0:00:04 > 0:00:07ALICE ROBERTS: In early 2015 in Yorkshire,
0:00:07 > 0:00:11the remains of a body were discovered in an unmarked grave.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15They belonged to a man who had died in his early 20s.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Beside him lay a large sword,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and the heads of five spears.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23It was an iron age ritual burial.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29- NEIL OLIVER:- Graves like this have been discovered throughout Europe,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33and we now know that this man once shared a common culture
0:00:33 > 0:00:36that stretched from Turkey to Portugal.
0:00:36 > 0:00:42We know this because he was one of our pre-historic ancestors...
0:00:43 > 0:00:45..a Celt.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53In Britain we're never far from our Celtic past.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57The Celts seem to belong to a shadowy, wilder,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01more primal time than anything in more recent history.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08But much about their origins, beliefs, and ultimate fate
0:01:08 > 0:01:09remains a mystery.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17But a story etched in vivid colour
0:01:17 > 0:01:22is how these powerful tribal people battled for survival
0:01:22 > 0:01:26against their arch-enemy, the Roman Empire.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29From the first Celtic raiding parties
0:01:29 > 0:01:31that rampaged through ancient Italy,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34to Julius Caesar's campaign in Gaul.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39And the Celts' last stand under the warrior queen, Boudicca.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43One of the greatest cultural conflicts
0:01:43 > 0:01:46that still defines our world today,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50and reveals Europe's most enigmatic ancient people.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Rome.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Once the heart of Europe's greatest empire.
0:02:28 > 0:02:29For hundreds of years,
0:02:29 > 0:02:35this city ruled over lands stretching from Syria to Britain.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Rome's power was forged on its military strength,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43enshrined in its laws, economy and monuments.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48But even before this empire spread across Europe,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52it would be challenged by powerful barbarian forces,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54from lands north of the Alps.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00Warrior tribes that would fire the imagination of Romans
0:03:00 > 0:03:01for centuries to come.
0:03:03 > 0:03:04The Celts.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14This is the Roman image of the Celt.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16It's called The Dying Gaul.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24He's completely naked, he has tousled and unkempt hair,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27a moustache, and around his neck he's wearing a torc,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31which is the ultimate status symbol of the elite Celtic warrior.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37In Roman eyes, this is the quintessential naked savage,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and more importantly
0:03:39 > 0:03:43it's a naked savage who has been subdued, and defeated.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Here in his side he's bleeding from a mortal wound,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49and in his agony he's dropped his sword to the ground
0:03:49 > 0:03:52and then slumped alongside it, awaiting death.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55It's a beautiful
0:03:55 > 0:03:59and very powerful and moving work of art,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01but it's also propaganda.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04This is how Rome wanted its citizens to see,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07to perceive the Celtic opponent.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11As noble, yes,
0:04:11 > 0:04:12but essentially a savage.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17A powerful, potent image
0:04:17 > 0:04:20to set against the idea of Rome
0:04:20 > 0:04:26as a disciplined, ordered, civilising presence.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37For 400 years,
0:04:37 > 0:04:42the Romans and Celts would struggle for supremacy in Europe.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46A conflict that, in the end, would define them both.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48But while Rome would celebrate ITS victories
0:04:48 > 0:04:51in monumental architecture...
0:04:51 > 0:04:54the Celts would gradually fade from history.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00One big difference between the Celts and the Romans
0:05:00 > 0:05:03is that the Celts left us no written records of their own.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Theirs was an oral tradition, not a written one.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Unlike the Romans,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13who documented almost every detail of their lives
0:05:13 > 0:05:17in their writings, in their sculptures and in their monuments.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20But the Celts aren't entirely invisible to us.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22The world that they left behind
0:05:22 > 0:05:26is there to be discovered - beneath our feet.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Throughout Europe,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33archaeologists are unearthing the world of the Ancient Celts.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I'm in Central France, in Champagne country,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and here on the outskirts of Bucheres in April 2013,
0:05:43 > 0:05:48a team of archaeologists found something very exciting indeed.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50They were investigating this area
0:05:50 > 0:05:55simply because this is going to be the site of a large new warehouse.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59And what they stumbled across
0:05:59 > 0:06:01was a burial site.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07They discovered the graves of 27 men and women,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11and they'd been buried here in the fourth century BC.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22This was an iron age cemetery -
0:06:22 > 0:06:25the people buried here were Celts.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Finds like Bucheres
0:06:28 > 0:06:32give us direct insight into who the Celts really were.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37This is one of the skeletons from those graves at Bucheres,
0:06:37 > 0:06:41and in fact this is one of the most complete skeletons that were found
0:06:41 > 0:06:44because some of the bones were in a very bad state of repair indeed.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Now, I've looked really carefully at these bones, and I can't see
0:06:52 > 0:06:55any signs of injury or disease on them.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59But in fact there are some marks or perhaps I should say stains
0:06:59 > 0:07:02just here on the left forearm bones.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Now, this isn't a disease, this is
0:07:04 > 0:07:07where something made of copper or copper alloy
0:07:07 > 0:07:10has lain very close to these bones in the grave,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and in fact, with all of these skeletons,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15with all these graves at Bucheres,
0:07:15 > 0:07:20it's not the human remains themselves that are the most interesting -
0:07:20 > 0:07:22it's what was buried with them.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29The bodies were accompanied into the afterlife by their possessions,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33and they reveal a surprisingly sophisticated culture.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35We've got some fibulae,
0:07:35 > 0:07:36some brooches here,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38some bracelets,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40some little pins just there
0:07:40 > 0:07:42and a couple of necklaces as well.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45The fibulae are gorgeous.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51This fibula is the piece de resistance.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56It has a repeating pattern running along the body of interwoven spirals,
0:07:56 > 0:08:01and then this strange white button just here
0:08:01 > 0:08:02is actually made of coral,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05so that would have come from the Mediterranean.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08This is a fairly classic Celtic torc.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14The thing which characterises them is this opening at the bottom
0:08:14 > 0:08:15with these two terminals,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18and the whole neck ring would have been twisted open
0:08:18 > 0:08:21in order to place it around somebody's neck.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23And it's got this nice decoration
0:08:23 > 0:08:25stamped onto the shaft.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31A few of the graves contained weaponry,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33and these swords are absolutely beautiful.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35They are still in their scabbards,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38and the degradation of the iron
0:08:38 > 0:08:40has meant that it's sprung apart,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42so you can actually probably see
0:08:42 > 0:08:43the sword sitting inside there.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Now, the length of these swords is interesting.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50They're not quite as long as the slashing swords
0:08:50 > 0:08:54that would have been carried by the cavalrymen amongst the Celts.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59So these are designed to be carried by warriors on foot.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03And here, this iron band
0:09:03 > 0:09:06is decorated - we've got these strange circles just here
0:09:06 > 0:09:09but if you look at them really closely you realise what they are.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12These circles, which are made of coral,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15are the eyes of two dragons.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24So we've got this lovely symmetrical pattern on this scabbard,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28which is actually very different from this one.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Both these styles are typical of the period,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34but they're very individual at the same time.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37And you imagine that these swords would have been
0:09:37 > 0:09:40very prized personal items.
