Gender and sexual norms
Reconstruction of the dress and equipment of an Iron Age Celtic warrior
from Biebertal, Germany
See also: Ancient Celtic women
Very few reliable sources exist regarding Celtic views on gender roles, though some archaeological
evidence suggests their views may have differed from those of the Greco-Roman world, which tended to
be less egalitarian.[140][141] Some Iron Age burials in northeastern Gaul suggest women may have had
roles in warfare during the earlier La Tène period, but the evidence is far from conclusive.[142] Celtic
individuals buried with both female jewellery and weaponry have been found, such as the Vix Grave in
northeastern Gaul, and there are questions about the gender of some individuals buried with weaponry.
However, it has been suggested that the weapons indicate high social rank rather than masculinity.[143]
Most written accounts of the Ancient Celts are from the Romans and Greeks, though it is not clear how
accurate these are. Roman historians Ammianus Marcellinus and Tacitus mentioned Celtic women
inciting, participating in, and leading battles.[144] Plutarch reports that Celtic women acted as
ambassadors to avoid a war among Celtic chiefdoms in the Po valley during the 4th century
BC.[145] Posidonius' anthropological comments on the Celts had common themes, primarily primitivism,
extreme ferocity, cruel sacrificial practices, and the strength and courage of their women.[146] Cassius
Dio suggests there was great sexual freedom among women in Celtic Britain:
... a very witty remark is reported to have been made by the wife of Argentocoxus, a Caledonian, to Julia
Augusta. When the empress was jesting with her, after the treaty, about the free intercourse of her sex
with men in Britain, she replied: "We fulfill the demands of nature in a much better way than do you
Roman women; for we consort openly with the best men, whereas you let yourselves be debauched in
secret by the vilest". Such was the retort of the British woman.[147]