Oppidum is a Latin word I thought???
Don't know from what date this book is, but it's widely accepted that the Varus battle took place at Kalkriese near Osnabrück, and that's quite a few hundred kilometres north of Halberstadt.
Being under Celtic influence doesn't mean being Celtic. Of course, the Germanic people were the most "primitive" cultural group at this time, except the Slavs perhaps (living in Pripjet swamp at that time iirc), and that means that they would easily adopt cultural / technical things from other cultures like the Romans or the Celts.
I have learned (and was really surprised) that the Teutons, Cimbri and Ambrones are nowadays supposed to have been more Celtic, according to cmacq, who points to the Gundestrup Kessel in that regard. I have really strong doubts that the Angles and Saxons of late antiquity were Celts.
To me, it seems like that: Celts influenced many Germanic peoples, and of course those living in the south and the west more than these of the east (Suebi). Nerthuz is supposed to be a deity of Celtic origin. That doesn't mean those people were Celtic. We are not Americans because we like to drink Coke.
I think that the statements of this author are rather odd (and typical left wing).
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