Question pertaining to Celtic society

[Marvzilla]

Hey I have a question regarding the standing of freemen and the unfree majority of celtic society. As stated in your descriptions, and a book I am reading on the Iron Age celtic word, the majority of people living in societies of the La Tene culture was actually unfree, Caesar even going as far as comparing them to slaves, which surely must be an oversimplification ? I understand that there was an system of clientage in this world, especially between freemen and nobles, with freemen being depicted in game as the bulk of the celtic roster (Batoroi, Gargokladoi and the Spearmen, the Skirmishers and to an extent the Nedes Nesamoi) ? Or am I wrong here. What about this unfree majority. In game theyre depicted by the Uassoi, but did a man who fought as a freeman till his own soil ? Or did he too have contracts of patronage with an unfree person ? Most of the freemen seem very bound to their aristocratic patrons, if not part of a warrior Brotherhood which then just acts as a patron. Where was the line between unfree and free ? How big was the possibility of social movement, something the nobles might have seen as a plus for them, seeing as they could add to their retinue and prestige. Sorry if this got long but I try to make sense of this.

[Rad]

I'm guessing that doing well in battle was a starting point in climbing the social ladder.

[Marvzilla]

Naturally, but what if you cant get there as an unfree, bounded person ? In the low intensity scale warfare that dominated Celtic society you wouldnt call out a general levy, you would gather your freemen retinue and minor nobles with their retinue and thats that.

It really reminds one a bit of the social landscape of the early middle ages, a time I am more well versed in especially the German region, if you want to call it that. You had your general levy that was only called out in times of need, consisting of a largely undertrained or untrained levy of increasingly caged peasantry, bound vertically. Then you had a select levy, men who trained and fought and had better equipment, provided for by a patron or by two or three peasants having to pool their resources to found this one warrior, people that still were closer to the peasantry horizont but could move closer to the aristocratic one. Then a step above you had the retinues of the nobles, the precursor to the European Knight in a way, bound to his superiors and often themselves minor nobles, some living directly with their lord and others given a plot of land in gift or kind, some hereditary some dont, a practice which especially secular clergy used to great effect, amassing great retinues of heavily armed, heavy cavalry.

[Rad]

As time moved, so did the intensity and scale of warfare. More and more people were called to fight. That's the vibe I picked up. I too am interested in learning about this. Genava, wth are you?

[Marvzilla]

Yeah but the range of EB 2 is in a time where this intensity hasnt really reached the celtic homelands, at least for a time.

I am also interested in the role foster parentage played here. Could, or would, a unfree person bound to a minor noble be able to send his sons, or a son, to the nobles household, more or less guaranteeing that sons advancement in society ?

[Rad]

Asking the right questions. Hopefully, someone will pick up and answer