Audio reading of this section (English)
It is now that we can begin to talk of the Senogalatîs in earnest. These are the people who could look a mighty general like Alexander the Great in the eye and tell him that they feared nothing (he was hoping they’d say him) – save for the sky falling upon them! They wore bright strong colours, and spread the cross checked pattern throughout western Europe. Famous for the neck rings, torcoi – torcs that adorned the necks of several of them. Famous for their long moustaches, irreverence, and mystery. Famous for their fierce and strong women. Innovators and inventors in their own right, and challengers of many of Europe’s earliest great powers. Their enigmatic Druides engendered wonder, admiration, and fear among those who knew them, and who did not know them alike. Sought after from many diverse powers for their bravery and skill in battle. Among the best metalworkers in ancient history. They lived in a vast swathe of Europe – from the tip of southern Britain to the highlands of Anatolia. Their culture inspires people even to this day. The Senogalatîs are all of these things and more.
As we venture into the history of the Senogalatîs, we have not yet departed from the Isarnoberios (Hallstatt) period. Our ancestors emerged during a time of great changes that were taking place in Europe in their day. Great conflicts and changes taking place in Greece and the Near East led to civil unrest and migrations westward. As Greeks moved west, Etruscans expanded north, and the Phonecians were holding on to their west Mediterranean trading posts – at least until their homeland was conquered by the Babylonians – which led to Carthaginians establishing their own posts, plus the rise of the Roman Republic, the earliest Senogalatîs would be affected by these changes.
The story of the earliest Senogalatîs is a story of rivers. Rivers that are now called the Rhine, the Marne, the Danube, the Loire, the Moselle, the Seine. It was along these rivers, and because of them that opportunities for trade and wealth were established. The Greeks, having established a colony at Massalia (today Marseilles) in what is now along the shores of southeastern France, still a major port city to this day, brought the Senogalatîs a near neighbour to the exotic Mediterranean world. This occurred in approximately 20 SA, around 600 BCE. To their more immediate south were the Etruscans with cities like Vulci supplying the Senogalatîs with even more exotic items. Often these were things like highly decorated drinking vessels and amphorae, which held much coveted wine. Contrary to Mediterranean custom, the Senogalatîs did not water down their wine. Thus the way they drank wine won out and people today consume it likewise.
All of this suggests an economy centred around prestige goods. In exchange the Senogalatîs provided civilisations to their south with raw materials like gold, iron, timber, and furs. It is so that while trade with foreign powers was indeed important, it also galvanised our ancestors to produce goods that would be desirable to their neighbours. Their own trade networks extended out to the Baltic region from which they imported amber. Tin was traded further south due to the Senogalatîs having long established trade links with the Britons to their north. So it was that the Senogalatîs were not merely people on the fringe or passively being traded to. They were massive producers themselves. Their goods were widely sought. Mediterranean people generally sought raw materials which were then used to create works, some of which ended up making their way back north to Senogaliâ (Ancient Gaul).
To gain power, it was necessary to be positioned near the rivers that granted access to these trade highways. Those that were, enjoyed great wealth and power. Two major zones of power and influence had developed by this time in the lands of the Senogalatîs. An eastern zone in what is now the Czech Republic, which would birth the Bouioi (Boii) people known in later Roman accounts, and a western zone mostly in what is now eastern France and southwestern Germany. This could possibly be where the Bituriges originally came from. Their Rix, the leader of their people – Ambicatus – is the farthest back Senogalatis that we know of. Worth saying that’s in record, though the writing mentioning him is not the oldest record of the Senogalatîs themselves that we have.
Both of these zones of power in the old lands were north of the original Isarnoberios (Hallstatt) core, which was further south. We don’t have a definitive answer for why these power zones had shifted, but it’s possible that being further north, away from the trade centres to the south meant slim pickings of prestige goods in economies governed by them. Fending off raiders from their east meant they’d have acquired a higher aptitude for battle than those in the more peaceful core. As such it’s then possible that lured by greater access to trade goods, and thus wealth gave an impetus for exerting influence militarily. Essentially to “cut out the middleman”. We can only speculate, but the change in power happened, and greater plans were made, as we shall soon see with Ambicatus.
It is perhaps through Ambicatus that we can learn something about this early period of history. He would have seen much of what we already described. The changes in the centres of power (according to legend, he was a major player in it!), he would have known about Massaliâ and may well have been a frequent source of business for them. The account of him is as follows, from the historian Titus Livius in ‘History of Rome’ (5.34) states this:
“About the passage of the Gauls into Italy we have received the following account: while Tarquinius Priscus was king of Rome, the supreme power amongst the Celts, who formed a third part of the whole of Gaul, was in the hands of the Bituriges; they used to furnish the king for the whole Celtic race. Ambigatus was king at that time, a man eminent for his own personal courage and prosperity as much as for those of his dominions. During his sway the harvests were so abundant and the population increased so rapidly in Gaul that the government of such vast numbers seemed almost impossible. He was now an old man, and anxious to relieve his realm from the burden of over-population. With this view he signified his intention of sending his sister’s sons Bellovesus and Segovesus, both enterprising young men, to settle in whatever locality the gods should by augury assign to them. They were to invite as many as wished to accompany them, sufficient to prevent any nation from repelling their approach. When the auspices were taken, the Hercynian forest was assigned to Segovesus; to Bellovesus the gods gave the far pleasanter way into Italy.”
