Most of what we know about the Iron Age druids comes from Roman sources, describing a learned class of priests, teachers and judges, who performed Druidic rites in forest clearings and offered human sacrifices to the gods.
The most detailed description dates from around 50 BC in the Commentarii de Bello Gallico, a first-hand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative by Julius Caesar. Most of the text is based on the hearsay of others and is regarded as anachronistic, drawing on earlier accounts by writers such as Posidonius.
Caesar’s depiction of the Druids is documented in book six, chapters 13, 14 and 16–18, where he discusses how the Druids are “engaged in all things sacred, conduct the public and the private sacrifices, and interpret all matters of religion.” They are the arbiters of disputes and are the judiciary over crimes.
Anyone who disobeyed their decree would be barred from sacrifice (considered the gravest of punishments) and shunned, with all persons forbidden to speak or engage with them in society, lest they themselves “receive some evil from their contact”.
According to Caesar, the Druids are ruled over by an elite figure who “possesses supreme authority among them”. Unless a worthy candidate can be found upon this person’s death, those with a “pre-eminent in dignity” can put their candidacy forward for election, although this sometimes resorted to armed violence between candidates to solidify their position.
They studied ancient verse, natural philosophy, astronomy, and the lore of the gods, some spending as much as 20 years in training. This was through oral tradition and verses, with writing considered unlawful to prevent their doctrines being divulged among the people.
In Chapter 16, Caesar comments: “The nation of all the Gauls is extremely devoted to superstitious rites; and on that account they who are troubled with unusually severe diseases, and they who are engaged in battles and dangers, either sacrifice men as victims, or vow that they will sacrifice them, and employ the Druids as the performers of those sacrifices”. READ MORE...
