists on a Celtic expedition in

Trace led by Cerethrius. However, it seems highly significant that Pausanias goes into detailabout the expeditions of both Bolgius and Brennus, while he never mentions any further wordabout Cerethrius. Tis leaves the impression, that for some reason it was not Cerethrius who ledthe expedition against Trace, or that he led an expedition in another direction. Such an impres-sion finds support in the grammar of Pausanias text: when speaking about Cerethrius the ancientauthor implies intention, while when speaking about Bolgius he uses the aorist. Also very indicativeis the text about Brennus and Acichorius, who according to Pausanias were supposed to commandthe expedition against P here Pausanias uses the imperfect obviously because Brennusand Acichorius started their march towards Paeonia, but they actually attacked Macedonia andaer that Greece.

.. According to the initial assignment, Brennus was supposed to invade P. When itcame out that the victorious Bolgius army lacked courage to advance against Greece, Brennusstrongly urged a campaign against Greece. It seems quite acceptable that at this point we couldenrich Pausanias report with the information given by Livy that on his way southwards Brennuscame down to D, where a strife broke out among the Celts and about men, withLonorius and Lutarius as their chiefs, seceded from Brennus and turned aside into . Itseems very likely that the strife which flared up in Dardania was caused by the different views onfurther Celtic military activity at a moment when Brennus was urging a campaign against Greecedespite the initial direction towards Paeonia.

7 (1). PX..

Year:

Commander: B

Number o the army ?

Destination: MACEDONIA and ILLYRIA

Achievements: Bolgius attacked the Macedonians and Illyrians, and engaged in a struggle with Ptolemythe Tunderbolt, king of the Macedonians at that time; Macedonian losses were heavy

Number lef:

Further direction: Te second expedition returned home

Achievements: Lacked courage to advance against Greece

ael Kos , : [In ca. BC] the Celts divided their army into three sections, of which one was led byCerethrius against the Tracians and the nation of the riballi, one by Brennus and Acichorius against Paeonia, andthe third by Bolgius against the Macedonians and Illyrians. Delev , : the army of Ceretrius invaded Tracethrough the lands of the riballi and ravaged the country. Danov , : Eine andere Keltenschar die sich unterder Fhrung des Kerethrius befand, scheint sogar bereits i. J. v. Chr. nach Trakien vorgedrungen zu sein. See also

Walbank , . See M. achevas explicit comment that Pausanias is reporting about Cerethrius plan to march towards Trace

but not about the fulfillment of this plan ( , ). Although not discussing the issue, N. Teodossiev (,

) also correctly refers to this aspect of the report: the Gauls led by Cerethriuspreparedthemselves to fight againstthe riballoi and the remaining Tracians I am much obliged to my colleague D. Mitov for discussing with me the grammatical aspect of this issue. See testimony here above.


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Fate: Returned home

().Paus.X..:Information & Problems ().. Very indicative is the information that Bolgius attacked Macedonia and Illyria. It

could be connected with the fact that precisely at this time king Pyrrhus of Epirus engaged himselfin Italy and appointed Ptolemy the Tunderbolt guardian of his kingdom in his absence (Justin...; ..). Tis would explain why we find Ptolemy engaged in the region, neighbouringIllyria, not Trace. In my opinion this is an important detail which has been underestimated inthe modern literature. Despite the lack of further information we can locate the battle in whichPtolemy Ceraunus was defeated by Bolgius in the western parts of Macedonia.

().. It is also noteworthy that according to Pausanias the second Celtic expedition in for-eign territories ended when Bolgius returned home.

7 (2). PX.-

Year: X..: Te expedition of the Celts against Greece, and their destruc-tion, took place when Anaxicrates was archon at Athens, in the second yearof the hundred and twenty-fih Olympiad [/ BC], when Ladas ofAegium was victor in the footrace. In the following year, when Democles

was archon at Athens, the Celts crossed to Asia [/ BC].

