 In the 5th century BC, the Greek writer Ephrais described the four great civilisations of the ancient world from a Greek perspective. He actually called them barbarian. They were the Celts, the Persians, the Libyans and the Citians, as shown in this ancient map drawn in the 5th century BC by the Greek historian Herodotus, known as the Father of History. But who were these ancient peoples? First up is the Celts. The Celts were a group of ancient people bound together by their use of Celtic limeges as well as other similar cultural traits. They went on to occupy large parts of the British Isles, Western Europe and then migrated east into Eastern Europe and parts of Anatolia, modern-day Turkey. To be clear, the Celts weren't a unified empire as such. They were a collection of various different groups. They were bound together by shared cultural traits, shared societal structure, shared belief in certain gods, etc. And obviously, more prominently, their use of Celtic limeges, such as Gaulish and Brothonic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, when looking at countries such as Scotland and Ireland today, the ancient Celts loved to drink and were particularly fond of wine. Many Celtic societies also had commonalities in their societal structure, such as the Druids playing an important role, a priestly, magical spiritual, but also a judicial role in many Celtic societies. Various Celtic peoples also worshipped the same Celtic gods, such as the Tatis or Cernanos from the Gaulish word Karnan, meaning Horan or Antlar. The first recorded use of the word Celt comes from the Greek geographer Hecateus of Miletus in 517 BC, describing a people in southern Gaul and modern Marseille. As for the origin of the Celts in general, there is a debate. The traditional argument states that the Celts grew out of the unfilled and holstered culture of Germany and Austria, around 1200 BC and then migrated in various directions from there, particularly spread through the La Tène period, the La Tène culture, which started around 450 BC, up until the 1st century BC. This tradition of view has been challenged however by the likes of Barry Cunnlith, an archaeologist, the Emirates Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford. He essentially argues that the Proto-Celtic language could have originated in the Atlantic zone, basically in the British Isles, Ireland and parts of maybe western France. And this Atlantic zone, that the Proto-Celtic language could have originated as a lingua franca, or trading language, basically a language that was used by people that spoke different languages but wanted to communicate or had to communicate for the purposes of trade, etc. And Cunnlith argues that the Proto-Celtic language, where the Celtic languages originated from, would have originated much older than 1200 BC as this lingua franca in the Atlantic zone. Irrespective of their origins, most Celtic people were conquered by the Romans. The most famous example of this was Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul between 58 and 50 BC, with Gaul being a territory which included large parts of most of modern France, Belgium, Switzerland and parts of Germany. That general area, that was the home of Gaul, the home of Celtic civilization, Julius Caesar famously conquered and then wrote a book about. Not all Celtic civilization was wiped out, however, by the Romans. Celtic languages are still spoken today, six remaining Celtic languages. Irish, Scottish, Gallic, Welsh, Manx on the Isle of Man, Cornish and Breton in Brittany and France today. I'm going to delve more into the ancient Celts in future videos. This was just a very quick overview of the ancient Celts. Next up is the Persians, but first. The Persians were ancient Iranian people who had emigrated around the 9th century BC into the region known as Persis, which is the modern equivalent of Fars, the province of Fars in southern Iran. Reference to the Persians goes way back to the 3rd millennium BC in an old Assyrian forum, designating an area that belonged to the Sumerians. The influence of the Persians in the ancient world was great. The First Persian Empire was established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Known as the Achaemenid Empire or the First Persian Empire, at its zenith, this empire was the largest the world had ever seen, stretching 2.1 million square miles from Eastern Europe and Egypt to parts of India and the East. The religion of Zoroastrianism, known for its use of fire and rituals, became popular amongst the Persians over the centuries to come. The Achaemenid or the First Persian Empire was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, but the Persians re-emerged in the form of the Parthians, which existed for hundreds of years until 224 AD, forming another part in the history of Iran. Then the Sasanian dynasty, ruled by the House of Sasan, took the reins of the Persian Empire for centuries, until the early Muslim conquest of around 651 AD. Next up is the ancient Libyans. Libya actually gets its name from Libu, the name of an ancient Libyan tribe of Berber origin. The Greek term Libya was then used to refer to many peoples of North Africa. The term Berber itself is somewhat