0:09:42 > 0:09:43The picture emerging
0:09:43 > 0:09:46is that the Celts were a people with individual style
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and technical skill,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50who took pride in their appearance and weaponry.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57It's a far cry from the naked savage depicted by Rome.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Over 2,500 years ago,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15the Celts and Romans were destined to meet,
0:10:15 > 0:10:20as Celtic influence spread south of the Alps into Northern Italy.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24And we know that some Celts must have come through here -
0:10:24 > 0:10:27the Alpine pass of Valcamonica.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Carved, etched into the rocks hereabouts
0:10:35 > 0:10:39are markings that some archaeologists believe could be
0:10:39 > 0:10:42the very earliest depictions of Celts.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46As they came through these high Alpine passes,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49they encountered a mountain people called the Cammunni -
0:10:49 > 0:10:51and it may well be the case that it was those Cammunni
0:10:51 > 0:10:53who made these marks in the rocks
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and so created the very first indelible record
0:10:57 > 0:11:00of what the Celts looked like and what they had.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02And what you've got on here
0:11:02 > 0:11:04is something really quite remarkable.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Most obvious perhaps
0:11:07 > 0:11:11is a depiction of a four-wheeled vehicle - a chariot.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Elsewhere, there's a couple of warriors,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19or at least figures who seem to be armed with spears and shields -
0:11:19 > 0:11:23but it's a fabulous, unforgettable snapshot
0:11:23 > 0:11:26of what someone saw when a new people arrived.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31What IS clear
0:11:31 > 0:11:35is that the Celts who ventured south were ready to fight.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43This whole area is just peppered, littered with the rock carvings,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46so that you've even got to need to look underneath the leaf mould
0:11:46 > 0:11:48in case you're missing something.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51We'll clear it away...
0:11:51 > 0:11:52and look there!
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Right away, that's fantastic.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57See that figure there, look?
0:11:57 > 0:11:58A man, his head,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00two legs, got shoes on,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02and he's holding a spear.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04And then in his left -
0:12:04 > 0:12:08well, that's either a small kind of type buckler-type shield,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11or it could be a trophy. Could be a man's severed head, who knows?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15And so it goes on. You've just got to keep revealing the canvas.
0:12:15 > 0:12:16There's more...
0:12:16 > 0:12:18There's a crowd of them there,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22armed with spears and shields and swords.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23More of them.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25They're fantastic.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Everything about it seems to be either
0:12:28 > 0:12:30war-like and aggressive, or jubilant.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32You know, the figures are either
0:12:32 > 0:12:33threatening combat
0:12:33 > 0:12:35or they're celebrating victory -
0:12:35 > 0:12:37but they're very much alive.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43Whoever saw them and decided to commit their image to the rock
0:12:43 > 0:12:44had been impressed,
0:12:44 > 0:12:45and wanted to make sure that
0:12:45 > 0:12:49some aspect of their arrival was remembered.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52The Celtic tribes were migrating,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54taking new lands
0:12:54 > 0:12:56and moving south towards Central Italy.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02The ordered, structured world of Rome had a storm coming.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03THUNDER RUMBLES
0:13:10 > 0:13:13To find out what happened when the Romans first met the Celts,
0:13:13 > 0:13:18we have to rely on this - Livy's History of Rome.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Now, bear in mind that Livy - Titus Livius - WAS a Roman
0:13:23 > 0:13:25so he's likely to be partisan,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28and he was writing 300 years after the event.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33He tells us that that first meeting
0:13:33 > 0:13:35between the Romans and the Celts
0:13:35 > 0:13:38took place in 387 BC, in Clusium,
0:13:38 > 0:13:43a town in what's now Tuscany, 100 miles north of Rome.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51It's hard to believe,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54strolling around this peaceful Tuscan hill town today,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56but events that unfolded here
0:13:56 > 0:13:59would set in train centuries of conflict and bloodshed.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Livy writes that "outlandish warriors in their thousands,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30"armed with strange weapons, marched to Clusium
0:14:30 > 0:14:35"in search of new lands to conquer and riches to plunder."
