Βρέννῳ δὲ καὶ τῇ στρατιᾷ τῶν τε Ἑλλήνων οἱ ἐς Δελφοὺς ἀθροισθέντες ἀντετάξαντο, καὶ τοῖς βαρβάροις ἀντεσήμαινε τὰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ταχύ τε καὶ ὧν ἴσμεν φανερώτατα. ἥ τε γὰρ γῆ πᾶσα, ὅσην ἐπεῖχεν ἡ τῶν Γαλατῶν στρατιά, βιαίως καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐσείετο τῆς ἡμέρας, βρονταί τε καὶ κεραυνοὶ συνεχεῖς ἐγίνοντο·
καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐξέπληττόν τε τοὺς Κελτοὺς καὶ δέχεσθαι τοῖς ὠσὶ τὰ παραγγελλόμενα ἐκώλυον, τὰ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οὐκ ἐς ὅντινα κατασκήψαι μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πλησίον καὶ αὐτοὺς ὁμοίως καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἐξῆπτε. τά τε τῶν ἡρώων τηνικαῦτά σφισιν ἐφάνη φάσματα, ὁ Ὑπέροχος καὶ ὁ Λαόδοκός τε καὶ Πύρρος· οἱ δὲ καὶ τέταρτον Φύλακον ἐπιχώριον Δελφοῖς ἀπαριθμοῦσιν ἥρωα.
ἀπέθανον δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν παρὰ τὸ ἔργον τῶν Φωκέων ἄλλοι τε ἀριθμὸν πολλοὶ καὶ Ἀλεξίμαχος, ὃς ἐν τῇ μάχῃ ταύτῃ μάλιστα Ἑλλήνων ἡλικίας τε τῷ ἀκμάζοντι καὶ ἰσχύι σώματος καὶ τῷ ἐρρωμένῳ τοῦ θυμοῦ κατεχρήσατο ἐς τῶν βαρβάρων τὸν φόνον· Φωκεῖς δὲ εἰκόνα τοῦ Ἀλεξιμάχου ποιησάμενοι ἀπέστειλαν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἐς Δελφούς.
τοιούτοις μὲν οἱ βάρβαροι παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν παθήμασί τε καὶ ἐκπλήξει συνείχοντο· τὰ δὲ ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ πολλῷ σφᾶς ἔμελλεν ἀλγεινότερα ἐπιλήψεσθαι. ῥῖγός τε γὰρ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ νιφετὸς ἦν ὁμοῦ τῷ ῥίγει, πέτραι τε ἀπολισθάνουσαι τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ μεγάλαι καὶ κρημνοὶ καταρρηγνύμενοι σκοπὸν τοὺς βαρβάρους εἶχον, καὶ αὐτοῖς οὐ κατὰ ἕνα ἢ δύο ἀλλὰ κατὰ τριάκοντα καὶ ἔτι πλείοσιν, ὡς ἕκαστοι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ φρουροῦντες ἢ καὶ ἀναπαυόμενοι τύχοιεν, ἀθρόοις ἡ ἀπώλεια ἐγένετο ὑπὸ τῆς ἐμβολῆς τῶν κρημνῶν.
ἅμα δὲ τῷ ἡλίῳ ἀνίσχοντι οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐπῄεσάν σφισιν ἐκ τῶν Δελφῶν, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ στράτευμα εὐθεῖαν, οἱ Φωκεῖς δὲ ἅτε καὶ μᾶλλον ἔχοντες τῶν χωρίων ἐμπείρως κατέβησάν τε διὰ τῆς χιόνος κατὰ τὰ ἀπότομα τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ καὶ ἔλαθον κατὰ νώτου γενόμενοι τοῖς Κελτοῖς, ἠκόντιζόν τε ἐς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐτόξευον σὺν οὐδενὶ ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων δείματι.
