Celtic Revolt

Celtic Revolt

| The Celtic Revolt |
| By Daniel McCart
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[Ancient History] |
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The Celtic Revolt against the Romans
The Celtic Revolt in Britain was a pivotal moment in history, had the outcome been different or had the revolt not taken place at all the future could be completely different to what we see in the present day.   Tacitus and Cassius Dio are the two main ancient sources we have regarding the Celtic revolt, whilst neither of them can be considered primary sources because neither of them was present during the actual Revolt itself they are still the closest we have to primary sources on the subject. Whilst neither of the sources can be classified as primary sources we can still learn a great deal about the Celts and their society through studying ‘The Annals of Imperial Rome-Book 14’ by Tacitus and ‘Book 62’ by Cassio Dio.   It is evident in both texts that whilst the Celts lived in individual tribes and were not a united community that when the time was right they were very quick to unite when faced with a common enemy and were incredibly loyal to their own race. We also find that the Celtic people were a very proud race and that they were not at all happy with being under Roman control. The fact that Boudicca, the leader of the Celtic revolt was a woman, tells us a great deal about the role of women in Celtic society. The texts also tell us about the varying warfare styles between the Celts and the Romans which gives us more insight into the Celtic culture. These sources also give us insight into the religious side of Celtic culture. Another important aspect to take into account is why Tacitus and Cassius Dio are the only sources we have on this revolt which can provide some more insight into the Celtic culture.
The Celtic race was scattered across much of what is now France and also across the United Kingdom, that being England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. They were broken up into tribes which all had their own unique traits and even to some...