from Mark Dice:  TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

It’s hard to imagine someone risking their lives at age 15 for their country. At 15‚ most are just freshmen or sophomores in high school‚ preparing to get their driver’s license‚ and just starting to consider what they might want to go to college for.  For Lepa Radić‚ things were different. Lepa Radić was born in Bosanski Petrovac‚ a town in Yugoslavia. Just 15 short years later‚ she would join the Yugoslav Partisans and fight the Axis powers with a bravery most people twice her age could only dream of having.  This bravery caused her life to be cut short‚ but the legacy of her fighting spirit lived on and inspired those fighting for the Allies for years to come. In this article‚ we’ll look deeper into the life of Lepa Radić and her tragically short fight for the Communist Party.  Lepa Radić‚ 1943 The Early Life of Lepa Radić Born on December 19‚ 1925‚ the stirrings of conflict were already brewing during Lepa’s early years of life. By all accounts‚ Lepa was a serious and intelligent girl who did well in school.  She really enjoyed reading. She was also inspired by her uncle Vladeta Radić and his involvement in the labor movement.  Lepa Radić started her time championing the Communist Party by joining the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia. This was an organization of the Social Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia.  This league was formed in 1919. This made it relatively new by the time Lepa Radić became a part of it.  Later‚ at the age of 15‚ Lepa Radić joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. This was the main communist party of the Kingdom of Serbs‚ Croats‚ and Slovenes‚ of which Yugoslavia was a part. Flag of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Serbo-Croatian Latin until it was renamed‚ 1920 World War II and Lepa Radić’s Fight Against the Axis Powers  The Yugoslavian Chetniks and Partisans  At the time‚ there were two main parties active in Yugoslavia–the Chetniks and the Partisans. By the time Lepa joined the Communist party‚ Nazi invaders had taken control of Yugoslavia‚ which had surrendered within 11 days.  The Chetniks were royalists at heart‚ and were more concerned with the growing Communist sentiments springing to life inside Yugoslavia than they were with the invading Nazis. This led them to occasionally collaborate with Nazi occupiers.  On the other hand‚ the Partisans‚ the group that had emerged from the banned Communist party‚ vehemently opposed Nazi occupation. Their leader‚ Josip Broz‚ or Tito‚ planned to overthrow these invaders and turn Yugoslavia into an independent socialist state.  Lepa Radić’s Capture and Joining of the Partisans  As we mentioned earlier‚ Lepa Radić came from a family of rebels. This would cause problems as conflicts started to heat up.  Her uncle Vladeta was already an active member of the Communist party and through them the Partisans. But when the Nazis invaded‚ Lepa’s father Svetor‚ and her other uncle Voja joined the cause as well.  But these actions didn’t go unnoticed. Soon Lepa’s entire family was arrested as a consequence of the father and uncle’s actions‚ and they were all captured and imprisoned at Stara GradiÅ¡ka prison.  The group responsible for this capture was the UstaÅ¡e. This was an ultra-nationalist organization that upheld the Nazi government in Yugoslavia at the time.  Only a few weeks after this capture‚ the Partisans came to the aid of their members. Amazingly‚ they were able to free Lepa Radić’s entire family. This inspired both Lepa and her sister Dara to join the fight. Lepa was only 15 at the time.  The 7th Partisan Company and Lepa Radić’s Second Capture  Both Dara and Lepa would join the 7th Partisan Company serving as nurses. Soon‚ though‚ Lepa would show a certain talent for leading and rallying other youth to the cause‚ and this became her main job amongst the Partisans.  When the battle came to Lepa‚ she didn’t shy away. Along with helping the wounded and recruiting new members‚ Lepa would fight on the front lines when needed.  Her fearlessness would be a blessing and a curse to the young warrior. In February of 1942‚ Lepa’s defining moment would come.  