History of the Celts

History of the Celts

This podcast is a project by Trevor Callahan done to catalogue and present the History of the Celts from pre-history to modern times.

Episodes

July 28, 2025 26 mins

This episode I discuss the worst defeat suffered by the Romans in the Second Punic War. Hannibal’s genius is on fulldisplay as well as Rome’s disorganization. Listen now to understand how Hannibal beat one of the largest armies in the Ancient World.

Email: historyoftheceltspodcast@gmail.com

Website: hocpod.wordpress.com

Patreon: patreon.com/historyofthecelts

Stickers: Link to the Patreon shop where you can buy the stickers.

Registry: Th...

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This episode is the Patreon announcement. Any links regarding support for this show going forward will bein the description of every episode. I discuss my patreon announcement as well as the new logo that was made into stickers that are available to you now. I also will talk about the podcast registry on Amazon. If none of this interests you please go on to the next episode that will be released in tandem with this one. Thank you f...

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June 26, 2025 32 mins

This episode details the defeat suffered by the Romans at Lake Trasimene. It was because of this that a famousRoman general named Quintus Fabius Maximus executed a strategy that was effective enough for it to be named after him. Find out why men like George Washington use the Fabian strategy 2000 years after the Roman general it was named after.

Email: historyoftheceltspodcast@gmail.com

Website: hocpod.wordpress.com

Patreon: patreon.c...

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May 26, 2025 33 mins

This episode details the first engagements between Hannibal and the Romans. The battles of Ticinus and the Trebia were the first real engagements between the two combatants and showcasedHannibal’s prowess and generalship. That Gauls do feature in this episode but they are treated as unreliable at best. The end of this episode is a small announcement for the future of the podcast. A full episode on the future of this show will come ...

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April 9, 2025 96 mins

This episode is a long conversation I have been meaning to record and get out to you for a while but due to scheduling conflicts it has been pretty hard for Dr. Ian Stewart and I to meet up. In our interview we discuss some of the content of his new book The Celts: A Modern History which outlines the rise of Celtic nationalism and ideas associated with it in the 1800s. We also discuss some more modern feelings towards the Celts. Ge...

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March 18, 2025 14 mins

Today’s episode is a rather impromptu episode I got the inspiration to do early in the morning. If this episode does not release on St. Patrick’s Day for you, I apologize I should have thought of this sooner. Today’s episode will briefly detail the life of St. Patrick. With much left out for a later episode I hope today’s episode will shed some light on who St. Patrick was as a person and give you a deeper understanding and appreci...

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February 28, 2025 29 mins

This episode begins the series on the Second Punic War. After a re-cap of the interim period between the First and Second Punic Wars, I discuss the beginning of one of the Ancient World’s most famous generals, Hannibal. Following Hannibal’s rise to power in the 3rd Century BC, the Carthaginian general executed one of the things that has made him one of the most famous generals of all time, his crossing of the Alps into Italy. Withi...

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January 26, 2025 30 mins

This episode I discuss the interwar period between the First and Second Punic Wars which I have dubbed the Inter Bellum Punica. This episode will serve as a precursor to next episode where I discuss the Second Punic War, also known as the Hannibalic War in our sources. The first part will be on Carthage’s expansion into Spain while the second part will be on Rome’s wars with the Celts in Italy.

Link to The Celts: A Modern History b...

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October 19, 2024 28 mins

This episode I discuss the Celts and their involvement as mercenaries in the wars of the Mediterranean. I go over how the Celts fought with the Ptolemaic Pharaohs of Egypt and their eventual rebellion and suicide in the Nile. Celtic Mercenaries were also involved with the fighting between the Romans and Carthaginians in the First Punic War. I detail the rise of Carthage as well as their war with the Romans. One Celtic man named Aut...

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July 21, 2024 32 mins

This episode is a discussion on the extremities of Celtic Culture. The first half is a discussion of the Celts in Ukraine and how they affected the Bosporan Greeks in Ukraine and Moldova. The second half is a discussion of the Celitberians and the Celts in Iberia. There is also a discussion of the differences between the two. The migration period of Celtic History has also finished as of this episode.

