There arose a very grievous and irreconcilable contention among the
Celts, before they passed over the Alps to inhabit that tract of Italy
which now they inhabit, which proceeded to a civil war. The women
placing themselves between the armies, took up the controversies,
argued them so accurately, and determined them so impartially, that an
admirable friendly correspondence and general amity ensued, both civil
and domestic. Hence the Celts made it their practice to take women into
consultation about peace or war, and to use them as mediators in any
controversies that arose between them and their allies. In the league
therefore made with Hannibal, the writing runs thus: If the Celts take
occasion of quarrelling with the Carthaginians, the governors and
generals of the Carthaginians in Spain shall decide the controversy;
but if the Carthaginians accuse the Celts, the Celtic women shall be
judges.