A Nazi SS unit managed to surround Lepa and the refugees she was attempting to rescue‚ including over 150 women and children. When faced with the overwhelming power of the Nazi soldiers‚ Lepa didn’t surrender.  Instead‚ she fought. While the Nazis advanced‚ she fired every bullet she had at them‚ trying until the very last moment to defend her charges. Ultimately‚ Lepa was no match for the SS Nazis‚ and she was captured before being transported to the village of Bosanka Krupa.  The Ultimate Sacrifice of Lepa Radić Lepa’s capture was not peaceful‚ even though she was just a girl of 17. The Nazis could see the unyielding spirit within her‚ and as a consequence‚ didn’t go easy on her by any means.  Lepa Radić was tortured for three days‚ the Nazis desperate to get the names of the other Partisans from her. But Lepa would not give a single name. After days of trying to get information out of the girl‚ they gave up. Lepa Radić was sentenced to execution for the crime of firing at Nazi soldiers.  Just a few short days after her capture‚ Lepa Radić was led to a set of hastily constructed gallows to be hanged. The Nazis looped the noose around the neck of the 17-year-old Lepa while she called out to the gathered crowd‚  Hanging of Lepa Radić in February 1943 “Long live the Communist Party‚ and partisans! Fight‚ people‚ for your freedom! Do not surrender to the evildoers! I will be killed‚ but there are those who will avenge me!”  Either out of desperation to get information out of Lepa‚ or from hesitation to execute someone as young as Lepa‚ the Nazis gave her one last chance to give up the names of her Partisan allies in order for her life to be spared.  Again‚ Lepa yelled out‚  “I am not a traitor of my people. Those whom you are asking about will reveal themselves when they have succeeded in wiping out all you evildoers‚ to the last man.”  Lepa Radić was executed on February 8‚ 1943. She didn’t give her captors a single morsel of information.  She was hanged where she had been imprisoned‚ in Bosanka Krupa. One Nazi who reported on the execution observed that Lepa “has shown unprecedented defiance”.  References  The memory of the Partisan heroine https://www.balkanwarhistory.com/2016/11/the-memory-of-partisan-heroine.html Lepa Radić‚ Teenage Hero Of Yugoslavian Resistance- Jim  R https://www.historicmysteries.com/lepa-radic/The post The Execution of 15-year-old Resistance Fighter‚ Lepa Radić first appeared on History Defined.

There are many infamous serial killers‚ each known for their sick and twisted crimes.  David Parker Ray’s modus operandi‚ or MO for short‚ was to sexually assault‚ torture‚ and then drug women. Although he was never caught‚ he was believed to have murdered dozens of women.  He was known as the “Toy Box Killer” for the location of his sadistic acts.  Due to a heart attack‚ he only served one year of his sentence before he died. But he left a disturbing legacy that still haunts the American Southwest.  David Parker Ray The Mask of Normalcy Born on November 6‚ 1939‚ in Belen‚ New Mexico‚ David Parker Ray suffered the typical childhood of a psychopath.  He suffered at the hands of a violent‚ alcoholic father who introduced him to sadomasochistic pornography and was ostracized and bullied by children his age. Due to poor living conditions with his mother‚ he was largely raised by extremely strict grandparents‚ adding to his desire for deviance.  By the time he was a teenager‚ his sexual deviance became clear. He began drawing his sadomasochistic desires. When his sister stumbled upon them‚ she refused to talk to him again.  He began sexually assaulting young women early on in his life. He even claimed to have murdered a young woman in 1957.  After graduating from high school he served in the US Army until he earned an honorable discharge. He then began maintenance work which he would continue to do until his death.  Police suspect that Ray was criminally active for years before his first confirmed abductee. He developed a drug and alcohol habit when he was young and bragged about how he would violate and hurt women throughout his life.  Ray even told his first wife that he had first captured‚ tortured‚ and killed a woman in 1957 by tying her to a tree. Police were never able to confirm whether it was true or not‚ but if it is‚ then Ray was committing heinous acts for over forty years. Unconfirmed criminal activity would come to be a staple of Ray’s legacy. The Toy Box Unveiled His long history of violence was not known until he was finally caught in 1999 when one of his victims escaped. Cynthia Vigil had been kidnapped by Ray and taken to his “Toy Box.”  