οἱ δὲ ἀρχομένης μὲν τῆς μάχης, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ περὶ τὸν Βρέννον —οὗτοι δὲ μήκιστοί τε ἦσαν καὶ ἀλκιμώτατοι τῶν Γαλατῶν—τότε μὲν ὑπὸ προθυμίας ἔτι ἀντεῖχον βαλλόμενοί τε πανταχόθεν καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον ὑπὸ τοῦ ῥίγους, μάλιστα οἱ τραυματίαι, ταλαιπωροῦντες· ὡς δὲ καὶ ὁ Βρέννος ἔλαβε τραύματα, ἐκεῖνον μὲν λιποψυχήσαντα ἐκκομίζουσιν ἐκ τῆς μάχης, οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι πανταχόθεν σφίσιν ἐγκειμένων τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὑπέφευγόν τε ἄκοντες καὶ ἑαυτῶν τοὺς ἀδυνάτους διὰ τραύματα ἕπεσθαι καὶ ἀρρωστίαν φονεύουσιν.
καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐστρατοπεδεύσαντο ἔνθα νὺξ κατελάμβανεν ἀναχωροῦντας, ἐν δὲ τῇ νυκτὶ φόβος σφίσιν ἐμπίπτει Πανικός· τὰ γὰρ ἀπὸ αἰτίας οὐδεμιᾶς δείματα ἐκ τούτου φασὶ γίνεσθαι. ἐνέπεσε μὲν ἐς τὸ στράτευμα ἡ ταραχὴ περὶ βαθεῖαν τὴν ἑσπέραν, καὶ ὀλίγοι τὸ κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἐγένοντο οἱ παραχθέντες ἐκ τοῦ νοῦ, ἐδόξαζόν τε οὗτοι κτύπου τε ἐπελαυνομένων ἵππων καὶ ἐφόδου πολεμίων αἰσθάνεσθαι· μετὰ δὲ οὐ πολὺ καὶ ἐς ἅπαντας διέδρα ἡ ἄγνοια.
ἀναλαβόντες οὖν τὰ ὅπλα καὶ διαστάντες ἔκτεινόν τε ἀλλήλους καὶ ἀνὰ μέρος ἐκτείνοντο, οὔτε γλώσσης τῆς ἐπιχωρίου συνιέντες οὔτε τὰς ἀλλήλων μορφὰς οὔτε τῶν θυρεῶν καθορῶντες τὰ σχήματα· ἀλλὰ ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς τάξεσιν ὁμοίως ὑπὸ τῆς ἐν τῷ παρόντι ἀγνοίας οἵ τε ἄνδρες οἱ ἀνθεστηκότες εἶναί σφισιν Ἕλληνες καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἐφαίνοντο καὶ Ἑλλάδα ἀφιέναι τὴν φωνήν, ἥ τε ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ μανία πλεῖστον ἐξειργάσατο ὑπʼ ἀλλήλων τοῖς Γαλάταις τὸν φόνον.
τῶν δὲ Φωκέων ὅσοι κατελίποντο κατὰ τοὺς ἀγροὺς φυλακῆς βοσκημάτων ἕνεκα, πρῶτοί τε ᾔσθοντο καὶ ἀπαγγέλλουσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὰ ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ κατασχόντα τοὺς βαρβάρους. ἀναθαρσήσαντες δὲ οἱ Φωκεῖς προθυμότερον ἔτι ἐνέκειντο τοῖς Κελτοῖς· διὰ φυλακῆς τε πλείονος τὰς ἐπαύλεις ἐποιοῦντο καὶ τὰ ἐς βίου χρείαν οὐ περιεώρων σφᾶς ἐκ τῆς χώρας ἀμαχεὶ λαμβάνοντας, ἐγεγόνει τε αὐτίκα τοῖς Γαλάταις διὰ παντὸς τοῦ στρατοῦ καὶ σίτου καὶ ὅσα ἐς τροφὴν ἄλλα ἔνδεια ἰσχυρά.
πλῆθος δὲ τὸ ἐν τῇ Φωκίδι αὐτῶν ἀναλωθέν, ὀλίγῳ μὲν ἑξακισχιλίων ἐλάσσονες οἱ ἐν ταῖς μάχαις, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῇ χειμερίῳ διαφθαρέντες νυκτὶ καὶ ὕστερον οἱ ἐν τῷ Πανικῷ δείματι ἐγένοντο ὑπὲρ τοὺς μυρίους, τοσοῦτοι δὲ ἄλλοι καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ.