0:14:35 > 0:14:38They were led by a Celtic tribal leader and warlord
0:14:38 > 0:14:40called Brennus.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54While the Celtic horde descended upon Clusium,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58the town's officials sent word to Rome asking for armed protection.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00BELL RINGS
0:15:06 > 0:15:08But the request was denied.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Instead, Rome sent three of her ambassadors to negotiate
0:15:12 > 0:15:13a peaceful settlement.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23It would be the first time Rome would come face-to-face
0:15:23 > 0:15:25with her greatest adversary,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30and so begin centuries of struggle for the heart and soul of Europe.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38As negotiations started, the Celts demanded land,
0:15:38 > 0:15:44and, with vastly superior numbers, they were in no mood for compromise.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03There was a fierce argument
0:16:03 > 0:16:05and in the heat of the moment a Roman ambassador stabbed his
0:16:05 > 0:16:08spear through a Celtic chieftain's heart, killing him instantly.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27In a single stroke, the oath of neutrality,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30one of Rome's own accepted customs, was broken.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33The Celts demanded that the Roman in question be handed over
0:16:33 > 0:16:36to them for suitable punishment The demand was ignored.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38Big mistake.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46Livy wrote, "The Celts flamed into the uncontrollable anger
0:16:46 > 0:16:51"and set forward with terrible speed covering miles of ground.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58"The cry went up, 'To Rome!'"
0:17:12 > 0:17:17The Romans came face-to-face with the Celts in 387 BC,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21but from modern archaeology we know that Celtic culture goes back
0:17:21 > 0:17:23much further than that.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Some of the earliest evidence comes from a tiny village
0:17:31 > 0:17:34south-east of Salzburg in Austria, called Hallstatt.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41It's a place that has given its name to an entire Celtic period
0:17:41 > 0:17:45and has become synonymous with early Celtic culture.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53This is Hallstatt, tucked away in a fold of the Austrian Alps.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56It's a quiet town with an even quieter population,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and yet it's one of the most famous names in archaeology,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03and the ideal starting point for any investigation of the Celts.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Because it's here that we catch
0:18:05 > 0:18:09the very first glimpses of Celtic material culture,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12by which I mean identifiable things
0:18:12 > 0:18:15left behind by Celts - Hallstatt culture.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18I had it drummed into my head when I was an archaeology student.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23And, now, 30 years after I first heard the term, I'm finally here.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Starting in 1846, archaeologists at Hallstatt
0:18:37 > 0:18:43gradually unearthed over 1,000 graves out of perhaps 5,000
0:18:43 > 0:18:48scattered across the upper valley, an entire city of the dead.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Within the graves were over 20,000 artefacts
0:18:51 > 0:18:54dating as far back as 800 BC.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00Intricate brooches, gold bracelets,
0:19:00 > 0:19:05vessels made of sheet bronze, iron daggers and axes.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11This was the earliest evidence of a long forgotten prehistoric culture,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15a culture we now recognise as Celtic.
0:19:16 > 0:19:23Archaeologist Hans Rechstreiter has worked here for over 25 years.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26What was special about the graves that were found here?
0:19:26 > 0:19:30It's the number of the graves. We have more than 5,000 of them,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33and also the grave goods we found in the graves.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37We have a lot of jewellery and other luxury products in the graves.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40In Hallstatt, more than 60% of the graves
0:19:40 > 0:19:42are with a lot of grave goods.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Ah, so the majority of people who died and were buried
0:19:44 > 0:19:46in these graves were rich enough
0:19:46 > 0:19:48- to take stuff with them? - Yes. That's it.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51How do you know this wasn't a graveyard for the wealthy?
0:19:51 > 0:19:54How do you know the poor weren't buried somewhere else?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56No, the traces on the skeletons,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00the muscle marks show that also the people in the rich graves
0:20:00 > 0:20:01have worked their whole lives,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05these muscle marks show traces of heavy workload.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09So what kind of activity creates
0:20:09 > 0:20:13that kind of build-up of wear and tear on the bones?
0:20:13 > 0:20:15For the women, for example,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18we see that they have heavy marks on one shoulder,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21it seems they have carried heavy loads on one shoulder.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26For the men, we have no muscles on the legs,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29but we have a lot of muscles here in the shoulders.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Right, so whatever it was they were doing required upper body strength
0:20:32 > 0:20:34but not a lot of moving around.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36- No.- Right.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42What made Hallstatt unique can still be found buried
0:20:42 > 0:20:44deep inside these mountains.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47A valuable commodity that made
0:20:47 > 0:20:51the ancient people who lived here rich and Hallstatt famous.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08On the right, we have the first prehistoric site
0:21:08 > 0:21:11we are entering here. Take care, it's slippery.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Right. Now, this tunnel is a little different than the one we walked up!
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Oh, yeah, it is. Here you see the remains of one of these huge
0:21:35 > 0:21:37prehistoric tunnels.
0:21:37 > 0:21:43So you've re-excavated a space that was originally made 3,000 years ago?
0:21:44 > 0:21:47And the shining crystalline sand, that's the salt?
0:21:47 > 0:21:50That's the salt, yes. Pure rock salt.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53This is the salt of the pre-historic miners were looking for.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56And this salt is heading in this direction
0:21:56 > 0:22:00so the pre-historic miners followed the direction of the salt.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05Salt was highly prized as a vital preservative in the ancient world,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and the Celts of Hallstatt mined it on a massive scale.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13This mountain is riddled with huge excavated galleries,
0:22:13 > 0:22:18up to 200 metres long and 20 metres high.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Everything the miners left behind is preserved perfectly.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Here you see thousands of burnt tapers to illuminate the light.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30- Tapers from the end of flaming torches?- Yes.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37And this is everything that the wealth of Hallstatt society
0:22:37 > 0:22:40was all built on, it's this.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45So that explains the marks on the skeletons in the graves.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48- It's the labour in here. - Oh, yes, it is.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50The tool handles we find in here,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53those are the handles of the bronze picks to break
0:22:53 > 0:22:57these huge plates of salt, and the work of those picks explains
0:22:57 > 0:23:04the marks on the male skeletons, and we think the marks
0:23:04 > 0:23:07on the female skeletons are from carrying the huge plates of salt.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13So, they bear the marks of a lifetime of labour on the skeletons.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Yes. So, for the Hallstatt people this was their life,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18this was their surrounding. This was quite normal.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21- They were subterranean. - Yeah. Oh, yeah.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23Within this ancient mine
0:23:23 > 0:23:27are also very personal reminders of the people that worked here.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32So, am I right in thinking that that there is proof of a life?