Commander: B and A

Number o the army: Foot and horse (number of horsemen in action at anyone time, but the real number was , for to each horseman were at-tached two servants, who were skilled riders and had a horse)

Destination: Greece / Termopylae

Achievements: Te spirit of the Greeks was utterly broken. Tey still remembered the fate of

MACEDONIA, HR ACE and PAEONIA during the former incursion of the Gauls Number lef: X..-: In the battle at the HERMOPYLAE their loss in the re-

treat was no less than the loss that occurred while the battle raged; Telosses of the barbarians it was impossible to discover exactly. For thenumber of them that disappeared beneath the mud was great

Further direction: ) Greece / Aetolia

) Greece / Delphi

Achievements: ) X..-: B detached from his army foot and about horse.Over these he set in command O and C to invade AEOLIA.

) X..-: Leaving A behind in charge of the main army, with in-

structions that it was to attack only when the enveloping movement was complete,B himself, with a detachment of , began his march along the pass.

B, without delaying any longer, began his march against Delphiwithout waiting for the army under Acichorius to catch up.

Fate: ) X..: Te flower of the Aetolians turned against the army of A,and without offering battle attacked continuously the rear of their line of march,

plundering the baggage and putting the carriers to the sword. It was chiefly for

See howeverJustin. .. with the report that Pyrrhus appointed as guardian of Epirus his eldest son Ptolemy. For a different opinion see Danov (, ): Gegen die in Trakien eingefallen Kelten kmpfend fand

Ptolemaios Keraunos seinem od ( v. Chr.). Concerning the source of Pausanias account of the Gallic attack against the sanctuary of Delphi two possibilitieshave been argued Hieronymus of Cardia and imaeus of auromenium (Nachtergael , -; Champion ,, ; ael Kos , ).


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this reason that their march proved slow. Futhermore, at Heracleia Ahad le a part of his army, who were to guard the baggage of the camp.

) X..-: when B himself was wounded, he was carried faint-ing from the battle, and the Gauls, harassed by the Greeks, fell back reluctantly,

putting to the sword those who, due to wounds or sickness, could not go withthem. A great mutual slaughter was caused by the madness sent by the god.

X..: in Phocis they lost close on (killed in the bat-tles); over (perished in the wintry storm at night and aer-

wards in the panic and terror), the same amount starved to death.

X..: Tose who fled with Brennus had been joined by the army under Acichoriusonly on the previous night. For the Aetolians had delayed their march. Tere was still ahope of saving the life of Brennus, nonetheless he took his own life by drinking neat wine.

X..: During Gauls retreat the Tessalians and Malians kept lying in wait forthem, and so took their fill of slaughter so that not a Gaul returned home in safety.

().Paus.X.-:Information & Problems ().. Very indicative is the report, that during Brennus attack on Termopylae the Greeks

still remembered the fate of Macedonia, Trace and Paeonia during the former incursion of theGauls. It states explicitly that we have to date one of the Celtic attacks against Trace prior to theone against Greece. Te question is whether the territories are given here in chronological order oftheir devastation, or not. I incline to see them chronologically enumerated, since they are doubt-lessly not arranged in a geographical order. Of course, we also have to consider the possibility thatthey are listed without any internal logic.

().. Also noteworthy is the detail, that when speaking about Celts crossing to Asia in/ BC, Pausanias refers to it as crossing to Asia. So far it is impossible to explain

what he meant but we have to be aware of this fact. ogether with Polybius hint concerningComontorius and his Celts that instead of crossing to Asia they remained on the spot, as theytook fancy to the country near Byzantium, this information from Pausanias seems to imply thatthere were at least two Celtic crossings into Asia.

().. In Greece Brennus divided his army into three detachments: ) he detached from hisarmy foot and about horse to invade AEOLIA under the command of Oand C; ) he le A at HERMOPYLAE in charge of the main army; )B himself, with a detachment of , began his march along the pass towards DELPHI.It remains unclear if the statement that not a Gaul returned home in safety refers only to thethird detachment or to the second as well.