The Toy Box was a semi-trailer that Ray had spent an estimated hundred thousand dollars renovating to turn into the perfect sexual torture chamber. The trailer was thoroughly soundproofed. He also had a gynecologist-type chair that his victims would be strapped into.  Hanging on the walls were sex toys‚ rope‚ torture tools‚ and more‚ including graphic diagrams and explanations of the tortures that awaited its victims. Ray had meticulously designed the space to cater to his sadistic desires.  It even included a handmade wooden box to cover the heads of his captives and terrorize them.  A view of the inside of his trailer‚ including the chair and the objects hanging on the walls that he would use on his victims. The Methodical Madness Ray was a methodical criminal. He took specific steps to capture and inflict specific pain on each of his victims.  He would meet victims at various bars in Elephant Butte‚ New Mexico‚ near his job. This is where he would abduct them and take them back to his Toy Box.  Once inside the Toy Box‚ victims would be subjected to unspeakable acts of violence‚ torture‚ and sexual abuse. Sometimes Ray’s girlfriend Cindy Hendy or his dog would participate.  He would record what he did to his victims and playback the audio during subsequent sessions‚ which served to dehumanize the victims further. He wanted to remind them of the heinous acts they had already survived and completely destroy any hope of survival or assistance.  He would then either kill his victims‚ or drug them heavily so that their memories would be foggy‚ He would then abandon them out in the desert.  The Role of Accomplices Ray was a monster alone. But‚ what is worse is that he had‚ at times‚ accomplices to his sick and twisted crimes.  Alongside his partner and dog‚ Ray also enlisted the help of his daughter‚ Glenda Ray‚ and her friend‚ Dennis Roy Yancy. To have this many people involved in his crimes added a level of complexity to the nature of the Toy Box.  Ray was able to keep his activities under wraps for at least a decade‚ if not longer‚ while still involving a handful of people. This in part may have worked because of Ray’s paranoia.  Yancy would later recall that they had buried a body together‚ and when he took police to the site the body was gone. It is assumed that Ray returned to the site and moved the body as a way to assure he would not get caught if one day Yancy had a change of heart.  Glenda also attempted to warn the police of his activity at one point. But her description was so vague that no investigation was ever engaged. The Capture and Legal Proceedings Cynthia Vigil’s escape in 1999 marked a turning point in the pursuit of justice for David Parker Ray’s victims.  On March 22‚ Hendy left the keys to Vigil’s handcuffs close to the chair she was tied to and Vigil saw her opportunity. Lunging for the keys‚ she removed her chains and overpowered Hendy‚ escaping into the desert naked.  She stumbled upon a trailer where the owner took her in and called the police. The police came and rapidly apprehended the sadistic couple.  With Ray caught‚ other victims began to emerge and testify against Ray. This included Angelica Montano who had been found drugged on the side of the highway in the desert years before.  Survivor‚ Cynthia Vigil. Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal Without any specific details to recall (Ray commonly used barbiturates to cause memory loss in his victims if he released them) there was never a follow-up on her case. But with Ray in custody‚ Montano was able to step forward.  Kelli Garrett also came forward‚ claiming she had been abducted‚ assaulted‚ and left for dead in an attempted murder. She had gotten in a fight with her husband and spent a night playing pool at a bar‚ where she was drugged and taken to the Toy Box.  Despite the overwhelming evidence against him‚ Ray maintained a stoic demeanor throughout the trial. Ray was clearly guilty‚ but to what extent is unknown.  It is believed he killed as many as sixty women over the course of his criminal career. But he was never able to be convicted of murder as almost none of the remains were ever found.  