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Yes, this is pre-historic excrement.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37I'll be honest with you, I never expected to catch
0:23:37 > 0:23:40this intimate a glimpse of a Celtic salt miner.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44I feel a strange sense of communion and brotherhood.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Oh, yeah.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50In these excrements, we also find eggs of parasites,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54so we have the proof that nearly all the miners
0:23:54 > 0:23:55had parasites in their stomachs.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59So, it was not a nice time more than 2,000 years ago.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02- If it gets wet, it still smells. - Oh, no.
0:24:02 > 0:24:08That is unbelievable. The Iron Age is alive and well down here.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11It's preserved because of the salt in here.
0:24:11 > 0:24:12It's my first salted poo.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15LAUGHTER
0:24:15 > 0:24:18The salt from this mountain was of such high quality,
0:24:18 > 0:24:23it became a prized commodity, traded throughout the region.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27The people of Hallstatt grew rich from this white gold
0:24:27 > 0:24:29at a time when another commodity
0:24:29 > 0:24:33was starting to transform pre-historic society -
0:24:33 > 0:24:34iron.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43The secrets of iron production had spread from Asia Minor,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47through the Eastern Mediterranean, into Central Europe.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52People had long been able to extract copper and tin to make bronze.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Iron ore was more plentiful,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58but iron was harder to extract, and to work.
0:24:58 > 0:25:04Repeated heating and hammering yielded a metal hardened, durable,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07and perfect for weaponry.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09The Celts became masters at it.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16The extraordinary finds at Hallstatt revealed the Celts as wealthy,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19industrious and technologically sophisticated.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22It was the birth of a new and very distinctive culture,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26one that would grow, influence, and, ultimately, dominate Europe.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Hallstatt would become famous as the birthplace of a new culture
0:25:33 > 0:25:37that thrived and spread across great swathes of Europe.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43By 500 BC, the Celts had arrived in Northern Italy.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45And by 387 BC,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48having been wronged by Roman ambassadors at Clusium,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50the Celtic Chieftain Brennus
0:25:50 > 0:25:55and his men were marching south to Rome, hungry for revenge.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02The Roman army, having received word of the approaching Celtic horde,
0:26:02 > 0:26:07marched north to meet them, led by General Quintus Sulpicius.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Sulpicius had six legions under his command,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15approximately 24,000 soldiers.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Just 11 miles from Rome, he encountered his enemy
0:26:20 > 0:26:23on a plain next to the River Allia.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27This is by no means the most atmospheric place.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Right behind me, there's a high speed rail track,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33the whole area is criss-crossed with overhead power lines,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36but we believe that thousands of people died here.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39This is the battlefield of Allia, where the Roman army came
0:26:39 > 0:26:44face-to-face with the Celts for the very first time in pitched battle.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47And it's worth remembering too that the Roman commander Sulpicius
0:26:47 > 0:26:49had next to no knowledge of his foe.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52He knew nothing about their tactics or their weaponry
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and, furthermore, he'd been caught on the hop, with hardly any time
0:26:55 > 0:26:59to prepare for what he could now see was ahead of him and coming his way.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Mike Loades, an expert in ancient military tactics, has been
0:27:06 > 0:27:12piecing together what happened on the battlefield nearly 2,500 years ago.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17- Hi, Neil.- How are you? - Good to see you.- You, too.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19- It doesn't really have the feel of a battlefield.- No.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21It's not the prettiest, is it?
0:27:21 > 0:27:23It's a reminder that history happens
0:27:23 > 0:27:26under our feet where we live our everyday lives.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28I kind of like the ordinariness of it.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31What about the topography, would it have appealed to a commander?
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Well, you've got to remember that this is not the Roman army
0:27:35 > 0:27:40of later years, we're talking 387 BC, this is a fledgling Rome.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44It's a small force, and they're fighting in a phalanx,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48that's 10-15 rows deep, shoulder-to-shoulder.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51You've got that rigid, static,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54entrenched Roman attitude to fighting.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57You hold your ground, you take your position.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02What I think Sulpicius was trying to do was force a pitched battle
0:28:02 > 0:28:05on this plain, that's where he set his phalanx,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10expecting that Brennus would bring his hordes on to engage them.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13And, on that hill, which probably didn't have
0:28:13 > 0:28:14all those trees on back then,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Sulpicius would have put his cavalry,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21the equites - the elite Roman soldiers.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24I think Sulpicius was planning to either
0:28:24 > 0:28:29sweep down in a flanking manoeuvre, or come round behind the Celts.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34So what did go wrong for Sulpicius and his Romans?
