CIVILOPEDIA
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The Celts are agricultural and religious. They start the game with Pottery and Ceremonial Burial and build Gallic Swordsman instead of Swordsmen. In the 1st century BC, Strabo wrote of the Celts: 'The whole race... is madly fond of war, high-spirited and quick to battle... and on whatever pretext you stir them up, you will have them ready to face danger, even if they have nothing on their side but their own strength and courage'. Much of what we know about Celtic culture today has been derived from the insights of the various writers and geographers of the time; coupled with finds from Celtic burial sights located in Bavaria, Bohemia, and Upper Austria. The Celts once formed a loose-knit 'empire', inhabiting territory that stretched in a chaotic band across central Europe. The writings and findings of modern archeologists place Celtic civilization as ranging from the Atlantic Coast of the British Isles and northern Spain, to as far east as Transylvania and the Black Sea. The Celts lived as extended families, or clans, which banded together, in order to form larger tribes that would occupy territory together. A Knight and a High Chieftain typically governed these tribes, while a third privileged class known as 'men of art', who are better known today as the Druids and Bards, extolled the feats of Celtic warriors in song and craft. Celtic society was held together by a complex web of family ties and other obligations, within which, the warrior nobles would strive to attain wealth and prestige through agriculture, trade, and success in war; which they often used to create and fund their own family or tribe. At the age of fourteen, Celtic boys attained manhood and were permitted to bear arms, while girls became eligible for marriage. Young nobles and sons of freemen who reached their fourteenth birthday became clients of a famous lord or well-reputed Celtic Knight. Such warrior retinues were called 'Fianna'. These junior warriors sought out and followed experienced warriors whose success could provide them with greater chances at their own wealth and glory. While the bulk of a Celtic army would typically consist of poorly armored spearmen, it was the warrior nobles who wielded swords that were the most feared. These Gallic Swordsmen were wealthier than their peers, and could afford to equip themselves not only