controversial, however, given its association with barbarian, and many people of North Africa prefer to use another term, Amazook. Not too much is known about the ancient Libyans, but we do know that various cultures and various civilizations controlled this region for different periods of time down through history. The Phoenicians and also the Carthaginians were won, as well as the First Persian Empire, the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great, and then the Ptolemaic Empire of Egypt, M. Alexander the Great's successors. More indigenous kingdoms did arise as well, such as the Kingdom of Numidia, that existed from 202 BC until around 46 BC in North Africa. The Romans then conquered and annexed parts of Numidia and brought it and incorporated it into the Roman Empire itself. These are the stunning remains of the Sabratha Theater in Libya, for instance, whilst the Romans constructed. Sabratha was an important trading post in the ancient world, it seems, and actually established as their trading port by the Phoenicians, who themselves were actually from the Levant area in the Middle East. Last but not least is the Scythians. The first thing to note about the Scythians is that they were masters of the horse, and they're often depicted in their art as being with their horses. The horse's human connection almost had a spiritual significance in Scythia. They were one of the earliest groups to master the art of horse riding, and this allowed them great mobility across the Eurasian steppe, a vast land of grasslands stretching from Hungary to Mongolia. And it was in this area that the Scythian culture flourished. Scythian men and women were heavily tattooed, and this is still shown on certain mummies from the Scythian era. These were intricate and beautiful detailed patterns of their world and their beliefs. These tattoos often depicted the animals that they hunted, as well as mythical creatures, such as the griffin. A creature that had essentially the legs and the lower body of a lion. And the head and the wings of an eagle. Scythian tattoos also seemed to have some sort of magical belief within Scythian culture, belief that the tattoos would protect them in the spiritual realm. And they were also used to commemorate shows of bravery on the battlefield. Scythian men were depicted as having long hair and beards in most instances, and often wore baggy trousers. Scythian art also flourished for a large period during their history. And this often involved intricate pieces of gold jewellery, combs, and various other artifacts that they would still have today. They spoke Eastern Iranian languages. The Scythian's choice of weapon was usually a bow and arrow. And Herodotus, the Greek historian, says that most of Scythian arrows were poisoned, with the poison made by taking the blood from an animal and mixing it with the venom from a pregnant snake and allowing this to sit for a period. This is called a nightcap in Glasgow. The Scythians had a warrior culture, and status was often defined in the male domain at least by the number of men a Scythian warrior had killed. This body count was shown by Scythians often taking a scalp from their victims and displaying it on their horses on the front of their horses. And also if they had enough also making cloaks out of the scalps of their victims. Scythian mercenaries were often seen in Athens serving as bodyguards. As to where the Scythians were located, this is a simple question, yet the answer is far from simple. The easiest way to describe where the Scythians were located was the Eurasian steppe. This vast grassland area, perfect for horse riding and travelling by horse over this vast territory. That essentially ran from Hungary in Europe and the east of Europe all the way through to Mongolia and the very northeast of China as well. The Scythians were known as somewhat of a nomadic people stretching across Eurasia, concentrated in Central Asia and then diverging from there. Numerous peoples and numerous different groups emerged from the Scythian culture as well and that often had different names which makes it quite confusing. Scythia proper you could say was just north of the Black Sea in the Pontic Caspian steppe. Essentially modern in Ukraine and parts of modern in Russia, centred around the Crimea region just on the Black Sea. Yeah so if we look in the modern map today, this is Ukraine, this is Russia, this is Crimea here, so this was the centre of the Scythian Empire. Just on the Black Sea and the Greeks basically, Greece obviously here, Ancient Greece had numerous trading ports around the outskirts of the Black Sea. So Pontic Albia was one, a kind of trading city right in there which allowed the Greeks to interact with the Scythians. But yeah the Scythian Empire, Crimea was the centre right on the Black Sea, allowed them to trade with different cultures around. Particularly the Ancient Greeks, the Scythians would often trade slaves, certain Scythians also farmed so they would trade grain, slaves, different furs and different materials and things they could make from the forests and different lands north of the Black Sea and the Scythians would trade in exchange for wine and various other commodities and elements of that