ABSTRACT
During the last century B.C.E. and the first couple of centuries C.E., the Romans conquered most of the Celtic kingdoms. Roman civilization strongly influenced the Celts' culture. In Gaul, for example, as elsewhere, the Celtic language was more or less replaced by a form of Latin, the language of the Romans. In the fifth century c.E., however, Germanic tribes began to migrate westward and settle in parts of the crumbling Roman Empire, including areas where Celtic culture had been strong. The Celts then became confined to southwest England, Wales, Brittany (in northwest France), and, especially, Ireland, which was never invaded by the Romans. Celtic myths survived mainly in the Irish, and to a lesser extent the Welsh, traditions.
