090522a2 Druid References 22 Factoids.

 

090522a2 Druid References

22 Factoids.

Posidonius:

Travels of Posidonius:

Around the 90s BC Posidonius embarked on a series of voyages around the Mediterranean gathering scientific data and observing the customs and people of the places he visited.[10] He traveled in Greece, Hispania, Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, Gaul, Liguria, North Africa, and on the eastern shores of the Adriatic.[2]

In Hispania, on the Atlantic coast at Gades (the modern Cadiz), Posidonius could observe tides much higher than in his native Mediterranean. He wrote that daily tides are related to the Moon's orbit, while tidal heights vary with the cycles of the Moon, and he hypothesized about yearly tidal cycles synchronized with the equinoxes and solstices.[15]

In Gaul, he studied the Celts.[13] He left vivid descriptions of things he saw with his own eyes while among them: men who were paid to allow their throats to be slit for public amusement and the nailing of skulls as trophies to the doorways.[16] But he noted that the Celts honored the Druids, whom Posidonius saw as philosophers, and concluded that, even among the barbaric, "pride and passion give way to wisdom, and Ares stands in awe of the Muses." Posidonius wrote a geographic treatise on the lands of the Celts which has since been lost, but which is referred to extensively (both directly and otherwise) in the works of Diodorus of Sicily, Strabo, Caesar and Tacitus' Germania.

 Factoid: 1) (Men who were paid to allow their throats to be slit for public amusement.)

 Factoid: 2) (The nailing of skulls as trophies to the doorways.)

 Factoid 3)  (Even among the barbaric, "pride and passion give way to wisdom, and ARES (define) stands in awe of the Muses. 

 

Ref.[Posidonius, fragment 16 (quoted by Athenaeus, Book 4) and fragment 55 (quoted by Strabo, Book 4fc                                                                                   

=======================

Cicero:

Nor is the practice of divination disregarded even among uncivilised tribes, ifindeed there are Druids in Gaul — and there are, for I knew one of them myself,Divitiacus, the Aeduan, your guest and eulogist. He claimed to have thatknowledge of nature which the Greeks call '

physiologia,' and he used to makepredictions, sometimes by means of augury and sometimes by means of conjecture. 

 Factoid 1) (Making prediction by means of augury)

 Factoid 2) (Making prediction by mean by means ofconjecture)

Ref.(Cicero On Divination 41 (page 323))  

===========================================

The historian, Diodorus Siculus:

The belief in the transmigration of souls and that it is akin to or derived from Pythagoras: the belief of Pythagoras prevails among them [The Druids}, that the souls of men are immortal and that after a prescribed number of years they commence upon a new life, the soul entering into another body. 

 Factoid: 1) (The souls of men are immortal and that after a prescribed number of years they commence upon a new life, the soul entering into another body.)

 

Ref. (Diodorus Siculus, p. 173, Book V)

==============================================

Caesar:

Another first hand source is Caesar's,

Commentaries on The Gallic War,the mostcomprehensive source we have on the Druids,which records his

conquest of Gaul. In the work,Caesar, by his own hand describes the Druids as highly esteemed priests who had great influence over Gallic society. This is significant, as although he had reference to earlier accounts (Posidonius), he "is also likely to have gleaned much from his personal observations as he fought his way through Gaul."(Cunliffe, p. 67) Caesar records the following about them:

The former [Druids] are concerned with divine worship, the due performance ofsacrifices, public and private, and the interpretation of ritual questions: a greatnumber of young men gather about them for the sake of instruction and hold themin great honour. In fact, it is they who decide in almost all disputes, public andprivate; (Caesar, The Gallic War, p. 337)

Caesar also records that the Druids had schools where they memorised their teachings and thatthey never wrote down their knowledge, preferring instead to use only the spoken word:

Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and there fore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, (Caesar, The GallicWar, p. 339)

The core of their teachings, according to Caesar, was their belief in the immortality of the soul,which is described by Caesar as a weapon of war, which the Druids used to instil bravery beforebattle.

The cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but afterdeath pass from one to another; and this belief, as the fear of death is thereby castaside, they hold to be the greatest incentive to valour.

(Caesar, The Gallic War, p.339)

This may also be Caesar's attempt to justify his conquest by portraying the Druids as asubversive sect that needed to be combatted. Despite this, the fact this belief is recorded inother earlier sources would indicate it to be accurate. The historian, Diodorus Siculus, recountsthe same belief in the transmigration of souls and that it is akin to or derived from  Pythagoras: the belief of Pythagoras prevails among them, that the souls of men are immortal and that after a prescribed number of years they commence upon a new life, the soul entering into another body.

