Who were the Druids in Gaul? Description written by Julius Caesar

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This description of the social classes of the Gauls, with particular attention to who the Druids were, is taken from the sixth book of “Commentaries on the Gallic War”, a work written in Latin by Julius Caesar.

In all of Gaul there are two classes that are considered and taken into account. In fact, the plebs are considered a class on a par with slaves, not considered by anyone, nor invoked for any deliberation. And most of them, crushed by the taxes or by the weight of the tributes or by the arrogance of the forts, grant themselves in slavery to the nobles, who apply on them the same rights as the masters over the slaves.

Therefore, of the two classes, one is that of the druids, the other that of the knights. They take care of religious rites, carry out public and private sacrifices, manage the affairs of religion: a large number of young people go to learn from the Druids, who earn so much honor from them. In fact, they find a solution to the public and private disputes and, if any crime is committed, a murder is committed, which knows by inheritance or because of conflicts on the borders, it is always up to them to judge or to decide the compensation or the punishment; in the event that someone, public or private, does not follow their law, they prohibit sacrifices. With them, this penalty is extreme. Those who are touched by this punishment, are conceived as nefarious and unfortunate, everyone moves away from seeing them, fleeing them, avoiding to talk to them, in order to avoid, on their approach, some disease, not granting them justice, much less giving them honor. For all druids, there is a leader who holds the highest authority. When this is dead, he is replaced by someone who is ahead of the others in dignity, or, if there is more than one au pair, he is put to the vote of the druids, and sometimes even with weapons. Given a certain time of the year, they gather at a sacred place, in the territory of Carnuti, which is considered to be the center of the internal kingdom of Gaul. Those who have disputes come to this place and behave according to judgments and verdicts. The order of the druids is believed to have been born in Britain and then brought to Gaul, and those who wish to deepen this doctrine travel there to be able to study it.

Original latin text

In omni Gallia eorum hominum qui aliquo sunt numero atque honore genera sunt duo. Nam plebes paene servorum habetur loco, quae nihil audet per se, nullo adhibetur consilio. Plerique, cum aut aere alieno aut magnitudine tributorum aut iniuria potentiorum premuntur, sese in servitutem dicant nobilibus, in hos eadem omnia sunt iura quae dominis in servos. Sed de his duobus generibus alterum est druidum, alterum equitum. Illi rebus divinis intersunt, sacrificia publica ac privata procurant, religiones interpretantur: ad hos magnus adulescentium numerus disciplinae causa concurrit, magnoque hi sunt apud eos honore. Nam fere de omnibus controversiis publicis privatisque constituunt et, si quod est admissum facinus, si caedes facta, si de hereditate, de finibus controversia est, idem decernunt, praemia poenasque constituunt; si qui aut privatus aut populus eorum decreto non stetit, sacrificiis interdicunt. Haec poena apud eos est gravissima. Quibus ita est interdictum, hi numero impiorum ac sceleratorum habentur, his omnes decedunt, aditum sermonemque defugiunt, ne quid ex contagione incommodi accipiant, neque his petentibus ius redditur, neque honos ullus communicatur. His autem omnibus druidibus praeest unus, qui summam inter eos habet auctoritatem. Hoc mortuo, aut si qui ex reliquis excellit dignitate succedit, aut, si sunt plures pares, suffragio druidum, non numquam etiam armis de principatu contendunt.
Hi certo anni tempore in finibus Carnutum, quae regio totius Galliae media habetur, considunt in loco consecrato. Huc omnes undique qui controversias habent conveniunt eorumque decretis iudiciisque parent. Disciplina in Britannia reperta atque inde in Galliam translata esse existimatur, et nunc qui diligentius eam rem cognoscere volunt plerumque illo discendi causa proficiscuntur.

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