Editing Boii (section)

===Settlement in north Italy===
According to the ancient authors, the Boii arrived in northern Italy by crossing the [[Alps]]. While of the other tribes who had come to Italy along with the Boii, the [[Senones]], [[Lingones]] and [[Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul)|Cenomani]] are also attested in Gaul at the time of the Roman conquest. It remains therefore unclear where exactly the [[Central Europe]] origins of the Boii lay, if somewhere in Gaul, [[Southern Germany]] or in Bohemia.

[[Polybius]] relates that the [[Celts]] were close neighbors of the [[Etruscan civilization]] and "cast covetous eyes on their beautiful country".<ref name=PB.2.17>Polybius, ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|Histories]]'', II.17.</ref>

Invading the [[Po Valley]] with a large army, they drove out the Etruscans and resettled it, the Boii taking the right bank in the center of the valley. [[Strabo]] confirms that the Boii emigrated from their lands across the [[Alps]]<ref>Strabo, ''[[Grographica|Geography]]'', IV.4.1.</ref> and were one of the largest tribes of the Celts.<ref>Strabo, ''[[Grographica|Geography]]'', V.1.6.</ref> The Boii occupied the old Etruscan settlement of Felsina, which they named ''Bononia'' (modern [[Bologna]]). Polybius describes the Celtic way of life in [[Cisalpine Gaul]] as follows:
{{blockquote|They lived in unwalled villages, without any superfluous furniture; for as they slept on beds of leaves and fed on meat and were exclusively occupied with war and agriculture, their lives were very simple, and they had no knowledge whatever of any art or science.

Their possessions consisted of cattle and gold, because these were the only things they could carry about with them everywhere according to circumstances and shift where they chose. They treated comradeship as of the greatest importance, those among them being the most feared and most powerful who were thought to have the largest number of attendants and associates.<ref name=PB.2.17/>}}

The archaeological evidence from Bologna and its vicinity contradicts the testimony of Polybius and Livy on some points, who say the Boii expelled the Etruscans and perhaps some were forced to leave.

It indicates the Boii neither destroyed nor depopulated Felsinum, but simply moved in and became part of the population by intermarriage.<ref>{{cite book|pages=201–202|title=Beyond the Rubicon: Romans and Gauls in Republican Italy|first=J. H. C.|last= Williams|edition=illustrated|publisher= Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-19-815300-9}}</ref> {{Dubious|date=September 2022}}

The cemeteries of the period in Bologna contain [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] weapons and other artifacts, as well as Etruscan items such as bronze mirrors. At [[Pianoro|Monte Bibele]] not far away one grave contained La Tène weapons and a pot with an Etruscan female name scratched on it.<ref name=":0" />