古代印歐民族之一，自西元前二千紀至前一世紀時，曾散處於歐洲大部地區。後來部分地融入羅馬帝國，成為不列顛人、高盧人、博伊人、加拉太人、塞爾特伊比利亞人。最早的考古資料是在奧地利薩爾斯堡附近的哈爾施塔特出土的許多部落酋長的墓葬（西元前700?年），為鐵器時代的文化，他們控制了沿隆河、塞納河、萊茵河及多瑙河各個水系的商路。後來往西遷移，其戰士引進了鐵器的使用，助其統治了其他的塞爾特部落。西元前5世紀中葉，拉坦諾文化就已出現於聚居萊茵河中游的塞爾特人中間，然後傳入東歐和英倫三島。西元前390年前後，塞爾特人洗劫了羅馬，並侵襲了整個義大利半島，最後定居在阿爾卑斯山脈南部（山南高盧），並持續威脅着羅馬，直到西元前225年被打敗。西元前279年洗劫了希臘的德爾斐，但最後為埃託利亞人所敗。他們跨過博斯普魯斯海峽，進入安納托利亞，並逐漸定居下來，直到西元前230年左右，才被阿塔羅斯一世予以平定。約西元前192年，羅馬人已取得了對山南高盧全部地區的統治權，而在西元前124年又征服了西阿爾卑斯山以外的那片土地。塞爾特人在山外高盧（自萊茵河到阿爾卑斯山脈西部領土）面對的威脅來自兩方面︰一是來自西部的日耳曼諸部落；二是羅馬人陳兵南線，意圖兼併他們。到了西元前58年凱撒開始進軍高盧，而最終征服高盧全境。關於塞爾特人在不列顛和愛爾蘭定居這個事實，主要是根據考古學和語言學的研究加以推論而得知的。塞爾特人的社會體系分成三級，即︰國王、武士貴族和自由農民。另有「德魯伊特」（druid）這個階層，專司巫術宗教職務，其地位高於武士。經濟活動以一種混合農業為基礎，塞爾特人也非常重視音樂，並有多種形式的口傳的文學作品產生。
Celts
Early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium BC to the 1st century BC spread over much of Europe. They were absorbed into the Roman empire as Britons, Gauls, Boii, Galatians, and Celtiberians. Early archaeological evidence (c. 700 BC) comes from the Hallstatt site in Austria. People of this Iron Age culture controlled trade routes along the Rh?ne, Seine, Rhine, and Danube rivers. As they moved west, Hallstatt warriors introduced the use of iron, which helped them dominate other Celtic tribes. By the mid-5th century BC, the La Tène culture emerged along the Rhine and moved into eastern Europe and the British Isles. Celts sacked Rome c. 390 BC and raided the whole peninsula, then settled south of the Alps (Cisalpine Gaul) and menaced Rome until they were defeated in 225 BC. In the Balkans, they sacked Delphi in 279 BC but were defeated by the Aetolians. They crossed to Anatolia and looted until they were subdued by Attalus I c. 230 BC. Rome controlled Cisalpine Gaul by 192, and in 124 took territory beyond the Alps. In Transalpine Gaul, from the Rhine and the Alps west, the Celts were pressed by Germanic tribes from the west and Romans from the south. By 58 Julius Caesar had begun campaigns to annex all of Gaul. Celtic settlement of Britain and Ireland is deduced from archaeological and linguistic evidence. The Celtic social system comprised a warrior aristocracy and freemen farmers; Druids, with magico-religious duties, ranked higher than warriors. They had a mixed farming economy. Their oral literary composition was highly developed, as was their art; they manufactured gold and silver jewelry, swords and scabbards, and shields inlaid with enamel.
