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Overview: The Druids exist partly in history, partly in imagination. They were a genuine people in ancient times, but their real identity has been obscured by myth and literature through the ages. This amalgam of fact and fiction provides Professor Piggott with a unique opportunity to combine archaeological erudition with insight into human nature — and man’s gullibility.
Druidism, according to traditional belief, was the religion of the Celts of pre-Roman Gaul and Britain, among whom the Druids were the priestly class. Direct and indirect references to Druids by Greek and Roman writers provide much of the limited knowledge we have of their nature and characteristics, but this has been supplemented by archaeological evidence of early Celtic society. Thus, the Druids are best seen in the context of the encounter of the civilized Mediterranean world with barbarians to the north.
Tradition also holds that Tiberius and Claudius banned the Druids for their superstitions and human sacrifices. Their history was ignored during the Middle Ages, then rediscovered by the classical scholars of the Renaissance. The Druids caught the fancy not only of antiquaries, who shaped them according to their individual theories, but of the general public as well, and their image varied with changing moods in art and literature from the Elizabethans to the Victorians. As a result of centuries of speculation and fanciful theorizing, the Druids have become part of folklore. Professor Piggott treats this aspect entertainingly, while at the same time elucidating the literary and archaeological bases for any real knowledge of these mysterious people.
Genre: Non-Fiction > History Archaeology, Celts, Mythology
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