10-13-2010, 03:32 AM
Julius Caesar personally knew and was friendly with at least one Druid - as was Cicero (and likely other notable Romans at that time, some of whom might have complained about Caesar's account, if they thought it contained blatant falsities). There is little reason to believe that anything he says about the Druids (some of which he could also have drawn from Posidonius, who traveled among the Gauls and wrote a now-lost ethnography on them) is grossly distorted, or even completely made up by him. As a general, it would have greatly aided him to be quite familiar with the Gaulish social order (how could he so effectively have conquered the Gauls if he didn't know how its society functioned at the upper echelons?) and there were plenty of Gaulish allies who could provide the necessary details (don't forget that many Roman citizens in Cisalpine Gaul were of Celtic heritage and, though they had been Romanized for some time, still would have remembered some traditions and stories about the Celtic great-grandparents. As a pontifex, Caesar himself had religious training, so he was not just some ignorant soldier repeating half-understood rumors about the enemies witch doctors.
Anyway, Dio Chrysostom was another one who suggested that the Druids actually ruled the Gauls:
[url:1000ucj5]http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dio_Chrysostom/Discourses/49*.html[/url]
7. Furthermore, since they cannot always be ruled by kings who are philosophers, the most powerful nations have publicly appointed philosophers as superintendents and officers for their kings. Thus the Persians, methinks, appointed those whom they call Magi, because they were acquainted with Nature and understood how the gods should be worshiped; the Egyptians appointed the priests who had the same knowledge as the Magi, devoting themselves to the service of the gods and knowing the how and the wherefore of everything; the Indians appointed Brachmans, because they excel in self-control and righteousness and in their devotion to the divine, as a result of which they know the future better than all other men know their immediate present; 8 the Celts appointed those whom they call Druids, these also being devoted to the prophetic art and to wisdom in general. In all these cases the kings were not permitted to do or plan anything without the assistance of these wise men, so that in truth it was they who ruled, while the kings became are servants and the ministers of their will, though they sat on golden thrones, dwelt in great houses, and feasted sumptuously.
Most of the other relevant sources can be found on the web easily (if any of you have not read them yet) - even the new-agers have started posting the translations online (with links to the original texts):
[url:1000ucj5]http://www.morien-institute.org/kendrick.html[/url]
Judge for yourselves the role that the druids played in pagan Celtic society.
Anyway, Dio Chrysostom was another one who suggested that the Druids actually ruled the Gauls:
[url:1000ucj5]http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dio_Chrysostom/Discourses/49*.html[/url]
7. Furthermore, since they cannot always be ruled by kings who are philosophers, the most powerful nations have publicly appointed philosophers as superintendents and officers for their kings. Thus the Persians, methinks, appointed those whom they call Magi, because they were acquainted with Nature and understood how the gods should be worshiped; the Egyptians appointed the priests who had the same knowledge as the Magi, devoting themselves to the service of the gods and knowing the how and the wherefore of everything; the Indians appointed Brachmans, because they excel in self-control and righteousness and in their devotion to the divine, as a result of which they know the future better than all other men know their immediate present; 8 the Celts appointed those whom they call Druids, these also being devoted to the prophetic art and to wisdom in general. In all these cases the kings were not permitted to do or plan anything without the assistance of these wise men, so that in truth it was they who ruled, while the kings became are servants and the ministers of their will, though they sat on golden thrones, dwelt in great houses, and feasted sumptuously.
Most of the other relevant sources can be found on the web easily (if any of you have not read them yet) - even the new-agers have started posting the translations online (with links to the original texts):
[url:1000ucj5]http://www.morien-institute.org/kendrick.html[/url]
Judge for yourselves the role that the druids played in pagan Celtic society.
Christopher Gwinn
