Philosopher and the Druids (A Journey Among The Ancient Celts), The
Philip Freeman
Number of quotes: 19
Book ID: 263 Page: 118/119
Section: 4B
Aside from the glitter of gold on Celtic women—amply verified by archaeology—Posidonius was struck by the women’s size. The average Greek or Roman man was well short of six feet, while the average woman was barely five feet tall. But Posidonius had the unnerving experience time and time again of looking Celtic women in the eye or even gazing up to them. He was also impressed by their beauty, but he claims that it was wasted on Celtic men: “The Gaulish men prefer to have sex with each other. They often sleep on top of animal skins surrounded by other males and roll around together on the ground. The young men are unconcerned about proper behavior and will offer their bodies to anyone—and they are highly offended when anyone turns them down.” We might like to know what particular experiences of Posidonius prompted that observation, but suffice it to say, he witnessed homosexual behavior among the Gauls, just as Aristotle had claimed over two centuries earlier. How this affected relationships with women is hard to say. Many ancient Greeks managed to combine open homosexual relationships with marriage, so perhaps the same is true in Gaul.
Quote ID: 6661
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 120
Section: 4B
The idea that a Gaulish man had absolute power over the lives of his family need not have been as harsh as it sounds. Roman men also held this right as paterfamilias over their whole households. But for a Roman to kill his wife or child was extremely rare.
Quote ID: 6662
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 138
Section: 4B
In the ancient Celtic world, a poet was the modern equivalent of rock star, academic historian, and political commentator all rolled into one. The range and power of a poet in such a traditional society may be hard for us to imagine, but we have to remember that the ancient Gaul of Posidonius was primarily an oral culture.. . . .
The praise of a bard was the measure and means of respect in a world where honor was everything. Without the songs of a bard, there was no way to achieve what the Greek heroes of Homer’s epics also most craved—everlasting glory.
But praise did not come cheap. A Celtic bard was a professional who expected to be well-paid for his services. Woe be to the Gaulish king who was miserly in compensating a poet for his song, for the verses of praise could quickly turn to biting satire.
Quote ID: 6663
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 263 Page: 141
Section: 2B2
The Celts call our god Hercules by the name Ogmios in their native tongue—and their images of him are not at all like our own. In their pictures, he is an old, bald man with only a few gray hairs left on the back of his head. He is wrinkled and dark like an ancient sailor—. . . .
Lucian’s anger then turns to confusion as he looks at the rest of the image:
I haven’t mentioned the oddest part yet—this old Hercules drags behind him a group of men all chained by their ears! The chain itself is a thin and delicate work of gold and amber, like a beautiful necklace. The bound men could easily escape such a weak chain if they wished, but they all follow Hercules gladly, almost stepping on his feet just to be near him. I suppose they would even be upset if they were freed. Odder still is how the painter attached the chain to Hercules—since he has his hands full with his club and bow, the end of the chain is fixed to the tip of his tongue. He even turns to his captives and smiles.
Quote ID: 6664
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 263 Page: 143
Section: 2B2
Thus Lucian was totally baffled by the image he saw in the Gaulish temple:I stood for a long time before the painting, full of anger, perplexity, and wonder. Finally a nearby Celt came up to me. He was a well-educated man who spoke excellent Greek but also knew the local traditions well. “You seem puzzled and disturbed by the image,” he said, “but I can explain it to you if you’d like. We Gauls disagree with you Greeks that Hermes is the god of eloquence. We think that the power of the spoken word is best represented by Hercules, since he is much stronger. And don’t be shocked that we portray him as an old man, for the true power of eloquence comes in the ripeness of years, not with youth….So it makes perfect sense that you see Hercules here leading men away by his tongue…. The common tradition of Gaul is that Hercules achieved his greatest triumphs by the power of his words.”
Quote ID: 6665
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 263 Page: 145
Section: 2B2
THE EARLIEST classical author to mention Celtic gods is the Greek historian Timaeus, who briefly describes two divinities in the early third century B.C.: “The Celtics who live on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean honor the Dioscuri above all other gods. There is an ancient tradition among them that these two gods came to them from the sea.”. . . .
Quote ID: 6666
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 263 Page: 146
Section: 2B2
We know that the Greek Dioscuri (literally “sons of Zeus”) were twin gods Castor and Pollux, but what were their Celtic names?
Quote ID: 6667
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 263 Page: 148
Section: 2B2
But to our good fortune, we do have just such a list from none other than Julius Caesar. The conqueror of Gaul was surprisingly interested in the religion of the people he defeated—perhaps as a result of his service as a priest in Rome. In any case, his short description of Gaulish pantheon is the most detailed account of the Celtic gods we possess:The chief god of the Gaulish people is Mercury—there are images of him everywhere. They say he is the inventor of all arts and a guide for every journey. He is also the protector of trade and business. After Mercury, they worship Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. These gods are in charge of the same areas of life as among other people. Apollo heals diseases, Minerva is in charge of handicrafts, Jupiter rules over the sky, and Mars is in charge of war.
. . . .
Quote ID: 6668
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 263 Page: 149
Section: 2B2
There is little doubt that the Gaulish god Caesar calls Mercury was this same Lugus—but he must have been something of a shock to Roman readers. Mercury (Hermes to the Greeks) was an important but decidedly second-rank god in the classical pantheon, far below the chief god, Jupiter (Greek Zeus). Mercury’s primary role was messenger boy for Jupiter,....