The Trial and Sentencing His lack of remorse and the graphic details that emerged during the proceedings shocked even seasoned investigators and legal professionals. It proved‚ without a doubt‚ that the sexual charges brought against him were valid. Despite the evidence‚ the trial was kneecapped as the judge forced all three women to hold trials separately. This hindered their ability to corroborate each others’ stories‚ leaving much of the evidence circumstantial.  The judge also ruled out much of the evidence from the trailer as admissible for two of the cases. He claimed that all sex was consensual‚ which led to juries doubting the validity of the women’s stories.  In 2002‚ David Parker Ray was sentenced to 224 years in prison‚ the result of a plea deal that negotiated a lighter sentence for his daughter. He died just months later of a heart attack at 62 years old‚ escaping nearly any punishment for his heinous crimes.  Ray‚ right‚ with his lawyer during the court proceedings. Getty. His daughter was sentenced to just a 30-month sentence with a five-year probation. Hendy received a 36-year sentence for turning on Ray. She was placed on parole in 2019.  Yancy‚ who admitted to a murder‚ was sentenced to 30 years in prison. While he received parole in 2011‚ he quickly violated it and was returned to prison‚ where he served his sentence until he was released in 2021.  Conclusion: Confronting the Darkness Within David Parker Ray‚ the Toy Box Killer‚ remains a haunting figure in part because of the unconfirmed extent of his crimes.  His own accounts and journals found by police outline dozens of heinous crimes committed against women. But no other evidence has ever surfaced to support these claims.  In a legal system that requires hard evidence to confirm guilt‚ monsters like Ray get to walk free. His surviving victims at least got to see him sentenced‚ even if he died almost immediately‚ possibly providing closure for their trauma.  Their willingness to come forward also inspires other victims to advocate for themselves. One survivor‚ Vigil‚ even founded a nonprofit that assists sex workers with the violence inherent to their jobs.  References Blair‚ Anthony. “SATAN’S DEN How ‘Toy-Box Killer’ captured &; killed 60 women with homemade torture chamber – &; incredible tale of victim who ESCAPED.” The US Sun‚ May 14‚ 2023. https://www.the-sun.com/news/8114710/toy-box-killer-david-ray-parker-true-crime/.  Hunter‚ Max. “David Parker Ray: New Mexico’s Infamous “Toy Box Killer.” Medium‚ August 6‚ 2023. https://medium.com/@thinknwriter/david-parker-ray-new-mexicos-infamous-toy-box-killer-6545bdab9943.  Ramsland‚ Katherine. “David Parker Ray: The Toy Box Killer.” Crime Library‚ 2014. https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/david_parker_ray/1_index.html. The post The Horrors of David Parker Ray‚ the Toy Box Killer first appeared on History Defined.

He served the longest sentence of any minor convicted in Michigan history. His story continues to mesmerize people today‚ so much so that a movie was made about his past‚ with Matthew McConaughey starring in it. In 1984‚ at just 14 years old‚ Rick Wershe Jr. was assisting the FBI as a drug informant. He led the federal government to arrest several high-profile drug dealers in America’s crime capital‚ Detroit.  But after he found out that the police were involved in conspiracy and corruption involving a drug lord and the mayor‚ the FBI parted ways with Wershe Jr. Wershe Jr. turned to the only thing he knew–drug dealing. He was found in possession of 17 pounds of cocaine.  When he went to the FBI to appeal‚ they turned a blind eye to him. Wershe Jr. was sentenced to life in prison.  The story of “White Boy Rick‚” a name that was given to him by the Detroit media after his arrest‚ continues to be a hot topic today about the cold truths of what working with the FBI can entail‚ and the fact they are never on anyone’s side. Rick Wershe Jr.‚ left‚ and his attorney in 1988. Detroit Free Press Wersche’s Early Life Rick Wershe Jr. always had an attachment to danger‚ before he was even a teenager.  He grew up with a working-class family just outside downtown Detroit when “The War on Drugs” was at an all-time high. Wershe watched as his single father sold guns and illegal arms out of his home to put food on the table.  