Information about the music of the ancient Celts from the La Tène period and their Gallo-Roman and Romano-British descendants during Late Antiquity depends mostly on Greek and Roman writings, as well as on archaeological discoveries and how people interpret them, such as rebuilding ancient instruments. Most of the written records focus on military battles and the most well-known Celtic instrument from that time, the carnyx.
The Celts and Greco-Roman music
In 54 BC, Cicero wrote that he believed there were no people in the British Isles who had received musical training. However, the situation was different in the Gallic regions. By the time of Augustus, musical education was common in Gaul. Iulius Sacrovir used well-educated Gauls as a distraction after Sacrovir and Iulius Florus captured the city of Augustodonum during a Gallic uprising in 21 AD. The Gauls valued their musical culture, as shown by Gaius Iulius Vindex, a Gallic rebel who later became a senator under Claudius. Before arriving in Rome, Vindex called Emperor Nero a "bad cithara player" and accused him of "ignorance of the arts." However, Celtic music was not spread evenly across Europe. Maximinus Thrax, a Roman emperor of Gothic heritage, upset his fellow Romans because he could not appreciate a song performed by an actor on stage.
The Carnyx
The carnyx (plural: carnyces; Greek: κάρνυξ—“karnyx”—or rarely: καρνον—“karnon”) was a type of horn used by the Celts and Dacians. It was similar to the Etruscan-Roman lituus and belonged to the group of brass instruments. The carnyx was an S-shaped horn made of bronze and had a tube that was between one and two meters long. The size of the tube’s diameter is unknown. Archaeologists have found carnyces dating back to the Bronze Age, and written records from around 300 BC to 200 AD describe the instrument. It was used in many places, including Britain, France, parts of Germany, Romania, and even India, where Celtic soldiers carried it with them.
Coins from the Gallic people show the carnyx behind the head of the goddess Gallia or held by a leader, a charioteer, or a warrior. On British coins, the instrument is shown being carried by mounted Celtic warriors or chiefs. Roman coins, such as those celebrating Julius Caesar’s victory over the Gauls, show the carnyx as a trophy on a Roman Tropaion. The carnyx also appears in the Augustus statue at Prima Porta and on Trajan’s Column, where it is shown being carried by Dacian soldiers. The most noticeable part of the carnyx was its bell, shaped like an animal head—such as a serpent, fish, bird, wolf, horse, donkey, or wild boar. The earliest known depiction shows a dragon’s head on Aetolian coins from the 3rd century BC, which celebrated the defeat of Gallic warriors who had attacked the Delphi sanctuary. Some scholars suggest the different bell shapes showed the identity of Celtic clans or tribes, while others believe they had a connection to myths. The Deskford Carnyx, found in Scotland, was a sacrificial offering, and its bell may have been intentionally broken. Attempts to link the Etruscan lituus to the carnyx have not been successful.
The carnyx made a loud, sad, and rough sound, possibly because the bell’s tongue was loose. This suggests the carnyx was an improved version of the lituus, which had a brighter and sharper sound. The carnyx was held upright so the sound could be heard from over three meters above the ground. Reconstructions show the instrument had a diagonal oval opening for the mouthpiece, and it was played by vibrating the lips, like a modern trumpet, but blown from the side. Without valves or crooks, players used overblowing techniques to create melodies. The large bell made the sound very loud, and the instrument could produce a wide range of volumes. The best-preserved bell of a carnyx was found in northeast Scotland as part of the Deskford Carnyx, which had a movable tongue. The bronze jaw of the animal head may also have been loosened to make a jarring sound. When many carnyces were played together in battle, their sound was likely very terrifying. For example, when the Celts attacked Delphi in 279 BC, the loud, echoing horns overwhelmed the Greeks before any fighting began.
Most ancient Roman sources describe the carnyx as a war instrument. For example, Polybius wrote about the battle of Telemon in 225 BC, where the Gauls used the carnyx and other brass instruments to scare the Romans. However, the carnyx was not only used in battle. Brass instruments were also used to send messages during fights, such as giving orders about troop movements. The Gauls used their horns to keep their soldiers organized even during retreats. After the Roman general Marius won a battle near Vercellae, his rival, Catulus Caesar, kept a Cimbrian signaling horn as a trophy. Music and instruments were important tools for both Roman and Celtic armies.
The carnyx also appeared in non-military settings. On the Gundestrup cauldron, a depiction from the 2nd or 1st century BC shows a warrior initiation ritual, proving the instrument was used in ceremonies. The Deskford Carnyx was also a sacrificial offering to an unknown god.
The best-known carnyx is the Deskford Carnyx, found in 1816 near the Moray Firth in Scotland. Only four other fragments of carnyces have been found, such as the Glanum Carnyx in France. In 2004, archaeologists discovered five well-preserved carnyces from the 1st or 2nd century AD buried under a Gallo-Roman religious site in Tintignac, France. Four of the carnyces had boar-shaped bells, and one had a serpent bell. The fact that they were buried on a holy site shows the carnyx had religious importance in Gallic culture. The archaeologists who studied the site believe the carnyces were offered to a god linked to the Roman god Mars. Some debate remains about the exact age of the carnyces, as some items in the burial may be older than the 1st century AD, suggesting the instruments might have been stored in the sanctuary for years before being buried.
Other Celtic instruments
Polybius, a Greek historian, described the Battle of Telemon and noted that Gallic warriors used two types of musical instruments: those that sounded like horns and those that resembled trumpets. The Celtic people, who lived in Europe, had many different kinds of instruments. In addition to the carnyx, a type of large horn, at least two other brass instruments are shown in drawings from Roman and Greek times.