0:28:34 > 0:28:38Well, the first thing is Brennus didn't do what Sulpicius
0:28:38 > 0:28:41thought he was supposed to do, he didn't play the game.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50He didn't let his undisciplined hordes rush forward,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53he had control of them.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56And they went streaming up that hill
0:28:56 > 0:29:00and they drove that elite Roman cavalry off the battlefield.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19The Celts were much more imaginative, swirling and using
0:29:19 > 0:29:22the landscape, and they would hit and run, and fluid,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25it's just a different way of commanding the battlefield.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31It sounds as if the analogy is that the Celt is the flowing stream
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and the Roman is the rock in the river.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40With the elite cavalry dealt with, the Celtic warriors
0:29:40 > 0:29:43turned their attention to the Roman phalanxes on the plain.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47BATTLE CRIES
0:30:09 > 0:30:13CLASHING OF SWORDS
0:30:17 > 0:30:20THUNDER CLAPS
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Overrun and outmanoeuvred, the Roman legionnaires
0:30:25 > 0:30:29fled in panic, terrified by the Celtic charge.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Many were cut down in the rout,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41others drowned in the Allia, weighed down by their heavy bronze armour.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09The Romans would later claim they lost 20,000 men that day.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11The city of Rome was left to its fate.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18The Romans may have thought their enemy had come out of nowhere,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20but the Celts had had connections
0:31:20 > 0:31:23with the Mediterranean world for years.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Hill forts are iconic features of Celtic Europe -
0:31:29 > 0:31:33Iron Age castles that were the homes of chiefs
0:31:33 > 0:31:35and great centres of power.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Heuneburg, built in the 6th century BC,
0:31:40 > 0:31:45lies 250 miles west of Hallstatt in southern Germany.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52This is Heuneburg, and, in 600 BC,
0:31:52 > 0:31:56this whole place would have been covered in Iron Age buildings.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00And archaeologists are arguing that we shouldn't just view this as a hill fort,
0:32:00 > 0:32:05but that this was a city, perhaps the first city north of the Alps.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13The Celtic City of Heuneburg is estimated to have had a population
0:32:13 > 0:32:16of 5,000 and its construction was on a grand scale.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24A five-metre-high white wall surrounded the entire citadel,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28punctuated by huge defensive towers, which were further protected
0:32:28 > 0:32:31by a large earthen ditch, six metres deep.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38This was architecture designed to be impregnable and to impress.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Dirk Krausse is the Head of Archaeology at Heuneburg.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49These walls are pretty magnificent, aren't they?
0:32:49 > 0:32:54They're much more magnificent than I expected, for an Iron Age fort.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57Yeah, because they are unique, and they are very extraordinary.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Normally they built with timber, and stone, and earth,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05but here they used limestone foundation
0:33:05 > 0:33:08and above they built with mud bricks.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12And this painting is necessary for the protection of the mud bricks
0:33:12 > 0:33:15because we have bad weather here, north of the Alps.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19It's also for the demonstration of power because these walls
0:33:19 > 0:33:22were seen from miles away
0:33:22 > 0:33:28so everyone who came here knew this is a mighty side.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32So this is what the walls look like underneath all that white paint?
0:33:32 > 0:33:37Yeah, these are the mud bricks. They're not baked clay bricks
0:33:37 > 0:33:40but they are dried in the sun or the air.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43So just how unusual is this style of building for the Iron Age?
0:33:43 > 0:33:47It's extraordinary. They didn't build with mud bricks
0:33:47 > 0:33:51north of the Alps - never, never before and never afterwards.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Where has this idea come from?
0:33:54 > 0:33:58For a long time, it was a mystery where this idea came from,
0:33:58 > 0:34:03but the combination of mud bricks and of towers which were built
0:34:03 > 0:34:05in the citadel wall here,
0:34:05 > 0:34:09you find it only in the Phoenician culture, for example, in the Levant,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12or in Sicily, or in the Iberian peninsula.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16So maybe an architect came here
0:34:16 > 0:34:21who learnt to build in a Phoenician context.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24It's an example of this Mediterranean influence,
0:34:24 > 0:34:27centuries before you think Mediterranean influence
0:34:27 > 0:34:29- really takes off with the Roman Empire.- Yeah.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37When you get up on top of the Heuneburg, you realise just
0:34:37 > 0:34:40why it was such an important site.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46It dominates the landscape but it's also extremely well connected
0:34:46 > 0:34:50within this landscape. That, down there, is the Danube,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53which, of course, carries on and flows east to the Black Sea,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and to the south of Heuneberg,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59the Rhine rises. These are really important river routes
0:34:59 > 0:35:04but there are also important overland routes nearby as well.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07The autobahns of the Iron Age.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Silver from Iberia, amber from the Baltic,
0:35:13 > 0:35:17wine and pottery from Italy and Greece crisscrossed
0:35:17 > 0:35:20the continent, east to west, south to north.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Its links to the wider world made Heuneberg a vital hub
0:35:26 > 0:35:29for trade and industry, and helped to build the foundations
0:35:29 > 0:35:32of a powerful civilisation.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37The enormous wealth from this trade transformed early Celtic leaders
0:35:37 > 0:35:39into more than chiefs.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41It created an elite class,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43the oligarchs of the Iron Age.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Some can even be regarded as royalty.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55This burial mound protected the grave of a man
0:35:55 > 0:35:57who died around 530 BC.
