Pausanias on the invasion of the Gauls

The dying Gaul

After the death of Alexander the Great, civil war broke out between his generals, who created new kingdoms. Just when the situation appeard to have stabilized, the Galatians invaded Greece. The deepest cause was the collapse of the kingdom that had once been Lysimachus': when this king was killed in 281, the tribes in the buffer zone in the north sided with the barbarous Galatians, who now found the way to the south open. These Galatians belonged to the La Tène-culture, which is often called "Celtic".

The story is told by Pausanias (Guide for Greece 10.19.4-23.8); his source may or may not be Hieronymus of Cardia. The translation was made by Peter Levi.

Book
10
Chapter
19
20
21
22
23
Section
4
5
6

The invasion of the Gauls

[10.19.4] I wanted to bring out the story of the Celtic invasion more clearly in my account of Delphi, because this was where the Greeks did most against them.

The Celts made their first expedition under the command of Cambaules; they got as far as Thrace, but despaired of the way ahead as they realized there were only a few of them and they were no match for the Greeks in terms of numbers.note

When they decided a second time to carry arms against foreign countries (driven most of all by veterans of Cambaules' campaign who had tasted piracy and fallen in love with the loot and rape of the world), they came in a mass of infantry and a very considerable throng of cavalry as well. The commanders divided the army into three parts, each to advance into a different country.

Cerethrius was to lead against the Thracians and Triballians,note while Brennusnote and Acichorius commanded the advance into Paeonia; Bolgius marched against the Macedonians and Illyrians and undertook a struggle with Ptolemy, who at that time was king of Macedonia. (This was the Ptolemy who treacherously murdered Seleucus son of Antiochus after taking refuge under his protection, and was called the "Thunderbolt" for his utter daring.) Ptolemy himself died in the battlenote and there was a sizable massacre of Macedonians, but even then the Celts did not have the confidence to advance against Greece; and so the second expedition returned home.

[10.19.5] But Brennus was a powerful influence on their general councils and individually on all the men in authority, calling for a campaign against Greece, and pointing out the weakness of the Greeks at that time, their great public wealth, and the even greater wealth in the sanctuaries in dedications and in coined silver and gold. He persuaded the Gauls to march on Greece, and among the fellow-commanders he chose from the great men of Gaul was Acichorius.

[10.19.6] The army that gathered was a 152,000 infantrymen and 20,400 horsemen: that was the number of the cavalry always in action, but the real number was 61,200, as there were two grooms to each horseman, all mounted and good riders. When the Gaulish cavalry were in battle, the grooms would stay behind the ranks and make themselves useful with new mounts when a horse or rider fell, but when a man was killed the slave would mount the horse in place of his master. If man and horse both died he was ready mounted. When they were wounded, one of the slaves took away the wounded man to camp, while another stepped into the line in his place.

[...]

In their own language they called this division trimarkisia; you should realize marka is the Celtic word for "horse". This was the armament and this was the resolution with which Brennus marched on Greece.