Scordisci
Overview:
For the earliest elements of celtic culture in the hinterlands of the eastern Adriatic coast, one must go back to the late 5th and early 4th centuries, when the earliest imported finds from celtic-speaking west central Europe begin to appear in areas south of the Alpine area and in the western Balkans.
The celts of the Adriatic region are mentioned most often in connection with the famous rulers of Hellenistic Macedonia. The earliest celtic grave finds from the Balkans belong to the period after 300 bc, and it is impossible to speak of a large density of Celtic settlement before the first half of the 3rd century bc. The Celtic tribes migrated into the hinterlands of the eastern Adriatic coast in two major distinct waves. The Taurisci settled in hilly eastern Slovenia and northeastern Croatia, while the greater and lesser branches of the Scordisci settled on the southern Pannonian plains between the Sava and the Danube. At the confluence of these two rivers they founded their centre, ancient Singidunon (now Belgrade, Serbia). other celtic groups continued northward, and eventually mingled with celts who had previously settled in Transylvania in present-day Romania.
Interactions between the Hellenic world and celtic migratory war bands and mercenaries are well described in historic sources. According to the Ptolemaic history of Alexander the Great, Alexander hosted a Celtic delegation from the Adriatic region during his expedition against the Triballi in 335 bc. The so-called Danubian Celts appeared in Greece in larger numbers just after Alexander’s death.
In approximately 310 bc, Casandrus defeated them in the area around Haemus (Mount Balkan). After defeating the Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos, the Celtic army, led by Brennos of the Prausi, crossed Thessaly and headed for Delphi. Some 30,000 Celtic warriors and their families crossed at Thermopylae in 279 bc and defeated the Greeks at Marathon. At Delphi that winter, the Greeks attacked and defeated the Celts, and the survivors retreated northward.
According to Strabo, the Tectosages collected a large amount of booty from Greece and subsequently settled around Tolosa (modern Toulouse, southwest France). Other tribes, including the Tolistobogii and Trocmi and others of the Tectosages, crossed the Dardanelles and penetrated further into Asia Minor as the Galatae (see Galatia).
Celtic influence in Thrace (roughly modern Bulgaria and European Turkey) is very modest, but these groups established a kingdom known as Tylis or Tyle on the Thracian coast of the Black Sea. This kingdom persisted until the later 3rd century bc, when its last ruler, Kauaros (cf. Welsh cawr ‘giant’), minted coins and imposed tribute on the nearby Greek city of Byzantion. The grave of a warrior from Ciumesti, Romania, which contains a helmet decorated with a huge bird, can certainly be connected with these early Celts. Helmets with reinforced crests are typical for these eastern Celts. One feature of Thracian-influenced Celtic style was the production of oversize ornamental objects, particularly apparent in some well-known pieces from western Europe—for example, at Trichtingen, where a silver torc weighing more than six kg was found, and probably at Gundestrup, Denmark, where the famous giant silver cauldron, about 80 cm in diameter, decorated with motives and cult scenes paralleled elsewhere in Celtic contexts, was found (see cauldrons; Gundestrup cauldron).
With the increasing influence of Rome in the 2nd century bc, the significance of Celts on the extreme eastern edge of Europe began to decrease rapidly. Their independence was slowly lost in a series of battles with the Roman legions, and one of the last of these Celtic tribes to submit to Rome were the Scordisci.
This faction overhaul will be released with 1.2
Units
This faction overhaul adds 19 new units to the Scordisci besides 3 existing balkan celtic units. Here are some pictures of the new units:
Spear Infantry
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Melee Infantry
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Missile Infantry
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Cavalry
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Credits and Sources:
-The Eb/EbII team for a lot of unit ideas
-the guys from ancient-battles.com for their researching and unit ideas
-Men at Arms 158: Gallic and British Celts
-Celtic Warrior: 300 BC-AD 100
-balkancelts