Email: historyoftheceltspodcas...

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This episode I interview the host of the Cambrian Chronicles YouTube channel. The Cambrian Chronicles YouTube Channel presents Welsh and Brythonic History so our conversation centers on the study of history generally. While less formal than the previous interview with Dr. Philip Freeman I hope this is as informative as the last interview.


Cambrian Chronicles YouTube Channel

Mad Dogs of Cambria

Website Link: hocpod.wordpress.co...

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May 10, 2024 33 mins

This episode details the arrival of the Celts into Asia Minor and their transformation into the Galatians of biblical fame. While we are centuries away from Paul’s epistle to the Galatians it is important I outline how the Celtic people of central Anatolia made it there. I also outline the Gauls' initial movement into Galatia and eventual involvement with the Hellenistic Kings of Asia Minor.

Website Link: hocpod.wordpress.com

E...

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April 28, 2024 36 mins

This episode I discuss the invasion of the Balkans by the Celts. Led by multiple leaders but most famously Brennus, the Gauls/Celts invaded Macedon and continued into Greece proper making it all the way to Delphi. From the accounts of our Classical authors, we see echoes of the Greek belief in the barbarity of the Celts. If you want tohear some of these accounts, then join me in this episode on the Celtic Invasion of Greece.

Website...

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March 9, 2024 23 mins

In this episode I go over the Celtic advance further into Italy. I go over their run-ins with both the Etruscans and the Romans. Finally, I focus on Livy’s account of the Celtic sack of Rome and the cementation of the Celts as the ultimate barbarians to the Romans for the centuries to come.

Primary Sources

Livy: History of Rome, Book 5 perseus.tufts.edu

Secondary Sources

Cunliffe, Barry: The Ancient Celts, ISBN 978–0–19–875292–9

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February 10, 2024 30 mins

This episode is on the initial settlement of the Celts in Italy as well as the reasons for the migration of the Celts out of the Celtic homeland. As always, I go over what our classical authors have to say about these events. I supplement this with what modern scholars have to say about the subject. This episode begins a series on the migration of the Celtic people and their interactions with the people they encroached upon.

Websit...

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This episode is a short investigation into the lives of two Kings of Macedon, Philip and Alexander. Without going into too much detail this will set up the following episodes on the Celtic migrations into the Mediterranean world. I spend much of the time discussing Philip’s reign as that is not talked about as often. I also go into some anecdotes related to the Celts and Alexander in the historical record, but this episode is not a...

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August 27, 2023 25 mins

This episode we focus on women in the Celtic world. Did they have more power in comparison to their Mediterranean counterparts? What did ancient authors have to say about Ancient Celtic women? Does archaeology back up what they said? All those questions will be answered in this episode. 

Email: historyofthecelts@gmail.com 

Twitter: @histofthecelts 

Website: hocpod.wordpress.com  

Primary Sources: 

Ammianus Marcellinus: Rerum Gestar...

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This episode I discuss important aspects of Celtic society and culture. This includes social hierarchies and the feast, which helped reinforce that social hierarchy. The final part of the discussion is something I have talked little about, warfare in the Celtic world. Here you will hear of things like how a Celtic warrior was fitted for battle. On top of that are Classical accounts of the Celts running into battle naked so as to st...

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July 20, 2023 27 mins

This episode I have a discussion with Dr. Philip Freeman. Dr. Freeman is a Professor of History at Pepperdine University with a PhD in Classics and Celtic Studies. He has written many books on History in general but on Celtic History as well. One such book is a major source for this show going forward titled The Philosopher and the Druids: a Journey Among the Ancient Celts. We discuss if we can trust our Classical sources like Posi...

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June 24, 2023 34 mins

In this episode I discuss the settlement of Britain. Today, the vast majority of speakers of a Celtic language live in the British Isles. Investigating the beginnings of life in Britain is important to understanding the settlement and spread of Celtic into Britain. While not comprehensive this is an introduction to the settlement of Britain by early hunter-gatherer groups which gave way to Neolithic settlements and eventually the s...

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