4. The Celts Came Close to Seizing Egypt
During the Classical Era, the Celts were known to the Greco-Romans for the high quality of their weapons, their courage and ferocity in battle, their frightful battle cries, and their terrifying, butt-naked, headlong charges. That reputation made Celts highly sought after as soldiers of fortune. Starting in the 4th century BC – and especially after the fragmentation of Alexander the Great’s empire into warring states – Celtic mercenaries became all the rage throughout the lands bordering the Mediterranean. In addition to fighting for the various Hellenistic kingdoms, Celts also fought for Carthage, and formed a significant part of Hannibal’s army when he invaded Italy. Celtic mercenaries were also a bulwark of Egypt’s Ptolemaic Dynasty and were included in the Egyptian army’s order of battle.
Egypt’s king Ptolemy II hired 4000 Celtic mercenaries, recruited from the Balkans with help from Macedon’s Antigonids. They played a decisive role in beating back a challenge from a usurper who made a bid for Ptolemy’s throne. However, the Celt mercenaries then made a bid of their own to dethrone Ptolemy and seize Egypt for themselves. After crushing their rebellion, Ptolemy dumped the surviving Celts into a small island in the Nile, to die of starvation. Notwithstanding, the Ptolemies continued to hire Celts mercenaries – their lack of local roots made them particularly useful in putting down uprisings by native Egyptians. Celts remained in Ptolemaic service until the end, and the dynasty’s final ruler, Cleopatra, was known to have employed Celtic mercenaries.
