The Celts did not develop a written language until 500-years after coming into contact with the Greek people – which occurred during the late 3rd century BCE – when the Greeks established a colony in Southern France (suggesting that a Celtic alphabet was developed c. 200 CE). Considering Richardson also states that by 400 CE (just two-hundred years after the Celts developed that alphabet) – most of the Celtic languages were nolonger spoken (due to the successful Roman Conquest of Western Europe and Britain) – this must be considered a relatively late date for a Celtic written language (considering the Celtic languages were existent for thousands of years prior to this).