Relations between Celts and South Italy
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Instead of Celtic influence in Italy,
it's more correct to talk about "Romanization" of Celts by Italian.
This barbarian people improved their manners because of their contacts with romans,
leaving a cultural imprint in Mediterranean area.
Relations between Gauls and Italians weren't friendly; however,
after v the Gallic war ( IV century), not all the barbarian got back to North:
some of them went down to south of peninsula, placing theirselves at greek colonies' disposal.
Denys I of Syracuse, for instance,
enlisted many Gauls as mercenary soldiersa nd set up many settlements in Apulia and in Salento.
It's doubtless that Celts were in touch with Campania, Naples in particular,
in whose gulf they got coral, a rare and expensive material used to decorate their tools,
weapons and other objects. Mythology is onother tie between Celtic culture and Mediterranean area:
a tradition says that Polyphemus and Galathea gave birth to galata, Keltos and Illyrios,
who were respectively founders of Gauls, Celts and Illyrians.
Another tradition says that Ercules was Keltos and Latino's father,
" Celts and latins" (vedi schema).
In both cases, the barbarians got into greek-roman matrix,
and were affiliated with ancient inhabitants of Latium through half-divine relationship.