13 Facts About Boii

Boii were a Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul, Pannonia, parts of Bavaria, in and around Bohemia, parts of Poland, and Gallia Narbonensis.

Boii were merely driven out of the regions they occupied; and after migrating to the regions round about the Ister, lived with the Taurisci, and carried on war against the Daci until they perished, tribe and all—and thus they left their country, which was a part of Illyria, to their neighbours as a pasture-ground for sheep.

Around 60 BC, a group of Boii joined the Helvetiis' ill-fated attempt to conquer land in western Gaul and were defeated by Julius Caesar, along with their allies, in the Battle of Bibracte.

Such a connection is possible if the original form of Boii belonged to a tribe of Proto-Indo-European speakers long before the time of the historic Boii.

Strabo confirms that the Boii emigrated from their lands across the Alps and were one of the largest tribes of the Celts.

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The Boii occupied the old Etruscan settlement of Felsina, which they named Bononia.

Archaeological evidence from Bologna and its vicinity contradicts the testimony of Polybius and Livy on some points, who say the Boii expelled the Etruscans and perhaps some were forced to leave.

Contrary to the interpretation of the classical writers, the Pannonian Boii attested in later sources are not simply the remnants of those who had fled from Italy, but rather another division of the tribe, which had settled there much earlier.

Burial rites of the Italian Boii show many similarities with contemporary Bohemia, such as inhumation, which was uncommon with the other Cisalpine Gauls, or the absence of the typically western Celtic torcs.

Pannonian Boii are mentioned again in the late 2nd century BC when they repelled the Cimbri and Teutones.

Later on, they attacked the city of Noreia shortly before a group of Boii joined the Helvetii in their attempt to settle in western Gaul.

Again, other parts of the Boii had remained closer to their traditional home, and settled in the Slovak and Hungarian lowlands by the Danube and the Mura, with a centre at Bratislava.

However, the Boii had not been exterminated: There was a civitas Boiorum et Azaliorum which was under the jurisdiction of a prefect of the Danube shore.