Quote ID: 6669
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 263 Page: 151
Section: 2B2
Jupiter, ruler of the sky, often bears the name Taranis on inscriptions; in the Gaulish language it means “thunderer.” As a sky god comparable to the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter, the Gaulish Taranis ruled over the heavens and made his will known through heavenly signs, especially lightning and thunder. But unlike his classical counterparts, Taranis was not the king of all the other gods. Lugus and the rest of the Gaulish pantheon did not quake before him as the Olympian gods did before Zeus. Still, Caesar ranks him among the leading divinities of Gaul, as is fitting in an agricultural society so dependent on the gentle rains of heaven.The fifth and final of Caesar’s chief Gaulish gods is Minerva, whom we met when the Celtic chief Catumandus worshiped her image at Massalia. She was a mother goddess known by many names throughout the Celtic world—Sulevia, Belisama, or Brigid among the later Irish.
Quote ID: 6670
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 152
Section: 4B
After Caesar describes the main gods of Gaul, he mentions a certain teaching of the Druids concerning Celtic origins: “The Gauls say that they are all descended from a single father, Dis— for this is the tradition handed down by the Druids. For this reason they counted time by nights, not by days. In counting birthdays, months, and years, night always comes first.” The Roman god Dis— also known as Pluto or Hades—was the ruler of the dim underworld, the land of the dead. As Dis was the Gaulish god of the dark netherworld, the Druids reckoned time beginning at nightfall rather than sunrise—just as Jewish tradition begins the day at sunset. Many ancient peoples believed that they were descended from a god—the Romans, for example, claimed they were descendants of Venus, while the Germans thought they were born of a god named Tuisto.
Quote ID: 6671
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 154
Section: 2B1
Mother goddesses in fact usually appear on Gaulish inscriptions in groups of three, often holding wheat or flowers to represent their fertility function.
Quote ID: 6672
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 263 Page: 155
Section: 2B2
One final Gaulish god was so popular that she even made the transition to the Roman pantheon. Epona (the divine horse goddess) was adopted by the Roman cavalry and worshiped by horsemen throughout the empire. She appears in over two hundred Roman votive carvings from Britain to the Balkans, often sitting on a horse or on a throne between two steeds.
Quote ID: 6673
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 158
Section: 2C
There are three groups among the Gauls who are given special honor— bards, vates, and Druids. The bards are singers and poets, while the vates supervise sacrifices and study the ways of nature. The Druids also study nature but devote themselves to morality as well. The Gauls consider the Druids the most just of all their people, and so they are given the role of judge in all public and private disputes. In the past, they were even able to halt battles and bring an end to wars.
Quote ID: 6674
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 160
Section: 4B
The civilized people of the Mediterranean could shake their heads in fascinated horror at the reports of Gaulish human sacrifice, but they had plenty of skeletons in their own closets. Homer speaks of human sacrifice in the Iliad, and the archaeological record suggests it was at least occasionally practiced in the Greek Bronze Age. The Phoenicians, master explorers that they were, regularly sacrificed children to their gods. Even the Romans practiced human sacrifice in extraordinary circumstances until the third century B.C. In a Greek and Roman world where infanticide was practiced on an enormous scale, where women and children were regularly slaughtered in war, and where the Romans saw death in the gladiatorial games as entertainment, the occasional practice of human sacrifice among the Celts was a relatively minor event.
Quote ID: 6675
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 263 Page: 163/164
Section: 2C
According to Caesar, the Druids formed a priesthood with a strong organization and well-defined hierarchy that spread across tribal boundaries: “Among the Druids there is one supreme leader who holds authority over all the rest. When this chief Druid dies, he is succeeded by whoever is most qualified. If there are several contenders for the position, the Druids all take a vote—though they have been known to contend for the title with armed force.”
Quote ID: 6676
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 164/165
Section: 2E3
The Carnutes, in whose lands the annual meeting was held, occupied the area to the southwest of Paris, around the town of Chartres. In fact, there’s a case to be made that Chartres Cathedral, a soaring monument of medieval architecture, was built on the very site of the Gaulish Druids’ holy gathering. Early Christians often took over the sacred places of earlier pagan religions as a way of easing the transition to their faith by using locations long considered holy.
Quote ID: 6678
Time Periods: 0234
Book ID: 263 Page: 189
Section: 4B
AFTER THE SURRENDER of Vercingetorix, Gaul slowly settled into life as part of the Roman world. It was Roman policy to change as little as possible in newly conquered territories. The Gaulish tribal hill forts often became Roman towns and centers of local administration. Gaulish nobles who were deemed loyal to Rome were encouraged to become part of the local government. Beginning with the emperor Claudius, the Celtic nobility was even allowed to serve in the Roman Senate, though few achieved this lofty role in practice. Children of wealthy Gaulish kings, warriors, and Druids were taught Latin and given a classical education equal to that found in any city of the empire. The nobility kept the lands it had controlled before the conquest and still dominated the free peasant farmers, who noticed little change with the shift from Gaulish to Roman control.. . . .
Quote ID: 6679
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 263 Page: 190
Section: 1A,2B2,4B
2B2Although human sacrifice ended with the conquests, the religion taught by the Druids flourished in Gaul for centuries. Celtic sanctuaries continued to be used and often incorporated Roman deities into their worship. The Gauls still prayed to Lugus, Epona, and all the other gods of the Celtic pantheon—and in their own language.
4B
The Romans never tried to impose Latin on any of their conquered lands. If the inhabitants wanted to speak their native tongue—be it Aramaic, Punic, Greek, or Gaulish—the Romans couldn’t care less, as long as they paid their taxes on time.
Quote ID: 6680
Time Periods: 01
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