Julius Caesar Druids

Who were Druids? Are our perspectives on them inevitably shaped by their encounter with the Romans?

The Druids were religious mediators between the people the gods. Due to the lack of archaeological evidence and the prevalence of Roman records, our perceptions of the Druids even today are largely shaped by their encounters with the Romans. This lack of archaeological evidence is problematic when trying to decipher who exactly the druids were. Each person who wrote and indeed still writes, about the Druids has their own personal bias, subconscious or otherwise, hindering the reliability of each source. Whilst the druids first encounter with the Romans, outlined in Caesar’s Gallic Commentaries, played a prominent role in shaping our perceptions

Caesar is our richest textual source on the druids. According to Caesar himself, “the druids are in charge of religion. They have control over public and private sacrifices and give rulings on all religious questions”. In early sources and the oral tradition of the Welsh and Irish, Druids are presented as supernatural magicians. For example, miracles such as the ability for druids to transform themselves, or others, into animals is associated with the late sixth century Irish saint Mochuda as discussed in Betha. When searching for answers relating to the question; “who were the druids?” it is necessary to consider context. Whilst it is unlikely that Julius Caesar would have constructed a fictional class system out of thin air, it is likely that Caesar would have sought at times to embellish his commentaries so as to justify a Roman conquest of the Gallic heartlands that went far beyond his senatorial remit. Even more problematic is that later classical writers such as Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny the Elder and Tacitus were all using second-hand sources and even the authors of those sources had, in all probability, never encountered the Druids themselves. Their writings are often selected to fit the viewpoint of the author and as such should be handled with care. Therefore, given the wide range of attributes subscribed to the Druids and the distortion that

The most famous among these inventors was Welsh stonemason, Edward Williams who claimed to have found Welsh literacy sources on druidism. These were largely fabrications. Williams even created a fictional Druid ceremony called ‘Gorsed’. Nonetheless, the impact that his writings had on shaping the public’s perceptions of Druids was significant. Williams managed to add the fictional Gorsed to the genuine ceremony of the Eisteddfod. Even today, many observers remain unware of Williams fabrication, genuinely believing that Gorsed performing druids are real. Thanks to Williams and other early 18th century romantics like him, the 19th century was fuelled with enthusiasm for all things Druid. This romantic picture of the Druids remains in the public conciseness even today through, for example, the movie Boudica (2003) and the television show Merlin (2008-2012). Both of these play on this concept of druids as highly intellectual beings to create a dramatized and fantasised image of