 (Diodorus Siculus, p. 173, Book V)

Concerning their teachings more broadly, Caesar claims that they have a great knowledge of astronomy, natural philosophy and the gods, which they discuss amongst themselves. They have many discussions as touching the stars and their movement, the size ofthe universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men.

(Caesar,The Gallic War, p. 339)

-----   

 Factoid: 1) (The Druidswere highly esteemed priests who had great influence over Gallic society.)

                                                         

 Factoid: 2) (The Druids are concerned with divine worship, the due performance ofsacrifices, public and private.)

 Factoid: 3 (The Drids handled the interpretation of ritual questions.)

 Factoid: 4) (Young men gather about them for the sake of instruction and hold themin great honour.)

 Factoid: 5) (The Druids decide in almost all disputes, public and private)

Ref: (Caesar, The Gallic War, p. 337

------------------------------------

 Factoid: 6) (The cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but afterdeath pass from one to another.)

 Factoid: 7) (In the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training.)

 Factoid: 8) (The Druids do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing.)

      

 Factoid: 9) (The Druids have a great knowledge of the gods, which they discuss amongst themselves.)  

  

 Factoid:10) (The Druids had many discussions as the strength and the powers of the immortal [note immortal] gods.)

  

 Factoid:11) (The Druids have a great knowledge of astronomy which they discuss amongst themselves.

 Factoid:12) (The Druids had many discussions as to touching the stars and their movement.)

 Factoid:13) (The Druids had many discussions as to the size of the universe and of the earth.)

 Factoid:14) (The Druids have a great knowledge of natural philosophy which they discuss amongst themselves.

 Factoid:15) (The Druids had many discussions as to the order of nature.)

   

 Factoid:16) (The Druids handed down their lore to the young men.)

Ref. (Caesar, The GallicWar, p. 339)

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All this seems to paint a picture of an ancient class of wise men who had knowledge of variousdisciplines and practices and were called, 'Philosophers', by ancient authors, distinguishingthem from the other two revered classes; the Bards and Vates, as the geographer Strabomakes clear:

Among all the Gallic peoples, generally speaking, there are three sets of men whoare held in exceptional honour; the Bards, the Vates and the Druids. The Bardsare singers and poets; the Vates, diviners and natural philosophers; while theDruids, in addition to natural philosophy, study also moral philosophy. (Strabo,Geography, Book IV Chapter IV, p. 245)

These three classes of men are also found to be in existence in early medieval

Irish

texts whichappear to corroborate the earlier ancient sources. A king in early medieval Ireland wassupported "by a religious philosopher (

drui

), a seer (

fili

), and a poet (

bard

) - a system closelyreflecting the Druids, Vates, and Bards of the pre-Roman Gauls." (Cunliffe, Druids: A VeryShort Introduction, p. 92)

18th Century Engraving of 'Two Druids (Source:

Wikimedia Commons

)

Romans murdering Druids and burning their groves (Source:

Wikimedia Commons

)

9/4/22, 5:53 PM Ancient Scribbles: Who were the ancient Druids according to Cicero and Caesar's first hand accounts?

https://www.ancientscribbles.com/2021/07/who-were-ancient-druids-and-what-did.html 5/5

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July 04, 2021

Labels:

ancient anecdote

,

Caesar

,

Cicero

,

Druids

,

Philosphers

The Druids were suppressed and wiped out in

Gaul

and Britain by the conquering Romansunder

Tiberius

. Something of their tradition still survived in Ireland as related above, but eventhere they were cast as dangerous magicians and conjurers by a suspicious church. Up until the16th Century some vestiges still remained as bards and storytellers but were all but slowlydiminished by the encroachment of the British colonial bureaucracy (those empires at itagain).

Even though Druids no longer exist (the ancient variety at least), the vague outline of theirpresence can still be sketched from these ancient accounts that have survived. That outlinereaches us from the ancient past, and that proof is in their enigmatic name -

Druid

- and all itstill evokes today.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Druid

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Gallic_War/6B*.html

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Divinatione/1*.html

Cunliffe. B,

Druids: A Very Short Introduction

, Oxford,

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5B*.html

h

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diviciacus_(Aedui)

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Ro

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Other Books:

Freeman, Phillip, The Philosopher and the Druids: A Journey Among The Ancient Celts, Simon and Schuster, 2006.