Ancient British and Irish Celts in Gr nd Roman Sources (500 BC-AD 60)

Ancient Ireland and Britain were large Celtic territories on the northwest edge of Europe.They were subject to myth and speculation by the early Greeks and Romans, but they later became the focus for trade, exploration and partial conquest.Dr Raoul McLaughlin presents the ancient sources for the Atlantic Celts in chapters covering the resources, commerce, warfare and beliefs of the oceanic Celts. This book contains updated translations of ancient sources concerning the lands known as Ivernia and Britannia.These accounts reveal what the Greeks and Romans knew about the origins, culture, and social practices of the insular Celts.The evidence begins in 600 BC when Carthaginian merchant ships explored the Atlantic coasts of western Europe searching for metal alloys.Then, in 325 BC, a Greek mariner named Pytheas explored the northern limits of the Atlantic territories and returned with accounts of Bretannike, Ierne and Thule.But it was Rome that led armies across the northern seas to conque