The family lived in the slums in one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit. They were surrounded by crack addicts and gangsters.  But Wershe Sr. saw an opportunity to make money when the FBI came knocking on his door in 1984. They showed him pictures and asked him if he could identify any of the names. While Wershe Sr. couldn’t help‚ his son could. He told the FBI that he knew every single person in the photographs.  The situation involved a Detroit mayor whose niece was engaged to a notorious drug lord‚ Johnny Curry. With Wershe Jr.’s help‚ they could get deeper into the root of what was going on and arrest key drug dealers. Wershe Sr. immediately told the FBI they would be willing to help‚ for they could use the money.  “I took the money‚” Wershe Sr. said. “I wasn’t doing all that well at the time. And I thought it was the right thing – keep some drug dealers off the street and get paid for it.” The FBI‚ though‚ began to use the 14-year-old Wersch Jr. They taught him the ways of the drug trade‚ showing him how to deal drugs and act like a gangster.  They even supplied him with cocaine‚ hoping to use it as evidence against whoever he dealt with. Wershe Jr. would become the youngest FBI informant ever.  For the next two years‚ Wershe Jr. helped the FBI land up to 20 convictions. Some of them were the biggest kingpin drug dealers in Detroit.  Wershe Jr. was put in extremely dangerous situations and even was shot and fought for his life at one point. Agent John Anthony called Wershe Jr. the “most productive informant the FBI had.” Corruption in the Detroit Police As time went on‚ though‚ Wershe Jr. began to learn too much information. He was directly involved with the Curry family‚ a notorious drug gang tied to the Detroit mayor.  Wershe Jr. discovered that the Curry gang shot a 13-year-old boy and that the police knew about it and hid the information. All this was because the mayor was directly involved with the Curry’s and law enforcement was protecting him.  This was a huge corruption discovery. Wershe Jr. reported his findings to the FBI‚ which was a significant scandal.  In an effort to hide the agency’s hiring of a 14-year-old‚ they cut Wershe Jr. loose‚ forcing him to live without FBI protection. They then erased his record. This showed that they never identified him as an informant‚ only his father. However‚ this is because Wershe Jr. was filed under his father’s name.  Wershe Jr. didn’t have protection‚ and there were some people out to get him for ratting out the police. Nate Boone Craft was a hitman paid to kill Wershe Jr.  According to Craft‚ he was hired by a police inspector who found out that Wershe Jr. told the FBI about the corruption inside the police department. “I was told to kill White Boy Rick‚” Craft said. “He (the inspector) said ‘$125‚000. I’ll make sure you get it as long as that boy is dead.’” Wershe Lands in Trouble Now 17 and not making money through the FBI anymore‚ he had to find another to earn an income for himself and his family. So he did the only thing he was trained to do–he sold drugs. Wershe was good at it‚ too‚ and his reputation grew with the drug lords. Before long‚ he was becoming a kingpin and he was still a teenager. He actually dated the mayor’s niece after Johnny Curry was brought to justice as a result of Wershe’s report to the FBI. Mugshot of Wershe. Michigan Dept. of Corrections “He rose all the way through the ranks‚” gang lord B.J. Chambers said. “He did it just as big as me‚ the Curry brothers‚ Maserati Rick — whoever you want to name.” However‚ eventually‚ it all came crashing down. One day‚ the police came knocking on his door. He was arrested for having 17 pounds of cocaine on him.  The police‚ knowing how he had ratted them out‚ had no sympathy for him‚ and brought in the press to make a deal out of it. The media gave him the nickname “White Boy Rick‚” a name that has stuck with everyone to this day. Many saw the crime as extreme‚ especially since he was just 17. But the police exaggerated his crimes to make him look worse than he was.  