In 298 BC,
Celtic tribes reached what is today Bulgaria and clashed with the forces of
Macedonian king Cassander in Mount Haemos (Stara Planina). The Macedonians won
the battle, but this did not stop the Celtic advancement. Many Thracian
communities, weakened by the Macedonian occupation, fell under Celtic
dominance.
In 279 BC,
one of the Celtic armies, led by Comontorius, attacked Thrace and succeeded in
conquering it. Comontorius established the kingdom of Tylis in what is now
eastern Bulgaria. The modern-day village of Tulovo bears the name of this
relatively short-lived kingdom. Cultural interactions between Thracians and
Celts are evidenced by several items containing elements of both cultures, such
as the chariot of Mezek and almost certainly the Gundestrup cauldron.
Tylis
lasted until 212 BC, when the Thracians managed to regain their dominant
position in the region and disbanded it. Small bands of Celts survived in
Western Bulgaria. One such tribe were the serdi, from which Serdica - the
ancient name of Sofia - originates. Even though the Celts remained on the
Balkans for more than a century, their influence on the peninsula was
modest.[19] By the end of the 3rd century, a new threat appeared for the people
of the Thracian region in the face of the Roman Empire.
