Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe

Gallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a movement into Southeast Europe from the 4th century BC. Although Gallic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian basin, there were notable incursions and settlements within the Balkans.

From their new bases in northern Illyria and Pannonia, the Gallic invasions climaxed in the early 3rd century BC, with the invasion of Greece. The 279 BC invasion of Greece was preceded by a series of earlier military campaigns waged in the southern Balkans favoured by the state of confusion ensuing from the Diadochi Wars after the death of Alexander the Great. After their final defeat in Greece, a part of the invading Celts crossed over to Anatolia in 270s BC, and eventually settled in the area that came to be named after them as Galatia.