The Helvetii: A Whole People Sets Out

The Helvetii were a mighty Celtic tribe in the area of today's Switzerland. Their name lives on to this day in the Latin name of Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica, hence the car code "CH"). In the Late La Tène period they were among the most significant tribes north of the Alps.

The great exodus of 58 BC

The Helvetii became famous through a dramatic decision: in 58 BC they resolved to leave their homeland and migrate en masse to western Gaul. Caesar reports that they burned their own villages and stores to make return impossible. A whole people – men, women, children – set out with wagons.

Caesar and the Battle of Bibracte

For Caesar this migration was the welcome occasion to intervene in Gaul – the beginning of the Gallic War. He defeated the Helvetii in 58 BC at Bibracte and forced the survivors to return to their homeland, where they were henceforth to serve as a buffer against the Germanic peoples. Caesar names (with surely exaggerated figures) hundreds of thousands of migrants – evidence of how he staged his successes.

"Wits must he have who wanders wide, but all is easy at home."Hávamál 5, after Henry A. Bellows 1923 (public domain)

The Helvetii show that "Celts" were concrete, powerful peoples – and how a single departure changed the history of Gaul. More on the Celtic world with the Celtic warriors.

Read more with us

The Celtic Warriors · Celtic Religion · The Druids · The Boii · Celtic Princely Graves.

Sources & literature

Caesar, De bello Gallico (I); Poseidonius; archaeological oppida finds; Bernhard Maier, The Celts; quote public domain (Bellows 1923).

Visit the Shop More posts