0:35:59 > 0:36:04He's become known as the Hochdorf Prince, because despatched with him
0:36:04 > 0:36:07into the afterlife were some of the most remarkable finds of the early
0:36:07 > 0:36:13Celtic world, now housed in the depository of the Stuttgart Museum.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21This is fantastic. Just look at this.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26This is the couch that the Hochdorf Prince was laid to rest on
0:36:26 > 0:36:28in his tomb.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32And it's made entirely out of sheet bronze riveted together.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37It's got this wonderful hammered pattern, stylised warriors
0:36:37 > 0:36:40fighting in single combat, and then, at each end,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44we've got the representation of a four-wheeled chariot pulled by
0:36:44 > 0:36:49two stallions with a warrior holding a shield and a spear.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01You've got to remember that when it was put in the grave
0:37:01 > 0:37:06it would have been a beautiful, shiny, bronze object,
0:37:06 > 0:37:11not this green, verdigrised appearance we see now.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14And you can see that this bronze couch is at the moment
0:37:14 > 0:37:17resting on these steel legs which of course are not original.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20This is what it originally stood on.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25So this is one of the eight legs of this couch, and you can see
0:37:25 > 0:37:29that it's a little bronze figurine, so this is a woman
0:37:29 > 0:37:33bearing a pot on her head and she's drilled all over,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36and would have been inlaid with coral,
0:37:36 > 0:37:41and she's standing astride a wheel, so she's a miniature unicyclist,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45so this couch would have been on casters.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49Also discovered in the tomb were drinking horns, bronze plates,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53and a vast cauldron decorated with three lions,
0:37:53 > 0:37:57that would have contained up to 500 litres of honey mead.
0:37:59 > 0:38:00This is the cauldron.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03It is enormous.
0:38:03 > 0:38:08The size of it is incredibly impressive.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12And cauldrons really are emblematic of something which was pretty
0:38:12 > 0:38:17fundamental in Celtic society, and that, of course, was feasting.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21This was the way that chieftains showed their power,
0:38:21 > 0:38:25and their wealth, and kept their allies close to them.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Just based on the size of his cauldron, the Hochdorf Prince
0:38:27 > 0:38:31must have been a fairly important person.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36But the greatest luxuries of all were found on the Prince himself.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Our Hochdorf Prince was wrapped in layers and layers of cloth,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43and, not only that,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48he was adorned with all of this gold, and it is stunning.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51He was wearing this beautiful, golden neck ring.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55When you look at it really, really closely, you realise what appears
0:38:55 > 0:38:59at first glance to be an abstract pattern is in fact a little repeating
0:38:59 > 0:39:03stamp of a tiny rider on a horse.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07And then there are these two golden fibulae, or brooches,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10and you can see the pins have been deliberately bent,
0:39:10 > 0:39:15so this is part of the strange ritual of his funeral.
0:39:15 > 0:39:16He was buried with these brooches
0:39:16 > 0:39:19but they're not to be used again by a living person.
0:39:19 > 0:39:24And other objects like a bronze dagger which has been
0:39:24 > 0:39:29encased in gold, again with a hammered pattern all over it.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33But I think what is most extraordinary about this
0:39:33 > 0:39:36entire collection are his shoes.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Now, of course, I say shoes but the shoes themselves
0:39:39 > 0:39:40have long since rotted away,
0:39:40 > 0:39:45but what we have left are these wonderful gold plaques
0:39:45 > 0:39:49going round the top of the shoe here and right up and over the toe.
0:39:49 > 0:39:56So, having lived in luxury, he took luxury to the grave with him,
0:39:56 > 0:40:00and he also took everything he needed to carry on feasting
0:40:00 > 0:40:03right into the afterlife.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12From the tiny Alpine village of Hallstatt had grown
0:40:12 > 0:40:15one of Europe's great ancient cultures.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19The Celts may not have fitted the classical model,
0:40:19 > 0:40:23but they were a rich, complex and structured society.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28A telling contrast of the Roman image of a naked warrior,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32the wild barbarian of the Dying Gaul.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50I learnt the accepted theory as an archaeology student,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53but brand-new research is suggesting that Celtic origins might be
0:40:53 > 0:40:57far more complex. And intriguing.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09If we're trying to track down the Celts and find out how and where
0:41:09 > 0:41:15it all started, there are a number of lines of evidence we can follow.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18There's archaeology, so we can look for their material culture,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21their swords and shields, and jewellery,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23and look at how that spreads across Europe.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25But we can also look at language
0:41:25 > 0:41:27because we believe that these Iron Age tribes
0:41:27 > 0:41:29spoke very similar languages
0:41:29 > 0:41:34and that we have surviving Celtic languages in the west of Europe,
0:41:34 > 0:41:38in Wales, in Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43But it's not to any of those places I've come in search of ancient
0:41:43 > 0:41:48Celtic language - it is to the Algarve, to south-west Portugal.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55John Koch is a philologist - the study of literary text -
0:41:55 > 0:41:58and he's behind a new theory of Celtic origins
0:41:58 > 0:42:01that starts with a very old source -
0:42:01 > 0:42:04the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09John, I must say that I didn't expect to come to
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Portugal in search of the Celts, but you think that they were here?
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Oh, I've no doubt that the Celts were here.
0:42:16 > 0:42:22As well as saying that the Celts lived near the source of the Danube
0:42:22 > 0:42:25Herodotus in our first good references to the Celts,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28writing in the 5th century BC,
0:42:28 > 0:42:32says that they also lived beyond the Pillars of Hercules,
0:42:32 > 0:42:33that's the Straits of Gibraltar,
0:42:33 > 0:42:37and next to a people he calls the Kunetes.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41And the Kunetes seems to be a Celtic name as well,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44so we have Celts in name and Celts linguistically.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48So, how do we square that, what Herodotus is telling us,
0:42:48 > 0:42:52with this idea that the Celts come from Central Europe,
0:42:52 > 0:42:56that is their homeland, and then they spread out
0:42:56 > 0:42:59and that Western Europe is very much a kind of afterthought?
0:42:59 > 0:43:02Well, I think we need to look at that differently,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04we need to re-examine that whole idea.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07It simply doesn't work.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11For John, what doesn't work is the absence of archaeological
0:43:11 > 0:43:15evidence linking the Celts here to the Celts of Central Europe.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21But there is evidence linking the Iberian Celts to Britain,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Ireland and the Atlantic coastline.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29The clues are etched into ancient stone tablets
0:43:29 > 0:43:32that date to the 7th century BC,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36the same period as the Hallstatt Celts.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40So, John, what have we got here, what is this stone?
