that is known to us from written records emerged from these
formative periods centuries and millennia earlier.
Most of what is known in written sources about ancient
European social organization comes from the Celtic and Ger-
manic peoples. Th e Celts, or more precisely the Celtic lan-
guages, spread through Europe during the fi rst millennium
b.c.e., radiating out from the Alps of Central Europe. By 400
b.c.e. most of the people in northwestern Europe and the
British Isles spoke Celtic languages. Th e Germanic-speaking
peoples appeared in northern Germany and southern Scan-
dinavia around 500 b.c.e. and migrated throughout Central
Europe over the next 1,000 years. Although there were other
language groups and accompanying cultures, Celtic and Ger-
manic peoples predominated in non-Mediterranean Europe.
Almost every ancient European culture was organized
around a tribal structure. Both Celts and Germans organized
their societies around two principles: family and war. Kin-
ship determined tribal membership and battle companions.
Family relationships and skill in battle also determined an
individual’s position in the social hierarchy. Social institu-
tions were designed to help people behave within the hierar-
chy and to maintain the peace within a warlike society.
Ancient European social organization was also largely
determined by the fact that Celtic and Germanic peoples
moved around frequently. Th e Romans observed that the
Celts and Germans sometimes wandered for generations at
a time, loading their wagons with their worldly goods and
traveling from place to place in the forests of Central Europe.
Th ey occasionally settled in small villages and farmed the
surrounding land, but they oft en abandoned these settle-
ments and wandered around. Social mores facilitated this
frequent movement. For example, both Celtic and Germanic
people would kill old people or newborn infants if keeping
them around would slow down the group too much. By the
time of the Roman Empire, Celtic and Germanic societies
had become fairly civilized. People lived in cities and traded
with people from several nations. In this period social orga-
nization was infl uenced by Roman and Greek practices.CELTS
Th e Celtic peoples who occupied most of Europe by the
fi ft h century b.c.e. had a loose social structure that revolved
around family and warfare. Tribes, clans, and families were
the primary social groupings. Th e largest grouping was the
tribe, or tuath in Irish. Th is group provided people with their
ethnic identity. Within the tribe, people belonged to a clan,
an extended family that was the real source of social organi-
zation. Nuclear families formed the smallest social group but
were less signifi cant than clans.
Celts seem to have thought of themselves fi rst as soldiers.
Th e chiefs of Celtic tribes were expected to be extremely brave
in battle to show an example to their soldiers. Soldiers grew
very close to their comrades in arms and were expected to
sacrifi ce their lives for one another or to avenge their fallen
companions. It went without saying that clan members wouldrally to the aid of their fellow clansmen. If a Celtic man was
insulted or murdered by someone from another clan, his
kinsmen would all assume the responsibility of avenging
him. Th is practice resulted in extended feuds between fami-
lies throughout the Celtic world.
Because feuds were so common, Celtic societies created a
class of men who arbitrated disputes. Th ese men were experts
in the complex body of laws (called Brehon laws in Ireland)
used throughout Europe in Celtic communities. Historians
believe that these laws originated among European Celtic
peoples during the Bronze Age, between 2300 and 900 b.c.e.
For centuries Celtic legal experts memorized the body of laws
so that they could interpret them and resolve disputes. One of
the main purposes of Celtic laws was to prevent the frequent
blood feuds from resulting in a never-ending string of mur-
ders by forcing murderers to compensate the families of their
victims. Th is compensation would eff ectively end a feud, al-
lowing the rival clans to resume peaceful relations.
Celtic society was organized into a number of diff erent
classes. Kings and noblemen sat at the top. Th ese men were
wealthy and counted in their clans large groups of power-
ful kinsmen who could support them in battle. Nobles oft en
functioned as chiefs of their tribes. Th e people in the clan of a
nobleman’s tribe owed him allegiance. Th e nobleman himself
might owe allegiance to a higher nobleman or a king. In Ire-
land a number of lesser kings would owe allegiance to a single
high king. Anyone who owed allegiance to someone else was
required to pay that nobleman tribute every year, in the form
of grain, livestock, and military assistance.
Below the noble classes there were two classes of free peo-
ple (as opposed to slaves). Members of the higher class owned
some movable property, such as cattle, but they did not own
land. Below them were free people who owned nothing. Th ese
freemen rented land from nobles, paying rent in the form of
crops and fi ghting for their landlords during wartime. Below
the free classes were slaves captured from other tribes and
free clansmen who had somehow lost their tribal rights.
Celts also ranked themselves within classes, according to
age, birth, and skill and courage in battle. Th is social ranking
helped Celtic people know how to relate to one another. Th ey
knew who owed what to whom, who could own land and who
could not, and who could testify in court. Social rank deter-
mined which crimes were prosecuted and how they were pun-
ished. It even determined the sort of funeral a person would
receive; chiefs were oft en buried with chariots and weapons
as well as gold jewelry.
Two categories of Celts operated somewhat outside the
usual system of rankings. Priests, called Druids, maintained
the calendar and determined the dates of festivals. Druids
also memorized the body of mythology and taught it to peo-
ple. Th ey served as advisers to the kings and offi ciated at ritu-
als. Professional poets, or bards, composed and memorized
long poems describing mythical or historical events. Nobles
and kings kept bards at their courts to serve as offi cial his-
torians and entertainers. Bards were allowed to travel more1028 social organization: Europe0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1028 1028 10/10/07 2:30:48 PM