Ἀθηναίων δὲ ἄνδρες ἐπισκεψόμενοι μὲν ἀφίκοντο ἐν Δελφοῖς· τότε δὲ ἐπανήκοντες τά τε ἄλλα ἤγγελλον ὁποῖα συμβεβήκει τοῖς βαρβάροις καὶ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ κατειληφότα. οἱ δὲ αὐτοί τε ἐξεστρατεύοντο καὶ ὡς τὴν Βοιωτίαν διώδευον οἱ Βοιωτοί σφισιν ἀνεμίχθησαν· οὕτω δὴ ἀμφότεροι τοῖς βαρβάροις ἐπακολουθοῦντες ἐλόχων τε καὶ ἔκτεινον τοὺς ἀεὶ ἐσχάτους.
τοῖς δὲ φεύγουσιν ὁμοῦ τῷ Βρέννῳ καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀκιχώριον ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ νυκτὶ ἀνεμίχθησαν· βραδεῖαν γὰρ τὴν πορείαν ἐποίησάν σφισιν οἱ Αἰτωλοὶ τοῖς τε ἀκοντίοις ἐς αὐτοὺς ἀφειδέστερον καὶ ὅτῳ τύχοιεν καὶ ἄλλῳ χρώμενοι, ὥστε ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον τὸ πρὸς τῇ Ἡρακλείᾳ μοῖρα οὐ πολλὴ διέφυγεν ἐξ αὐτῶν. τῷ δὲ Βρέννῳ κατὰ μὲν τὰ τραύματα ἐλείπετο ἔτι σωτηρίας ἐλπίς· τῶν δὲ πολιτῶν φόβῳ φασὶν αὐτὸν καὶ τῇ αἰδοῖ πλέον, ἅτε τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι κακῶν αἴτιον, ἑκουσίως ἀφεῖναι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀκράτου πίνοντα τοῦ οἴνου.
καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ οἱ βάρβαροι μέχρι μὲν τοῦ Σπερχειοῦ χαλεπῶς ἐκομίσθησαν, τῶν Αἰτωλῶν βιαίως σφίσιν ἐγκειμένων· ὡς δὲ ἀφίκοντο ἐπὶ τὸν Σπερχειόν, οἱ ἐντεῦθεν ὑποκαθήμενοι Θεσσαλοὶ καὶ οἱ Μαλιεῖς ἐνεφορήθησαν οὕτω σφῶν ὡς μηδένα οἴκαδε ἀποσωθῆναι.
ἐγένετο δὲ τῶν Κελτῶν στρατεία τε ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ ἡ ἀπώλεια Ἀναξικράτους Ἀθήνῃσιν ἄρχοντος, δευτέρῳ δὲ ἔτει τῆς πέμπτης Ὀλυμπιάδος ἐπὶ εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατόν, ἣν Λάδας Αἰγιεὺς ἐνίκα στάδιον· τῷ δὲ ἔτει τῷ ἐφεξῆς Δημοκλέους Ἀθήνῃσιν ἄρχοντος, οἱ δὲ αὖθις ἐς τὴν Ἀσίαν διαβαίνουσιν οἱ Κελτοί.
Brennus lost not a moment, but, without waiting to be joined by the army he had left under Acichorius in the camp, marched on Delphi. The trembling inhabitants betook themselves to the oracle, and the god bade them have no fear, ‘For,’ said he, ‘I will myself guard my own.’
The Greeks who rallied in the defence of the god were these :—the Phocians, who came forth from every city, four hundred infantry from Amphissa, and a handful from Aetolia. This small force was despatched by the Aetolians as soon as they heard of the advance of the barbarians: afterwards they sent twelve hundred men under Philomelus. But the flower of the Aetolian troops advanced against the army of Acichorius, and without giving battle hung on his rear, capturing his baggage trains and killing the men. This was the chief cause of the slowness of his march. Besides, he had left behind at Heraclea a corps to guard the camp baggage.
