> The Celts > Stereotypes
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The Celts, uninteresting "barbarians"?
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Since the Renaissance, the Mediterranean civilizations (Greece, Rome, Egypt) have been considered as models and all the others described as "barbarian". Thus, for a long time, we despised the Celts who produced no large stone constructions, no alphabet (their knowledge was only transmitted orally, never written), nor a united empire.
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The Celts, poor warriors, bawling and undisciplined?
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We owe this deep-rooted and scornful cliché to the Roman authors. During its history, Rome often had to fight the Celtic armies. Thus, a depreciating and distorted image of the Celts was developed in Latin literature. Yet, the military valor of the Celts is evident, as the list of their conquests and the extent of their territory on the map of Europe can prove.
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The druids, bloodthirsty priests or unrecognized philosophers?
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The druids are the intellectual elite of the Celtic society. Some rule over the religious practices, others take care of the young's education, rule over conflicts, are in charge of the land register, inheritance problems, or public and private accounts. There are also astronomers, doctors, diviners, magicians, ambassadors, political advisers, etc.
The druids have long been considered as bloodthirsty priests carrying out human sacrifices. The human remains found in some sanctuaries could confirm such practices. This interpretation, however, must be qualified: the Celts did in fact give great symbolic importance to the head, the siege of a person's valor. So, they carried out post mortem manipulations to preserve the skulls of ancestors or enemies killed in combat.
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No Celtic menhirs (standing stones)
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Strabon, a Greek geographer, noted the presence of "large stones" and "druidic monuments" in the Gallic forests. This led to confusion between the Neolithic megaliths ("menhirs" and "dolmens", dating from 6000 to 2000 BC) and the Celtic rites that appeared so much later in time.
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The Gallic cock
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History can be very ironic, as it is a play on words in Latin that associates this animal with the Celts. "Gallus" in Latin means "cock" as well as "Gallic".
Since the Renaissance, the Mediterranean civilizations (Greece, Rome, Egypt) have been considered as models and all the others described as "barbarian". Thus, for a long time, we despised the Celts who produced no large stone constructions, no alphabet (their knowledge was only transmitted orally, never written), nor a united empire.
We owe this deep-rooted and scornful cliché to the Roman authors. During its history, Rome often had to fight the Celtic armies. Thus, a depreciating and distorted image of the Celts was developed in Latin literature. Yet, the military valor of the Celts is evident, as the list of their conquests and the extent of their territory on the map of Europe can prove.
The druids are the intellectual elite of the Celtic society. Some rule over the religious practices, others take care of the young's education, rule over conflicts, are in charge of the land register, inheritance problems, or public and private accounts. There are also astronomers, doctors, diviners, magicians, ambassadors, political advisers, etc.
Strabon, a Greek geographer, noted the presence of "large stones" and "druidic monuments" in the Gallic forests. This led to confusion between the Neolithic megaliths ("menhirs" and "dolmens", dating from 6000 to 2000 BC) and the Celtic rites that appeared so much later in time.
History can be very ironic, as it is a play on words in Latin that associates this animal with the Celts. "Gallus" in Latin means "cock" as well as "Gallic".