"This article examines Greek and Macedonian political propaganda connected with the Celtic invasions of Greece and Asia Minor in the third century BCE. Because in the Greek world-view of the Hellenistic Age the Celts were seen as the...
more"This article examines Greek and Macedonian political propaganda connected with the Celtic invasions of Greece and Asia Minor in the third century BCE. Because in the Greek world-view of the Hellenistic Age the Celts were seen as the ultimate subhuman, barbaric ‘others’, the Greco-Celtic wars stimulated the development of panhellenic sentiments and became a pivotal point of reference in Hellenistic royal self-presentation. Hellenistic kings presented their, usually easily-won, victories over Celtic forces as the triumph of Civilization over Chaos. Thus they were able to ‘prove’ that they were in actuality the divine Saviours (soteres) they pretended to be in their propaganda. The article traces the development of this imagery from the saving of Delphi by the Aetolians in 279 BCE, through the propaganda of Antigonus Gonatas, Pyrrhus of Epirus, Antiochus Soter, and Ptolemy Philadelphus, to the Attalids of Pergamon, whose Great Altar and related victory monuments formed the apogee of ‘Celtic propaganda’.
