ABSTRACT
But other factors must be considered, such as the great advance in metallurgy, with the discovery of the technique in making wroughtiron. This was to have an enormous effect on warfare, for it provided heavy swords and axes with fine cutting edges, which did not bend or break. Once the blacksmiths had spread over Europe, the new weapons were plentiful, and therefore not too expensive. Iron could also be used for horse-gear, giving more control of the animal for riding, and in chariot warfare; the more effective use of the horse spread into Europe from the great plains of Russia. Iron weapons and horses combined to create warrior aristocracies with heroic ideas about warfare, and with the advantage of speed of movement. Soon bands of young warriors were on the warpath, raiding the wealthy peoples on the fringes of the ancient world round the Mediterranean. At the risk of an over-simplified picture of events over a wide area and covering a long period, from c. 500 BC, the Celts were apparently on the move, both as raiding parties and as settlers, the one often following the other. By c. 500 BC they had settled in Gaul and the Iberian peninsula and, about the same time, they appeared in Britain, spreading westwards rapidly. They poured over the Alps a century later, and quite suddenly appeared in Rome and sacked it in 390 BC and just as rapidly seemed to vanish, but, in reality, were settling in the fertile lands of the Po Valley. The effect on the Romans of the sudden appearance of these wild men from the north was traumatic. It has been argued that it turned the tide of history, for the Romans were determined that this must never happen again. Their defensive strategy from that time was planned to prevent any more barbarians from approaching their city, they did not feel safe until the whole of Italy was under their control.