Normally‚ the FBI would step in to cut his sentence short for helping the federal government. But in this case‚ they turned a blind eye to his conviction. This is because they had wiped out his record and wanted their hands wiped clean of him. They didn’t want anyone to know they had hired a 14-year-old to deal drugs as a cover-up. “I was brought into this life by law enforcement‚” Wershe said in an interview. “I was taught it‚ they left me alone‚ and a year later I’m busted and put in jail for life.” Life As a Criminal Wershe Jr. appealed his case‚ but the FBI remained silent on him. He lost his trial‚ and the judge harshly called him worse than a “mass murderer.”  He was treated like it‚ too. While many of the people he had gotten in trouble were set free‚ Wershe continued to serve time in prison.  In 2014‚ while Wershe was still in prison‚ a journalist followed up on Wershe’s claims and began interviewing FBI agents. What the journalist found out was that Wershe’s story was true‚ and soon the story of his past became huge news.  Wershe in 2017. Detroit News Hollywood was interested and even made a movie about Wershe and his father‚ how the FBI made him a drug informant at 14 years old‚ and how he uncovered one of the biggest corruption cases in Detroit Police history. In 2017‚ thirty years after he was convicted‚ Wershe got parole. When he got out‚ he was famous‚ for everybody had learned his story of how he was a 14-year-old FBI informant who was trained to be a drug lord.  Then in 2020‚ Michigan repealed the law for drug dealers sentenced to life‚ freeing Wershe of parole. Wershe tried to sue the FBI for the injuries he sustained while he was working as an informant. However‚ due to the statute of limitations law‚ that lawsuit was dismissed. Wershe has landed in some more trouble with the law‚ but he is currently out of jail. References Oliver‚ Mark. “How ‘White Boy Rick’ Uncovered The Largest Corruption Case in Detroit History – And Got Life in Jail.” AllThatsInteresting.com. 12 Jul 2021. https://allthatsinteresting.com/white-boy-rick.  Ruble‚ Kayla. “Judge Tosses Lawsuits Over Teen Informant Role.” DetroitNews.com. 19 Sep 2023. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2023/09/19/judge-tosses-rick-wershe-lawsuits-over-teen-informant-role/70896610007/.  Colangelo‚ B.J. “The Fascinating True Story Behind White Boy Rick.” Slash Film. 29 Jul 2022. https://www.slashfilm.com/633765/the-fascinating-true-story-behind-white-boy-rick/. The post How the FBI Convicted a Minor: “White Boy Rick” first appeared on History Defined.

Gaul was a region in Europe inhabited by a number of tribes. It was eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire. This region in the present day contains the countries of France‚ Belgium‚ Luxembourg‚ Northern Italy‚ and parts of the Netherlands‚ Germany‚ and Switzerland.  Little is known of life in pre-Roman Gaul‚ because there are virtually no written records from that time. There is some secondhand information from the Greeks and Romans‚ who had a great deal of contact with the cultures that flourished in this region. And there are archeological findings that give us insight into their culture. Soldiers of Gaul‚ as imagined by a late 19th-century illustrator for the Larousse dictionary‚ 1898. Celts Most English speakers think of Great Britain when they think of the Celts. However‚ the Britons and Gaels were only one subset of the larger Celtic culture.  Speakers of Celtic languages were widely distributed throughout ancient Europe. The precise origin of this language group is unknown. The proto-Celtic language is commonly thought to have originated in central Europe‚ somewhere near what is now southern Germany.  Other scholars theorize that the language arose in coastal regions or in the region that would become known as Gaul‚ an idea corroborated by Greek historians who lived in or around the time of Julius Caesar.  The word Celt comes from the Greek historian and geographer ​​Hecataeus of Miletus‚ who wrote in 517 BC about the Keltoi people living in southern Gaul. By the time Julius Caesar reached Gaul centuries later‚ he reported that they called themselves Celtae.  This was just one of the three main groups of Celtic Gauls who lived in this area. “All Gaul is divided into three parts‚” wrote Caesar‚ “one of which the Belgae inhabit‚ the Aquitani another‚ those who in their own language are called Celts‚ in ours Galli‚ the third.” The Continental Celtic language group is now extinct. Breton‚ a modern Celtic language with over 200‚000 speakers in Brittany‚ was brought back across the sea from England sometime in the Middle Ages.  