This article is one in the Cultural History of Turkey series. For the description of any cultures or tribes please read that article.

They are also known as the Gauls and Celts. The Hellenes called them the Keltai, and the Romans called them the Gallia. They were the Celtic invaders from the northern Europe and the last European people migrating to Asia Minor. They attacked the Greek peninsula and at most 25,000 to 30,000 of them, mostly soldiers, crossed to Asia Minor in three big groups and were hired by the king Nikomedes of Bithynia as mercenaries to fight against the Seleucids around 278/277 BC. However, they were first defeated by Antigonus at Lysimachia in 278BC and later by the Seleucid Antiochus I in 275BC. The Seleucids allowed them to settle in the Halys river arc around Ancyra and Pessinus7, covering parts of Phrygia and Cappadocia in 274/272BC. So these territories are called Galatai (Galates) by the Hellenes. The Galatians were defeated by Attalus I of Pergamum in 230BC and by Roman Consul Manlius Vulso in the battle of Mons Olympus in 189BC.

Deiotarus, who was the tetrarch of the Tolistobogii, became the ruler of Galatia. After the death of Deiotarus, Castor Tarcondarius became the new ruler. However, Castor’s reign did not last long and Antonius granted the Galatian kingdom to Amyntas, who reigned as the King of Galatia between 36-25BC. Finally, Galatia is annexed by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 25BC and became the Roman province. The King Amyntas was killed by the Homonadeis during the battle in Psidia.

The Galatians consisted of mainly three tribes. These three tribes were Trocmi in the east with their capital Tavium, Tectosages in the middle with their capital Ancyra, and the Tolistibogii with their capital Pessinus in the west.

Unfortunately until now very little had been learned about the Galatian culture. Although the grave of Deiotarus II Philopator (death in 43 BC) is found in the excavations in Karalar, 60 Km (37 miles) north of Ankara, no significant artifact is unearthed. The proof that this grave belongs to the named king comes from the tablets16 that are found in the grave.

Some artifacts, such as swords, spears, and fibulae are found in some Galatian cities, such as Hattusa and Gordium. Oddly enough though, in Pessinus nothing related to the Celts is unearthed. In the Athena temple in Pergamum, helmet, shield, armor, spear, and sword (197-159BC) emblazons are known to be the depiction of the war spoils obtained from the Galatians by Attalus I (241-197BC).

Galatians were open to accept and absorb other people. They are believed to adapt most of the cultural elements of the indigenous people, the Phrygians, as well as Greeks, worshiping the same gods, such as Cybele and Zeus and using the same type of pottery, etc. Also they possibly brought down some of their own Celtic traditions to their new homeland, Asia Minor. The Celtic language had been spoken in the Galatian lands between the first century BC and the mid sixth century AD as a unifying and identifying characteristic in Galatia, along with more common Greek language, which was used as a written language. However, the exact nature of their relationships with the Phrygians and other people is difficult to assess due to the impact of the Hellenistic culture and domination of the Romans.

Sources

1. The book titled as “The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations,” Prepared by members of staff at the museum of Anatolian Civilizations as a service to the museum.
2. Akurgal, Ekrem, “Anadolu Kültür Tarihi,” TÜBİTAK Popüler Bilim Kitaplari, April 2008, ISBN 978-975-403-107-2.
3. Rodgers, Nigel, “The Rise and Fall of Ancient Greece,” Lorenz Books.
4. Camp, John, and Fisher, Elizabeth, “The World of the Ancient Greeks,” ISBN 0-500-05112-7, published by Thames & Hudson, New York, New York.
5. Coşkun, Altay, “Intercultural Onomastics and Some Patterns of Socio-Political Inclusion in the Graeco-Roman World The Example of Galatia in Asia Minor,” NIO Publications, Gallo-Roman Series (NIO-GaRo)-2006.1, a paper published in 2006.
6. Botteri, Paula, Fangi, Gabriele, “The Ancyra Project: The Temple of Augustus and Rome in Ankara ,” *Universita di Trieste botteri@univ.trieste.it, ** Universita Politecnica delle Marche fangi@univpm.it Commission V, WG V/4, The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. XXXIV, Part 5/W12.
7. Voigt, Mary M., “Celts at Gordion the Late Hellenistic Settlement,” Chancellor Professor of anthropology at the College of William and Mary and a research associate in the Near Eastern Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
8. Syme, Ronald, “Anatolica, Studies in Strabo,” Edited by Birley. Published in the US by Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-814943-3. A.R Birley 1995, and reprinted in 2003.
9. Derks, Ton, Roymans, Nico[eds.], The Role of Power and Tradition, Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2009, ISBN 978 90 8964 078 9, Nur 682.

This article is one in the Cultural History of Turkey series. For the description of any cultures or tribes please read that article.