Editing Celts (section)

====Expansion east and south====
[[File:3-bc map elznik.jpg|thumb|A map of Celtic invasions and migrations in the Balkans in the 3rd century BC]]
{{Main|Gallic invasion of the Balkans}}

The Celts also expanded down the [[Danube]] river and its tributaries. One of the most influential tribes, the [[Scordisci]], established their capital at [[Singidunum]] (present-day [[Belgrade]], Serbia) in the 3rd century BC. The concentration of hill-forts and cemeteries shows a [[Population density|dense population]] in the [[Tisza]] valley of modern-day [[Vojvodina]], Serbia, Hungary and into [[Ukraine]]. Expansion into [[Romania]] was however blocked by the [[Dacians]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The [[Serdi]] were a Celtic tribe<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC'' by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, {{ISBN|0-521-22717-8}}, 1992, p. 600: "In the place of the vanished Treres and Tilataei we find the Serdi for whom there is no evidence before the first century BC. It has for long being supposed on convincing linguistic and archeological grounds that this tribe was of Celtic origin"</ref> inhabiting [[Thrace]]. They were located around and founded [[Serdika]] ({{langx|bg|Сердика}}, {{Langx|la|Ulpia Serdica}}, {{langx|el|Σαρδῶν πόλις}}), now [[Sofia]] in [[Bulgaria]],<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=serdica-geo&highlight=serdi |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), SE´RDICA |website=perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210224222301/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=serdica-geo&highlight=serdi |url-status=live}}</ref> which reflects their ethnonym. They would have established themselves in this area during the Celtic migrations at the end of the 4th century BC, though there is no evidence for their existence before the 1st century BC. ''Serdi'' are among traditional tribal names reported into the Roman era.<ref>M. B. Shchukin, ''Rome and the Barbarians in Central and Eastern Europe: 1st Century B.C.–1st Century A.D.''</ref> They were gradually Thracianized over the centuries but retained their Celtic character in material culture up to a late date.{{when|date=July 2015}}{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} According to other sources they may have been simply of Thracian origin,<ref>Britannica</ref> according to others they may have become of mixed Thraco-Celtic origin. Further south, Celts settled in [[Thrace]] ([[Bulgaria]]), which they ruled for over a century, and [[Anatolia]], where they settled as the [[Galatia]]ns ''(see also: [[Gallic invasion of the Balkans|Gallic Invasion of Greece]])''. Despite their [[geographical isolation]] from the rest of the Celtic world, the Galatians maintained their Celtic language for at least 700 years. [[St Jerome]], who visited Ancyra (modern-day [[Ankara]]) in 373 AD, likened their language to that of the [[Treveri]] of northern Gaul.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

For [[Venceslas Kruta]], Galatia in central Turkey was an area of dense Celtic settlement.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The [[Boii]] tribe gave their name to [[Bohemia]], [[Bologna]] and possibly [[Bavaria]], and Celtic artefacts and cemeteries have been discovered further east in what is now Poland and [[Slovakia]]. A Celtic coin ([[Biatec]]) from [[Bratislava]]'s mint was displayed on the old Slovak 5-crown coin.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

As there is no archaeological evidence for large-scale invasions in some of the other areas, one current school of thought holds that Celtic language and culture spread to those areas by contact rather than invasion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Celts: A Very Short Introduction |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=71}}</ref> However, the Celtic invasions of Italy and the [[Gallic invasion of the Balkans|expedition in Greece and western Anatolia]], are well documented in Greek and Latin history.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pope |first=Rachel |date=1 March 2022 |title=Re-approaching Celts: Origins, Society, and Social Change |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |language=en |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=1–67 |doi=10.1007/s10814-021-09157-1 |issn=1573-7756 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Jeffrey |title=The Celtic Invasion of Greece |url= https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1401/the-celtic-invasion-of-greece/ |access-date=1 December 2023 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>

There are records of Celtic mercenaries in [[Egypt]] serving the [[Ptolemies]]. Thousands were employed in 283–246 BC and they were also in service around 186 BC. They attempted to overthrow [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy II]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=1 April 2021 |title=Ancient Celts |url= https://www.worldhistory.org/celt/ |access-date=6 August 2022 |website=World History Encyclopedia |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220814132538/https://www.worldhistory.org/celt/ |url-status=live}}</ref>