No surviving languages descend from the language group spoken in pre-Roman Gaul. La Tène Culture The culture of Celtic peoples in the centuries preceding the Roman conquest of the region is commonly referred to as La Tène culture.  Celtic lands were rich in many different metals. Many Celtic artisans were capable of intricate metalwork‚ and they traded jewelry and weapons with the wider world. They traded with the Greeks for centuries and began using coins in the third century BC. Before the adoption of coins‚ they used various forms of proto-money – items of bronze and other metals fashioned into regular shapes – in addition to barter to facilitate trade. Some Gauls also used Greek characters to write their own languages. This group of cultures had strong oral traditions but left behind very little by way of written records. Celtic Religions Like the Greeks and the Romans‚ Celtic peoples believed in many gods. They were animists‚ meaning that they believed that each aspect of the natural world has its own spirit. According to contemporary writers‚ Gauls also believed in reincarnation.  According to Commentarii de Bello Gallico‚ Julius Caesar’s first-hand account of the nine years that he spent working to conquer Gaul‚ the Gallic people believed that they descended from a god of the underworld.  Druid priests served as keepers of the lore and often as civil judges as well. They practiced in sacred groves and other holy places out in nature called nemetons.  Like the Greeks and the Romans‚ Gauls sacrificed animals to their gods. Caesar wrote that they also sacrificed innocent humans by the hundreds‚ but modern historians regard this as wartime propaganda.  A Celtic Cross statue Daily Life of Pre-Roman Gauls Like their Roman contemporaries‚ many Gauls lived in large towns. Their houses were made of wood. Modern reconstructions of La Tène settlements feature cozy clusters of cottages with steep thatched roofs.  Some lived in cities such as Heuneburg‚ thought to be the first city north of the Alps. There was a settlement on this plateau in modern-day Germany as early as the 15th century BC. By 600 BC there was a fortified city at the center of complex trade routes. Most Gallic tribes were stratified into three major classes: a warrior aristocracy led by a king or oligarchs‚ an intellectual class that included druids and poets‚ and then the common folk. Many tribes had slaves who were captured in raids or born into slavery.  Horses were common. They used chariots in battle even after the practice had fallen into disuse among Greeks and Romans. A Greek historian who lived in the first century BC described the Celts as follows:  “The Gauls are tall of body with rippling muscles and white of skin and their hair is blond‚ and not only naturally so for they also make it their practice by artificial means to increase the distinguishing colour which nature has given it. For they are always washing their hair in limewater and they pull it back from the forehead to the nape of the neck. Some of them shave the beard but others let it grow a little; and the nobles shave their cheeks but they let the moustache grow until it covers the mouth.” The men wore trousers under long tunics made of linen or wool. The plaid patterns associated with the last surviving Celtic cultures were also common among Celtic tribes in mainland Europe. Clothes were sometimes made of silk for the very rich‚ who also wore golden neck collars called torcs.  Little is known of the lives of women in ancient Celtic cultures. But they may have enjoyed more freedom than their contemporaries in Greece and Rome.  Some women were buried with weapons. Greeks and Romans wrote that women often participated in battles. According to Plutarch‚ they even traveled to act as ambassadors.  The Roman Conquest Ancient Rome fought a series of wars with Gaul for centuries – and Gallic tribes sacked Rome more than once – before the region was finally conquered by Julius Caesar. The people quickly assimilated‚ and Latin overtook the native Celtic languages until they disappeared. The post What was life like in Ancient‚ Pre-Roman Gaul? first appeared on History Defined.

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