The Death of the Druids?
The Slaughter on Mona
I first learned about Druids from Asterix books as a kid (Getafix was one of my favourite characters). Some might be more familiar with the white-garbed modern practitioners who gather at Stonehenge each solstice. However, the historical Druids are cited as being active between 400BC- 400AD in Gaul, Britain and Ireland.
The word can be traced in druidh (Scots gaelic), and droaid (Irish gaelic), which refers to a 'cunning man' or magician. This possibly stems from Celtic dru, and Greek, drus: an oak – a feature of druidic lore (the Welsh word for druid, Derwyddon, means 'oak knowledge’). Though it was said they rejected the written word, they are reported to have used Greek letters.
Julius Caesar tells us that would-be practitioners crossed to Britain to learn their arts, suggesting that there existed a centre(s) where druidic lore was taught. They were more than priests, acting as statesmen who held the warrior caste in check. Some scholars view them as the Celtic intelligentsia: mystic philosophers whose minds brimmed with astronomy, astrology, laws and folklore. The ‘transmission’ of this lore was achieved by word-of-mouth, utilising the storehouse of memory for which they were famed. They were the glue that held a splintered society together – for the Celts were never a unified people. They were a warrior orientated, tribal culture constantly fuelled by internecine rivalries – something the Romans exploited to their advantage.
Druids presided over inter-tribal assemblies. In Ireland we know that such gatherings were held at sacred centres, on specific festival dates such as Lughnasa and Beltaine. In Britain, one such sacred site may have been Mona, now known as the isle of Anglesey off the coast of North Wales.
The Roman Emperor, Claudius held a particular aversion to their ilk. It was written that he "utterly abolished the cruel and inhuman religion of the Druids among the Gauls”* In 43 AD the Emperor landed on British shores with four legions. An invasion began. In AD 60 Suetonius Paullinus moved against the druidic stronghold of Mona. The Roman writer Tacitus tells us that:
“He (Suetonius) prepared accordingly to attack the island of Mona, which had a considerable population of its own, while serving as a haven for refugees; and, in view of the shallow and variable channel, constructed a flotilla of boats with flat bottoms. By this method the infantry crossed; the cavalry, who followed, did so by fording or, in deeper water, by swimming at the side of their horses.
"On the beach stood the adverse array, a serried mass of arms and men, with women flitting between the ranks. In the style of Furies, in robes of deathly black and with dishevelled hair, they brandished their torches; while a circle of Druids, lifting their hands to heaven and showering imprecations, struck the troops with such an awe at the extraordinary spectacle that, as though their limbs were paralysed, they exposed their bodies to wounds without an attempt at movement. Then, reassured by their general, and inciting each other never to flinch before a band of females and fanatics, they charged behind the standards, cut down all who met them, and enveloped the enemy in his own flames.”
Having routed the Druids, Suetonius hastily departed to deal with a new threat: a powerful Celtic tribe, the Iceni, had risen in revolt. Their Queen at the time was Boudicca. Upon the death of her pro-Roman husband, Iceni lands were pillaged by centurions. The chief men of the tribe were stripped of their estates and relatives of the king were treated as slaves. To add to the insult, Boudicca was whipped and her daughters raped. A demand was then made by Rome that all the money lent by Claudius to the Iceni be paid in full right away. This was a loan of 40,000,000 sesterces that the Iceni had not wished for anyway.
Their ranks swelling with sympathetic tribesmen, Boudicca's army marched on Roman targets, razing them to the ground. No prisoners were taken, no mercy or quarter given. The ferocity of their assault is evidenced in archaeology. It may well be that, upon hearing of the plight of the Druids, the Iceni chose that moment to rebel, hoping to draw the Romans away from Mona. It worked, but the fatal blow had already been delivered, and the tribal rebellion was crushed. In its wake some 80,000 people were slain. Sources disagree on Boudicca's fate, she might have perished through illness or claimed her own life.
In 77 AD, a mandate was given by Emperor Vespasian to bring Britain to heel. Agricola was the general chosen for this task. Mona was once again on the agenda and this time he finished the job. After each subjugation of Anglesey, the druidic caste was reduced in power. Wholesale Romanisation began as Agricola embarked on a cultural conquest; new towns and temples were built to honour Roman gods, while Celtic deities were pre-fixed with Roman appellations – in effect imposing a cultural hierarchy upon the local gods.
Celtic religion thus morphed into Romano-Celtic religion. But perhaps not entirely. The conquest of 77 didn’t tame the entire island (and the fact they subdued Mona twice suggests the Druids may have been active and making trouble in the meantime). In 83 AD many Caledonians were slaughtered at the battle of Mons Graupius, in the Highlands of Scotland. But despite their desire for conquest, over the succeeding decades Rome was forced to retreat. Hadrian's wall became the boundary between the ‘civilised’ world and that of the ‘barbarian’.
Yet perhaps, beyond the great wall, refugees and Caledonians kept their culture alive. Perhaps Druids thrived there – at least until the spiritual conquest of the Holy Roman Empire. I’ve always had a suspicion that the Pictish culture was born of a mix of indigenous people and refugees fleeing Roman rule.
Unfortunately what survives of bardic and druidic tradition is very much changed from its original form. The recorders of ancient traditions were Christian scribes, and they couldn’t help Christianise – just as the Romans had Romanised. It doesn't mean we should discount all they wrote, but we need to be wary. Druidism received something of a Romantic resurgence during the 18th and 19th centuries, and much ‘modern’ druidic lore is largely based on these later works. This doesn’t mean they are in anyway invalid: any healthy belief system should be open to change, to evolution and reinvention. And there are still echoes of ancient lore out there, scattered folkloric fossils – such as that of the Gruagach, in whom the shadow of the druid perhaps remains.
Notes:
*Hypocritical really, considering the spectacle of the colosseum, the depravity of certain Roman Emperors, and the brutality in which Roman soldiers dealt with conquered tribes.
References:
A Brief Introduction To Druids - Barry Cunliffe
Celtic Art Before The Romans - Ian Stead
History Of The Celts - Horace E. Winter
The Silver Bough - F. Marian McNeill
The Life And Death Of A Druid Prince - Anne Ross And Don Robbins
Agricola - Tacitus
The Histories - Tacitus
Religion In Roman Britain - Martin Henig
The Gallic Wars - Julius Caesar
Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ Thesaurus: A Welsh and English Dictionary
