Druid

• The Druids formed the Ruling Class of Celtic Society and were the Chief Priests, Judges and Doctors. They had an oral tradition and left no written record.
• Very little is known about them. What we do know is from brief descriptions given by various Roman authors, including Julius Caesar, who went into greater detail in his De Bello Gallico.

References in Roman Literature

• Sotion of Alexandria (200-170 BCE)
  • They are first mentioned by Sotion of Alexandria in a history of philosophy and in another work attributed to Aristotle. Although these texts are now lost, they were quoted by Diogenes Laertius (c.200-c.250 CE).
• Cicero (106-43 BCE)
  • Cicero mentions a druid by name, Divitiacus, a Gallic druid from the Aedui Tribe in Gaul, who performed divination by observing birds.
  • Divitiacus is discussed in De Divinatione, which are 2 books discussing Divination, the Haruspices, Astrology and Oracles.
  • In book I chapter xii Cicero describes Divitiacus as an aristocrat of the Aedui, a Gallic Tribe which was allied to the Romans. He came to Rome in 63 BCE, just before the Gallic Wars, to appeal to the Roman Senate to send an Army to support the Aedui.
  • He stayed with Cicero who referred to him as a Druid with a great knowledge of divination, astronomy and philosophy. He is the only Druid to be referred to by name in the Ancient World.
• Diodorus Siculus (c.90-30 BCE)
  • In 36 BCE he published Bibliotheca historicae jn which he described the druids as philosophers and theologians. He also describes the poets and singers of Celtic society as bards.
• Strabo (c.64-25 BCE)
  • He described three types in Gallic society, the bardoi, poets and singers, the o’vateis, diviners, and the moral philosophers, druidai.
• Julius Caesar (49 BCE)
  • He describes the druids in detail in his De Bello Gallico, the Gallic Wars, published in 49 BCE. Like Cicero, he also mentions Divitiacus, but not as a druid.
• Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE)
  • He described them as holding sacred the mistletoe and the oak tree that bears it.
• Tacitus (56-117 CE)
  • Tacitus portrays a hostile view of the Druids and describes them as performing human sacrifice on their altars.
  • Tacitus described the Roman Invasion of Anglesey in 60 CE, led by Suetonius Paulinus.
  • He wrote that the Roman legionaries were at first intimidated by a group of druids who raised their arms to the skies and cursed them. However, after the Roman victory, the soldiers cut down their sacred groves. The Revolt by Queen Boudicca (60-61 CE) then forced the Roman army to withdraw. Anglesey was finally occupied in 77 CE.
• Roman Legislation
  • The Julio-Claudian Roman Emperors, Augustus, Tiberius and Claudius, all introduced laws banning Druidic practices, effectively eliminating them.
• The Druids are no longer mentioned by the second century CE.

Chartres

• The Carnutes.
  • Their Capital was Chartres (Carnutes or Auticum), and they occupied the area around the River Loire.
  • The Annual Assembly of all the Gallic Druids congregated in a sacred oak grove once a year, to meet and debate issues, and they always met in Carnutes territory, either in Orleans, Blois or Chartres.
  • The Gothic Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres with its famous Labyrinth, was built between 1194-1220 CE on the site of the sacred oak grove.

Chartres Cathedral