Note 44 — Chapter I

Arrian tells us of the Celts, “a people near the Great Ionian Bay,” who sent an embassy to Alexander before the battle of the Granicus—“a people strong and of a haughty spirit.” Alexander asked them if they feared anything. They answered that they feared the “sky might fall upon their heads.” He dismissed them, observing that the Celts were an arrogant nation (Arrian, i. 4, 10).