Titus Livius ‘History of Rome’ (5.34)
Ambicatus (as his name would be rendered in Senogalaticos, Ancient Gaulish) occupies a place where history and legend blur to the point that it is unknown which is which. Let’s indulge ourselves a little and temporarily suspend scepticism, to assume truth in the account. Being a contemporary of Tarquinius Priscus, who reigned in Rome from 33 SA to 5 AAC, or 616 to 578 BCE, it means that Ambicatus reigned during the last century or so of the Isarnoberios (Hallstatt) period. Advanced in age, he is looking back on a life of accomplishments. HIs name translated means “he who fights in both (or different) directions”. We may then be charitable and say that perhaps he is one of those kings of the western Isarnoberios (Hallstatt) power zone who through skill in battle managed to actually consolidate his rule over it.
This is done often through battle, oaths of allegiance won through valour and skill that granted him authority and tribute. It is maintained however, by his proven ability to bring prosperity to his peoples. The account mentions an age of plenty, of prosperity under his rule. This would maybe mean he was well aware of maintaining the channels of trade in all directions: from the Britons in the north, the Germans and Balts in the east, the Etruscans and Greeks to the south, and the Atlantic networks to the west. Wealth in trade, and likely good seasons that led to good harvests.
Especially with the latter, a people would naturally see a boom in population. With the level of technology they had, though, the land could only provide for so much. If new inventions aren’t forthcoming – and quickly – it is of course imperative to figure out how to provide for all of these new young people. At that time, again lacking the technological advancements we enjoy today, the salient option was to send the youth of combat age out to scour new lands. The practical consideration accounted for that would help him maintain his own position, securing what he struggled to gain. Accounting for what may happen to his lands after he passed on into the next life.
So he picked his nephews, a common practice in ancient Celtic societies, but also other societies to be a foster parent to your sibling’s children, to go out to new lands. Likely it was a Uatis (a sort of seer, interpreter of messages in divination) who read the omens of bird flights – performing augury – interpreting the direction the Dêuoi (the beings they worship) intended for them to go. So it was that Segouesus was to go east, through the Hercynian Forest, and Bellouesus to Italy. Accounts of these nephews never recounted whether or not they succeeded. But we know one thing for sure: the Senogalatîs later on in fact did. Their expansion in these two directions laid much of the groundwork for accounts of them!
It is after Ambicatus that we Nouiogalatîs named the current era. AAC is an abbreviation for Areambicatû or “that which is beyond Ambicatus”. While the first year was picked during a time near the end of his life, 1 AAC is roughly (as the year doesn’t start at the same time as the Gregorian) 582 BCE – 582-581 BCE. A humble attempt to immortalise Ambicatus’ memory, for whom the Senogalatîs entered recorded history.
A bit of a controversy follows. It is known that a bit less than 200 years after Ambicatus’ time that the Senogalatîs made a firm entry into Italy. It is possible, that in Ambicatus’ lifetime, that some Senogalatîs had in fact settled in Italy. These would have been the kind of warrior bands that predate the Senogalatîs by so much that their distant ancestors would recognise the process. The Insubrioi (Insubres) had already been settled in Italy, and it is said that they shared the name of a canton of the Aiduoi (Aedui). Whether this similarity is from linguistic happenstance or representative of that legendary migration of Bellouesus is unknown. But the story goes that it was he who founded Mediolanon (Mediolanum – today, Milan). And so, whether it was so, or nearly 200 years later, the Senogalatîs did in fact make it to Italy and establish a presence for centuries.
Nearly 200 years later serves the narrative of Segouesus, the brother of Bellouesus. Segouesus was allotted a migration eastward, through the Hercynian Forest. We know of such an eastward expansion occurring around the same more solid date we do for the expansion of the Senogalatîs into Italy. The Bouioi (Boii) people did in fact expand eastward. The land of Bohemia bearing their name. Again, this occurred at the same time, third to fourth centuries AAC, or fifth to fourth centuries BCE. As Nouiogalatîs, we can take succor in the idea that whether or not these three ancestors Ambicatus, Bellouesus, and Segouesus existed or not literally, they seem to have had a place in the lore of our ancestors. All representing different parts of the world of the Senogalatîs.
Ambicatus, of the homeland of the Senogalatîs: ancient, prosperous, and mighty. From where the intrepid souls of his sister’s sons made new homelands in the south and east. They don’t have to have existed in the material, historical sense for the lore to be of value. That they represent the hopes, trials, tribulations, good and bad actions of our ancestors, is plenty enough that all Nouiogalatîs should know the tale.
Bessus Nouiogalation 