Cisalpine Gaul

[9] The Canegrate culture (13th century BC) may represent the first migratory wave of the proto-Celtic[10] population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through the Alpine passes, penetrated and settled in the western Po valley between Lake Maggiore and Lake Como (Scamozzina culture).

[13][14] According to Livy (v. 34), the Bituriges, Arverni, Senones, Aedui, Ambarri, Carnutes, and Aulerci led by Bellovesus, arrived in northern Italy during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus (7th–6th century BC) and occupied the area between Milan and Cremona.

Milan (Mediolanum) itself was presumably founded by Gauls in the early 6th century BC; its name has a Celtic etymology: "[city] in the middle of the [Padanic] plain".

[18] Modern linguists, like Xavier Delamarre, argue that Ligurian was a Celtic language with some similarity to Gaulish.

[21] The Veneti were Indo-European people who inhabited north-eastern Italy, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of the Veneto, Friuli, and Trentino.

[23] The Greek historian Strabo (64 BC–AD 24), on the other hand, conjectured that the Adriatic Veneti were descended from Celts, who in turn were related to a later Celtic tribe of the same name whose members lived on the Armorican coast and fought against Julius Caesar.

He further suggested that the identification of the Adriatic Veneti with the Paphlagonian Enetoi led by Antenor — which he attributes to Sophocles (496–406 BC) — had been a mistake caused by the similarity of the names.

At the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC, a large Celtic army was trapped between two Roman forces and crushed.

[26] In the Second Punic War, the Boii and Insubres allied themselves with the Carthaginians, laying siege to Mutina (Modena).

In 49 BC, with the Lex Roscia, Julius Caesar granted to the populations of the province full Roman citizenship.

The Canegrate culture testifies to the arrival of Urnfield[33] migratory wave of populations from the northwest part of the Alps that, crossing the alpine passes, had infiltrated and settled in the western Po area between Lake Maggiore and the Lake of Como (see Scamozzina culture).

There is some debate whether the Lepontic language should be considered as a Gaulish dialect or an independent branch within Continental Celtic.

Cisalpine Gaul around 100 BC [ 1 ]
Map of Cisalpine Gaul showing in blue the approximate distributions of Celtic populations in the area during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
Detail of the Tabula Peutingeriana showing northern Italy between Augusta Pretoria ( Aosta ) and Placentia ( Piacenza ); the Insubres are marked as inhabiting the Po Valley upstream of Ticeno ( Pavia ) and downstream of the Trumpli and Mesiates which occupy the upper reaches of the Sesia and Agogna rivers.
Archaeological finds of Canegrate culture
Golasecca culture helmet