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Gallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a south-eastern movement into the Balkan peninsula from the 4th century BCE. Although Celtic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian basin, there were notable incursions, and settlements, within the Balkan peninsula itself.
From their new bases in northern Illyria and Pannonia, the Gallic invasions climaxed in the early 3rd century BCE, with the invasion of Greece. The 279 BCE invasion of Greece proper was preceded by a series of other military campaigns waged toward southern Balkans and against the Greek kingdom of Macedonia,
From the 4th century BCE, Celtic groups pushed into the Carpathian region and the Danube basin, coinciding with their movement into Italy. The Boii and Volcae were two large Celtic confederacies who generally cooperated in their campaigns. Splinter groups moved south via two major routes: one following the Danube river, another eastward from Italy. According to legend, 300,000 Celts moved into Illyria. By the 3rd century, the native inhabitants of Pannonia were almost completely Celticized. Thus it appears that the Celts had created a new homeland for themselves in Southeastern Europe.
the first Illyrian tribe to be defeated by the Celts was the Autariatae, who during the fourth century BCE had enjoyed a hegemony over much of the central Balkans, centred on the Morava valley.
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