As some of you might know, Total War: Rome II is a political and military strategy game set mostly in the 3rd century BC and onwards. The player can control armies comprised of the historical military units of various contemporary factions, which are sometimes depicted semi-accurately but often... less so.
One of the factions in the game representing the Celtic [Galatian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatians_(people)) people of Anatolia can field units of "Galatian Legionaries". Their brief unit description says "The Celts have taught the Romans more than they're willing to admit, but this is a two-way street".
Does anyone get what this is alluding to, or whether there were ever any Galatian Celts fighting in the Roman fashion? thanks for any answers to my whimsical curiosity here haha
Surprisingly enough, yes. King Deiotarus was a Galatian warlord who earned Roman approval to become client king of the Tolistoboii and was an ally of Pompey against Julius Caesar. Cicero wrote a speech defending Deiotarus from accusations of conspiracy against Caesar, and the histories of the Third Mithridatic War speak of him and his Galatians.
Deiotarus raised 3 legions' worth of Galatian soldiers who were trained by the Romans and fought in the Third Mithridatic War. After the army was shattered by Pharnaces II, they reorganized themselves into a single legion-sized army under Julius Caesar's command and were instrumental in effecting the Pontic defeat post-Zela. Following Augustus's rise and the annexation of Galatia into the Empire, Deiotarus's army was accepted as a full legion due to its history of fighting under and beside Roman forces and was declared Legio XXII Deiotariana. They would fight several more battles, popping up here and there throughout history but they stopped being mentioned in the early 2nd century, where Peter Schafer claims they were dealt devastating losses by Simon Bar Kochba's Jewish rebellion, though not many people hold this view.
So in short, yes, there was indeed a well-recorded instance of Galatian Celts fighting in Roman fashion under Roman officers, though I couldn't list you any other instances of the sort.