Meantime the Greeks who had mustered at Delphi drew out in order of battle against the army of Brennus, and soon to confound the barbarians the god sent signs and wonders, the plainest that ever were seen. For all the ground occupied by the army of the Gauls quaked violently most of the day, and thunder rolled and lightning flashed continually, the claps of thunder stunning the Celts and hindering them from hearing the words of command, while the bolts from heaven set fire not only to the men upon whom they fell, but to all who were near them, men and arms alike. Then, too, appeared to them the phantoms of the heroes Hyperochus, Laodocus, Pyrrhus ; some add to these a fourth, to wit, Phylacus, a local hero of Delphi. Of the Phocians themselves many fell in the action, and amongst them Aleximachus, who on that day above all the Greeks did everything that youth and strength and valour could do in slaying the barbarians. The Phocians had a statue of him made, and sent it to Apollo at Delphi. Such were the sufferings and terrors by which the barbarians were beset all that livelong day ; and the fate that was in store for them in the night was more dismal far. For a keen frost set in, and with the frost came snow, and great rocks slipping from Parnassus, and crags breaking off, made straight for the barbarians, crushing to death not one or two, but thirty or more at a blow, as they chanced to be grouped together on guard or in slumber.
At sunrise the Greeks advanced upon them from Delphi. All except the Phocians came straight on; but the Phocians, more familiar with the ground, descended the precipices of Parnassus through the snow, and getting in the rear of the Celts unperceived, showered their darts and arrows on the barbarians in perfect security. At first, despite the cross-fire of missiles and the bitter cold which told on them, and especially on the wounded, not less cruelly than the arrows of the enemy, the Gauls made a gallant stand, notably Brennus’ own company, the tallest and most stalwart of them all. But when Brennus himself was wounded and carried fainting from the field, the barbarians, beset on every side, fell sullenly back, butchering as they went their comrades, whom wounds or sickness disabled from attending the retreat. 5. They encamped on the spot where night overtook them on the retreat ; but in the night a panic fear fell upon them. (Causeless fears, they say, are inspired by Pan.) It was late in the evening when the confusion arose in the army, and at first it was a mere handful who lost their heads, fancying they heard the trampling of charging horses and the onset of foemen; but soon the delusion spread to the whole army. So they snatched up their arms, and, taking sides, dealt death and received it. For they understood not their mother tongue, nor perceived each other’s forms and the shapes of their bucklers, both sides alike in their present infatuation fancying that their adversaries were Greeks, that their arms were Greek, and that the language they spoke was Greek. So the god-sent madness wrought a very great slaughter among the Gauls at the hands of each other. The Phocians who were left in the fields to watch the herds were the first to perceive and report to the Greeks what had befallen the barbarians in the night. Then the Phocians took heart and pressed the Celts more vigorously than ever, keeping a stricter watch on their encampments, and not suffering them to forage unresisted. This immediately produced a dreadful scarcity of corn and all other necessaries throughout the whole Gallic army.
Their losses in Phocis amounted to a little under six thousand in action, over ten thousand in the wintry night and the subsequent panic, and as many more by famine.
The Athenians sent scouts to see what was doing at Delphi. When these men returned and reported all that had befallen the barbarians, and what the god had done to them, the Athenians took the field, and on the march through Boeotia were joined by the Boeotians. Their united forces followed the barbarians, lying in wait for and cutting off the hindmost. The fugitives under Brennus had been joined by the army of Acichorius only the night before ; for the march of the latter had been retarded by the Aetolians, who pelted them freely with darts and anything else that came to hand, so that only a small part of them escaped to the camp at Heraclea.
Brennus’ hurts still left him a chance of life; but they say that, from fear of his countrymen, and still more from wounded pride as the author of the disastrous campaign in Greece, he put an end to himself by drinking neat wine. After that the barbarians made their way with difficulty to the Spercheus, hotly pressed by the Aetolians. But from the Spercheus onward the Thessalians and Malians lay in wait and swallowed them up so completely that not a man of them returned home.
The expedition of the Celts against Greece and their destruction happened when Anaxicrates was archon at Athens, in the second year of the hundred and twenty-fifth Olympiad, in which Ladas of Aegium won the foot-race. Next year, in the archonship of Democles at Athens, the Celts crossed into Asia. Such was the course of events.
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