De Carthage à Jéricho. Mythes et réalités du mercenariat celtique (Ve-Ier siècle a.C.)

From the 5th century to the end of the 1st century BC, from North Africa to Judea, passing through Sicily, Italy; Greece and Asia Minor, thousands of warriors had been recruited by the Carthaginians and Greeks. Celtic mercenaries often played a decisive role in the theatre of Mediterranean wars for five centuries. Foreign warriors, spurred on by greed and the search for lands to settle on, the Celts swarmed everywhere on all fronts where their technical knowledge and bravery seemed indispensable.

Luc Baray suggests that we should deconstruct the myths and return to the literary sources in order to determine with accuracy and erudition the origins and importance of these mercenaries in the Mediterranean armies. He draws up a precise account in the knowledge available and allows us to understand the nature of the engagements, the particular context of recruitment, in always seeking to distinguish the statutes – mercenary or auxiliary – lying behind the denominations.

This close analysis of the text also provides us with a new light on all these fronts that shook and tore the Mediterranean before the end of the 1st century BC.