* * *o summarize:Te ancient sources give information about four different waves of Celtic activity in Trace

at the end of the th and during the first quarter of the rd century BC.Te first one is reported by Pausanias according to whom the Celts conducted their first

foreign expedition under the leadership of C, whose army advanced as far as Trace.

See testimony here above. See Grainger (, ) about the Celtic groups who were still on the move for decades in the Tracian area.Te Aegosages crossed the Hellespont in the s, to take service with Attalus II and he settled them in the road in. Tey were destroyed by Prusias of Bithynia.


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Tere the Gauls broke off their march, realizing that they were too few in number to be a matchfor the Greeks. Its dating remains so far uncertain.

Te second wave was part of the Celtic activity which started in either or BC.Despite some modern hesitations Cerethrius did not have the chance to lead Celtic forces againstTrace. At the beginning of this second campaign he was chosen to be leader against the Traciansand the nation of the riballi but for some reason it did not happen and Pausanias leaves us igno-rant about his fate. It is also pretty certain that the Celtic army led by Bolgius/Belgius did not enterTracian lands because it attacked the Macedonians and Illyrians, i.e. the invaded regions were in

western Macedonia neighbouring Illyria. According to Pausanias the muster which began the sec-ond Celtic campaign, expected B and A to have the command over the invad-ers of Paeonia. Obviously this itinerary brought them to Dardania, where strife broke out resultingin the secession of about people of three tribes (rocmi, olostobogii and ectosages) withL and L as their chiefs, who turned aside into Trace. Tey were the first Celtic

wave to penetrate deep into the Tracian lands, arriving in their south-eastern region.In either or BC under the leadership of Lonorius and Lutarius these Celtsreached Byzantium, contending against those who resisted and imposing tribute upon those whosought peace. Teir itinerary towards Byzantium remains totally obscure. Tey occupied for sometime (several months but hardly longer than a year) the coast of the Propontis, holding as tributar-ies the cities of the district. Ten the desire to cross into Asia seized them, as they heard from theirneighbours how rich this land was. Having taken Lysimachia and occupied the whole Chersonesusthey came down to the Hellespont. Tere, seeing Asia separated from them by a narrow strait,they sent messengers to Antipater, the prefect of the coast (so far the Macedonian king who hadappointed him prefect remains unknown), regarding the crossing. During the negotiations a

new revolt broke out between the chiefs. Lonorius with the larger part of the men went back toByzantium whence he had come. Lutarius, using two decked ships and three cruisers (which hehad taken from Antipaters Macedonians) day and night, transported his entire force across theHellespont into Asia within a few days. Only a little later Lonorius, with the aid of Nicomedes,king of Bithynia, crossed from Byzantium. Ten the Gauls of Lonorius and Lutarius were againunited and aided Nicomedes in the war he was waging against Ziboetas. Lutarius crossing intoAsia over the Hellespont is datable within the short reign of Ptolemy Ceraunus.

Not long aer the crossing of Lutarius and Lonorius into Asia, the Hellespont was reachedby the Celts of C, who escaped from the disaster at Delphi. In BC, instead of

crossing into Asia, they remained on the spot, as they took a fancy to the country near Byzantium.Here they conquered the Tracians, established their basileion at ylis and placed the Byzantinesin extreme danger. Tis was how the third wave of Celtic activity in Trace started and it was theonly one to be connected explicitly with the history of ylis by the ancient testimonies. Te Celticitinerary from Delphi towards the Hellespont remains totally obscure, but a route along the Aegeancoast seems quite plausible. During the initial inroads of Comontorius the Byzantines continued to

pay on each occasion three thousand, five thousand, and sometimes even ten thousand gold piecesto save their territory from being laid waste. Tis report by Polybius suggests that Comontorius

was active in the very close vicinity of Byzantium, i.e. in the country near Byzantium as said bythe ancient historian himself, which could be possible only if his basileion ylis was also located

there.Te fourth wave closely postdates the reconciliation between Antigonus Gonatas and

Antiochus I in or BC. Te Gauls, who had been le behind by their general Brennus to


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