0:43:40 > 0:43:41Is it a gravestone?
0:43:41 > 0:43:46This was found in the far south-west of the peninsula,
0:43:46 > 0:43:49a place called Fonte Velha, which was a necropolis,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54- a burial ground of the early Iron Age.- Can you read it, John?
0:43:54 > 0:43:57This bit, "logobol," the first word,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00looks very much like dedications
0:44:00 > 0:44:04that we have in north-western Spain of "lughubol."
0:44:04 > 0:44:08And these are dedications to the Celtic god Lugh.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13"Neerobol" probably means something like, "to the Chief men."
0:44:13 > 0:44:17So we have, "to the Gods Lugh and to the Chief Men,"
0:44:17 > 0:44:20is the opening of this inscription.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23"Logon," I think up here, I think this might be the word for "burial"
0:44:23 > 0:44:26because we get a very similar word in Northern Italy
0:44:26 > 0:44:30in a Celtic inscription probably about 500 years later.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33So this looks like a Celtic word written in stone?
0:44:33 > 0:44:35It looks like a Celtic... I mean, it's a Celtic name
0:44:35 > 0:44:38and it looks like it has a Celtic inflected ending on it,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41so it's grammatically Celtic and it's etymologically Celtic.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45And it still has links to extant Celtic languages,
0:44:45 > 0:44:47to Celtic languages spoken by living people?
0:44:47 > 0:44:51Oh, yeah, that's how we know, I mean that's sort of,
0:44:51 > 0:44:56by definition, this is how we decide something is Celtic.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00John thinks that this is an ancient language
0:45:00 > 0:45:03written down using the alphabet of the Phoenicians,
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Mediterranean seafarers who reached the Iberian peninsula
0:45:07 > 0:45:10as long ago as 900 BC.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Although this language has been written using that alphabet,
0:45:15 > 0:45:18it's not Phoenician.
0:45:18 > 0:45:19It's Celtic.
0:45:23 > 0:45:28This early Celtic has clear links to later Celtic languages
0:45:28 > 0:45:33spoken in Britain and Ireland, such as Gaelic, Welsh and Cornish.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36And John believes that Bronze Age traders
0:45:36 > 0:45:40and seafarers used this proto-Celtic as they traded silver,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44copper and tin up and down the Atlantic coastline,
0:45:44 > 0:45:46from Portugal to Northern Spain,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49Brittany to Ireland, and the West Country.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54For me, this is really exciting, cos this is new.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59This idea is turning what we think about the Celts totally on its head.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03Instead of thinking about a migration out of Central Europe,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06we've got something really interesting happening on this
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Atlantic fringe, something that could actually be the origin of the Celts.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15This new theory suggests that rather than being invaded
0:46:15 > 0:46:19by Iron Age Celts, our Celtic heritage arrived in Britain
0:46:19 > 0:46:23during the Bronze Age using a very different mechanism.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27So, my Celtic-ness might have much more to do
0:46:27 > 0:46:30with the exchange of ores and ingots,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33than with the blood and gore of a raiding party.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36And if that's true, then Britain and the far west of Europe
0:46:36 > 0:46:39may have had much more influence on the spread of Celtic culture
0:46:39 > 0:46:42in Central Europe than was previously imagination.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46And there's a fascinating piece of evidence to support all of that.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59This is a Gundlingen sword, an early Celtic sword.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02It has this elegant leaf shape
0:47:02 > 0:47:05and it sweeps back into a big, broad pommel. It's typically Celtic.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10Now, a generation ago, swords like this were sited as evidence
0:47:10 > 0:47:14of the spread of the Celts into the west from Central Europe.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17So, you'd find them made of iron all over Central Germany
0:47:17 > 0:47:21and France. But, recently, archaeologists have been
0:47:21 > 0:47:25finding lots of sword like this in Britain, made of bronze,
0:47:25 > 0:47:28just like this one. They're from the early 8th century.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30They're before Hallstatt.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34It suggests there may have been swords
0:47:34 > 0:47:39made in Britain from bronze that influenced the weapons technology
0:47:39 > 0:47:44of the early Iron Age, spreading from west to east,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47from Britain to the Central Europe and not the other way round.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49So when it comes to the case of a Celtic warlord
0:47:49 > 0:47:50like Brennus and his men,
0:47:50 > 0:47:52they may have been carrying weapons
0:47:52 > 0:47:57that were shaped by a technology that had its foundations in Britain.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23In 387 BC, for the first time,
0:48:23 > 0:48:28the Celtic and Roman worlds had clashed at the Battle of Allia.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34According to the Roman historian Livy, 20,000 legionaries had
0:48:34 > 0:48:38lost their lives that day, leaving the city of Rome at the mercy
0:48:38 > 0:48:43of the Celtic army, under the command of Chief Brennus.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Livy wrote the following -
0:48:53 > 0:48:57"As there was no hope of defending the city, the decision was taken to
0:48:57 > 0:49:00"withdraw all men capable of bearing arms together with the women and
0:49:00 > 0:49:04"children and able-bodied senators into the fortress on the Capitol.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07"From that stronghold, properly armed and provisioned,
0:49:07 > 0:49:11"it was their intention to make a last stand for themselves,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14"for their Gods, and for the Roman name."
0:49:14 > 0:49:17The fortress was up there on the Capitoline Hill,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20one of the seven hills upon which Rome was built.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23The city, which had never been defeated,
0:49:23 > 0:49:26was about to face the fury of its greatest foe.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47Livy wrote - "Then news came that the Gauls were at the gates
0:49:47 > 0:49:50"and all too soon cries like the howling of wolves
0:49:50 > 0:49:53"and barbaric songs could be heard."