nature. This Scythian Empire was established by Scythians migrating west from Central Asia and established in their kingdom centred around Crimea. This migration brought them into conflict with the Commerians though, an war that lasted around 30 years. The Scythians came out on top however and they established their kingdom centred on Crimea which existed from around the 6th century to the 3rd century BC when it started to come under pressure from various other groups. Even within the Scythian Empire however there was variation, some Scythians grew grain for instance where others didn't. The Scythians developed for a period a class of aristocrats who were known for their elaborate graves filled with artefacts of gold and other jewels of that nature and these were known as the royal siths. Scythian culture flourished across the entire Eurasian steppe however for a large period. The first reference to the Scythians seems to come around the 9th century BC and their thought to have come from Iranian stock. Although the origins of these people is still somewhat mysterious. So if we look at the Eurasian steppe just in the modern context of the modern map, this is Hungary here and the Eurasian steppe basically ran all the way through all the way through parts of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, parts of Russia, parts of the very tip of China into Mongolia. So it was this vast, vast kind of territory all through here that the Scythians and Scythian related peoples populated for a large period. Some went down into various regions into the Central Asian Republic today into parts of Iran. There was different conflicts with the Meads and different people in these general areas. The Persians at certain point as well recorded Scythians and spoke of them. Their word for the Scythians was the Saka but they were essentially the same people. But yeah this was the general territory, seemed to establish themselves in Central Asia and then the migrated west at various points through their history. One element mixed studying the Scythians quite complicated is the fact that various cultures referred to them by various names. This is a point that's made by Barry Cunliffe, the Emirates Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford, who wrote a book on the Scythians and gave a talk a couple of years ago that I'll reference below and I'll also use them as a source. I'll listen to it before recording this video. It was a really interesting and kind of 30, 40 minute discussion they gave just in some of the archaeology and some of the findings of what we know about the Scythians. But one point he does make is that the Persians for instance referred to essentially the Scythians, a Scythian connected group at least, as the Saka, S-A-K-A, which was a common name the Persians used and you'll see it on various maps of antiquity, the people of the Saka and various people of the Saka known as the Saka. Scythian and Saka also seemed to be used interchangeably at various points. To make matters even more confusing, Scyth and Saki seem to also be words used interchangeably both with Scythia and Saka. Various other groups of Scythian origin who were part of the Scythian culture spread out as well. The Indo-Scythians also known as the Indo-Sakas were a group of Scythians that migrated from Central Asia into parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and also into India today. From around the 4th or 3rd century BC, the Scythians increasingly came under pressure from the Sirmations, a connected group who managed to push the Scythians over a matter of centuries out of the Pontic Caspian steppe. The last reference to the Scythians in history really comes in the form of the Alans, a group that takes his name from the Old Iranian word essentially meaning Arian. They were recorded by Roman sources and they increasingly came under pressure from the Huns and the Goths around the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. Many of the Alans joined different Germanic groups, them who eventually migrated west, and the Alans were recorded as moving as far west as Portugal today, close to Lisbon. Not all the Alans migrated west however, many stayed in the Caucasus region and the Alans were still referenced by the same name as late as the 14th century AD. In fact, today, in the Caucasus region, in the region of Asetia, which is a somewhat politically charged area of the world itself, with South Asetia essentially being a somewhat semi-autonomous kingdom and North Asetia being part of Russia. With the names of these countries giving us a fascinating insight into the history of these lands and the Scythians themselves. The south is called the Republic of South Asetia, the state of Elania, and the north is called the Republic of North Asetia, Elania. Now that we have went through the histories of these great civilisations, what about the interactions between these civilisations? To find out more about the Scythian impact on Celtic art, please click here. Thanks for watching, please subscribe and hit the bell and tell your friends and family about this channel for ways to support all the links will be in the description below. Thanks again for watching and I'll see you next time.