The Celtic horn was a large, curved instrument with a thin tube and a wide bell. It was similar to the Roman cornu, a type of horn used by the Romans, because both had a crossbar to help the player hold the instrument on their shoulder. This suggests the Celtic horn may have been influenced by Etruscan culture, which was affected by Greek traditions. A drawing from Pompeii shows a woman holding the horn, while a sculpture from Capitoline shows a Gallic warrior carrying a broken horn tied with a band. Like the Roman cornu, the Celtic horn was likely played horizontally for comfort.
The Celtic trumpet was similar to the Roman tuba, a straight instrument, and may have come in different sizes. A Greek vase shows a musician playing a similar instrument. Another related instrument is the Loch Erne horn, found in Ireland and used during the early medieval period.
Celtic horns varied in shape, size, and width. Examples include the Loughnashade Trumpa from Ireland and similar horns from Scandinavia and other regions. In 1927, Couissin described a third type of Celtic wind instrument with a curved shape, similar to the Caledonian Caprington Horn or the prehistoric Sussex horn. However, the Sussex horn is lost, and only drawings and copies remain. It is unclear if the horn Couissin described was a special Celtic instrument or a simple cow horn used by rural people.
Bone flutes, often made from birds, were used since the Stone Age. Later, wooden flutes were introduced, similar to the Roman fistula, or shepherd’s flute. Terracotta and bone whistles were also used for a long time. Other wind instruments, like the Greek syrinx (a type of pan flute), were made from tubes and pipes.
Bronze or wooden hand bells, called crotales, and terracotta rattles were used since the Bronze Age. Some bells were shaped like birds and had rings to attach them to clothing. Weapons and shields were used to make noise in battles, and some may have been used as percussion instruments. For example, the Gallaecian and Celtiberian cultures used shields to create rhythm. Silius, a Roman writer, described Gallaecian soldiers using their shields to make music. Celtiberian warriors performed dances during funerals, and the Gaditanae, women from Gades in Spain, performed dances that were popular in Rome. They used hand clappers, similar to modern castanets. It is not certain if the Celts used drums like the Roman tympanum, but other hand drums, such as the German Honsommern Drum from the Neolithic period, suggest they may have.
Many Celts, including the Gauls and Germans, joined the Roman army and likely used Roman instruments during battles. One historical account mentions that during Emperor Claudius’s inauguration, soldiers in Germania and Pannonia rebelled. When a lunar eclipse occurred, the rebels feared divine punishment and ordered their musicians to play instruments, including tubae (trumpets) and cornua (horns).
Chant
The Romans recorded information about chants from many regions. Sallust wrote about the Spanish tradition of singing songs that honored their military achievements. During the battle of Cannae in 216 BC, a Celtiberian soldier was attacked by a Roman leader while reciting "barbaric songs." Tacitus mentioned that the Caledonians had national songs. Livius described Gallic war songs that were heard near the river Allia. After the Gallic victory around 387 BC, the people of the city had to listen to loud battle chants. One Gallic warrior was reported to sing during a fight. Livius also wrote about the Roman soldier Titus Manlius, who stayed silent before fighting the warrior in 361 BC. In 218 BC, the Gauls resisted Hannibal and his troops by shouting battle cries and clashing their weapons and armor as they crossed the Rhône River.
Many Gauls and Germans joined Caesar’s army after he conquered Gaul, and their war chants were added to the Roman collection of army songs. Before the battle of Actium, 2,000 Gallic cavalry soldiers who switched sides to support Octavian sang real Gallic war songs. The most well-known performers were the Celtic bards, whose heroic songs were known in Rome throughout ancient times.
Roman records about Germanic chants were based on real experiences, not stereotypes. Publius Cornelius Tacitus described the Germanic tribes and their singing traditions. Although his observations were brief, they suggest two types of music: war chants (called barditus, barritus, or baritus) and heroic songs.
Tacitus wrote that the Germans worshipped Heracles as their war god, and their battle songs may have inspired the name "Keltoi" for the Celtic tribes in ancient Greece. Warriors sang while hiding under their shields and used the sound of their chants and the noise of their weapons to predict battle outcomes. The most important part of their singing was the loud, sudden start of the barditus, which suggests noisy battle cries rather than songs with words.
During a battle, German soldiers fighting for Aulus Vitellius Germanicus sang as they were surrounded by enemy forces. Tacitus also wrote about the Batavian rebellion led by Gaius Iulius Civilis, contrasting the hesitation of Roman soldiers with the determined chants of the Batavians. Ammianus wrote that the loud, rough battle songs described by Tacitus were also used by German soldiers fighting for Rome. The fact that he mentioned "Romans" singing Germanic songs shows how many Germanic soldiers were in the Roman army.
Although Tacitus did not clearly separate war chants from heroic songs, his use of repeated sounds may have been the first mention of rhyme in Europe, a style later used in German poetry.
The Romans knew about Germanic heroic songs, such as those linked to Arminius. Tacitus’ writings are the earliest known record of early Germanic heroic songs. Festive singing was also reported during the Roman advance in the Ems region in 15 AD. In 26 AD, Roman forces led by Poppaeus Sabinus surprised the Thracians during a celebration with dancing and singing. The Sicambri, who fought for Rome, responded with their own defiant songs, showing that the Celts may have used improvisation and singing contests, as noted by Virgil. The Goths sang songs to honor their ancestors, and their tradition of tribal songs is well documented. After the battle of Campus Mauriacus, the Goths sang mourning songs for their fallen king.