0:50:00 > 0:50:03That howling of wolves and barbaric din
0:50:03 > 0:50:08might have come from a carnyx - a Celtic war trumpet.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11The Celts carried hundreds of them into battle.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16Today, however, there is only one carnyx player in the world...
0:50:17 > 0:50:19..musician John Kenny.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21APPLAUSE
0:50:27 > 0:50:31LOW TRUMPET-LIKE SOUND
0:50:37 > 0:50:41MODULATING HIGH PITCHED SOUND
0:50:45 > 0:50:52The carnyx clearly was used to strike fear into enemies in battle.
0:50:52 > 0:50:57The sound is made in the same way that we activate a modern
0:50:57 > 0:51:00trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba - you vibrate your lips.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02HE DEMONSTRATES
0:51:05 > 0:51:10But, with this instrument, the sound is entrapped in a bronze skull,
0:51:10 > 0:51:14and the skull works exactly like our skull
0:51:14 > 0:51:17because our vocal cords are amplified
0:51:17 > 0:51:24by all the nasal passages, and the shape form of our skull,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27that's why we can make a sound without opening our mouths.
0:51:27 > 0:51:28HE HUMS
0:51:28 > 0:51:30It's exactly the same with this instrument.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34So the sound isn't projected forward, it's radial,
0:51:34 > 0:51:39and that's extremely unusual in the world of musical instruments.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43The sound of these trumpets, accompanied by howls
0:51:43 > 0:51:46and shouts is thought to have been a deliberate part of the Celtic
0:51:46 > 0:51:51battle plan designed to terrify the enemy.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56The world at that time was a much quieter place
0:51:56 > 0:51:59and these instruments can out-shout human beings
0:51:59 > 0:52:02and play as loud as thunder, and as loud as the sea.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06Furthermore, when they're played upright, they're 12 feet high
0:52:06 > 0:52:08and they have a head, so if you see 12 or so of these
0:52:08 > 0:52:12coming out of the mist in the morning screaming like mad,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14its quite possible to imagine you're being attacked
0:52:14 > 0:52:16by a race of giants.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18HE PLAYS CARNYX
0:52:21 > 0:52:23So, there we are.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29By the time the Celts entered the city of Rome,
0:52:29 > 0:52:33its citizens had either retreated to the Capitoline Hill or fled.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36The streets were empty.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Livy tells us that the Celts came across a mansion
0:52:46 > 0:52:50belonging to Roman nobility, and found the doors open.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01Suspecting a trap, they entered cautiously.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09But the only thing waiting for them was a group of elderly Romans
0:53:09 > 0:53:14sitting motionless, in an act of silent defiance.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24The Celtic warriors stood entranced by the spectacle.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36On an impulse, a Celtic warrior reached out with his hand
0:53:36 > 0:53:40and touched the beard of one of one of the seated figures.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49The Roman lashed out and hit him over the head with his ivory staff.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51It was the moment that sealed the city's fate.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06Enraged, the Celtic warriors butchered the old men where they sat
0:54:06 > 0:54:10and looted and burned the Imperial City to the ground.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36Eventually, faced with the prospect of starvation or slaughter,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39the Romans trapped on the Capitoline Hill
0:54:39 > 0:54:41they had no choice but to surrender,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44agreeing to pay the Celts a ransom in gold.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49The commander, Quintus Sulpicius,
0:54:49 > 0:54:51who had led the Army to defeat at the Battle of Allia,
0:54:51 > 0:54:56agreed to negotiate a settlement with the Celtic warlord Brennus.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05They agreed the sum of 1,000 pounds in weight in gold.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09A colossal ransom for a city already ravaged.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55Just to add insult to injury, Brennus used weights that
0:55:55 > 0:55:58were heavier than normal to weigh the gold.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02It was the second time he'd outwitted Sulpicius.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11When the Roman commander objected, Brennus flung his sword
0:56:11 > 0:56:13onto the scales shouting, "Vae victis!"
0:56:13 > 0:56:16"Woe to the vanquished."
0:56:28 > 0:56:29Vae victis!
0:56:32 > 0:56:35It was a dramatic reminder that the Romans
0:56:35 > 0:56:38were totally at the mercy of the Celts.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42The Romans had learned the hard way that the Celts were far from
0:56:42 > 0:56:44the wild savages portrayed.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48During the course of four centuries, they had developed a complex
0:56:48 > 0:56:50and powerful tribal network.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53Theirs was a warrior culture with a shared language,
0:56:53 > 0:56:55and extensive trading links.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58They had expanded across Central Europe,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00through the Alps, and south into Italy
0:57:00 > 0:57:04where they had defeated the emergent Roman Empire.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08In the years that followed, Rome was rebuilt
0:57:08 > 0:57:12and defended by a new, impregnable barrier -
0:57:12 > 0:57:13the Servian Wall.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18It was a permanent reminder to its citizens of their defeat
0:57:18 > 0:57:20at the hands of the Celts.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24They were resolved never to let their city fall again.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28For Rome it was a new beginning.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30And over the next few hundred years
0:57:30 > 0:57:32the Romans would collide again with the Celts
0:57:32 > 0:57:36and battle for survival, for land,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38for the very heart and soul of Europe.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44Next time, 300 years later.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47We discover the golden age of the Celts,
0:57:47 > 0:57:51and their expansion to the furthest reaches of Europe and beyond.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57In France, Rome's greatest military general, Julius Caesar,
0:57:57 > 0:57:59is challenged by a warrior king
0:57:59 > 0:58:03commanding an army of a quarter of a million men.
0:58:03 > 0:58:08At stake is the survival of the Celtic heartland of Gaul.