Rome destroyed much of what we might have known of the Druids. What they can't change is the actions of good men and women, who give us an insight into their lives.
Druidic Culture for most of us conjures up Rome's spin of Stonehenge, and even mystically cloaked creatures flitting through foggy woods. With so little of who they were after Rome had rewritten their history, an easier avenue might be to discuss the lives of Druidic followers. Those who fought under it's banners in the years of the Roman conquest of Britain. As is so often the case, the best evidence of their beliefs can often be discovered in the conduct of their personal lives.
Beginning with a figure who looms large in British history, Boadicea, Boudicca, or Boudica, fought under the banner “The Truth Against the World.”
A knotty problem at that time was the tiny nation of Britain. Through treaties Rome had managed to carve up the nation between tribes in an effort to keep them from uniting. One of it's vassals was the Icenii Tribe. Due to a treacherous turn of events on Romes part, the Queen of the Icenii was whipped, her daughters ravished and humiliated. Outraged she led not only her own people, but rounded up the support of the Druids and a massive army of disgruntled Brits. Her speech to them on the eve of battle, gives us a good idea of what these people placed their value on.
"You have learned by actual experience how different freedom is from slavery. ..you have come to realize how much better is poverty with no master than wealth with slavery. “
Another of the leaders of that time was a man of large stature, and large heart. He was the elected “Pendragon.” With so many tiny kingdoms, it was necessary in times of crisis and battle, that someone impartial, declare a leader among those kings. The Druids were given that honor. Caractacus led the tribes in many successful unified battles, but as is so often the case, what Rome can't get by sheer force, it will take by treachery. Caractacus was captured by the duplicity of his cousin, Cartimandua, and taken back to Rome with his wife and daughter in chains. Before Nero and the Roman Senate , Caractacus spoke with quiet dignity, in latin none the less, proving he was no barbarian.
“I had men and horses, arms and wealth. What wonder if I parted with them reluctantly? If you Romans choose to lord it over the world, does it follow that the world is to accept slavery?
Further north, the Romans were forced to flee the land of Caledonia, a stronghold for the Druids. Guerrilla warfare was the name of the game up that way, and it didn't take the Caledonians, a combination of both Celts and Picts, long to demoralize the Roman soldiers, so far from home. They eventually withdrew from the upper Antoine Wall, leaving it to the barbarians, whose descendants we would see again as they fought for their freedom under the Banner of Wallace and Bruce more than a millenia later. The thirst for freedom still strong, and those guerrilla tactics still successful.
Interestingly enough, we still see that “Truth against the World” mentality when many of the leading men of Scotland sent the Pope a declaration of independence from Arbroath. Speaking of their forefathers, they said,
“The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many victories and untold efforts; and, as the historians of old time bear witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since.”
Clearly, the Druids were a people who believed in national sovereignty and freedom. On that score alone, they align themselves with some of the best men in history.
Druidic Culture for most of us conjures up Rome's spin of Stonehenge, and even mystically cloaked creatures flitting through foggy woods. With so little of who they were after Rome had rewritten their history, an easier avenue might be to discuss the lives of Druidic followers. Those who fought under it's banners in the years of the Roman conquest of Britain. As is so often the case, the best evidence of their beliefs can often be discovered in the conduct of their personal lives.Beginning with a figure who looms large in British history, Boadicea, Boudicca, or Boudica, fought under the banner “The Truth Against the World.”
A knotty problem at that time was the tiny nation of Britain. Through treaties Rome had managed to carve up the nation between tribes in an effort to keep them from uniting. One of it's vassals was the Icenii Tribe. Due to a treacherous turn of events on Romes part, the Queen of the Icenii was whipped, her daughters ravished and humiliated. Outraged she led not only her own people, but rounded up the support of the Druids and a massive army of disgruntled Brits. Her speech to them on the eve of battle, gives us a good idea of what these people placed their value on.
"You have learned by actual experience how different freedom is from slavery. ..you have come to realize how much better is poverty with no master than wealth with slavery. “
Another of the leaders of that time was a man of large stature, and large heart. He was the elected “Pendragon.” With so many tiny kingdoms, it was necessary in times of crisis and battle, that someone impartial, declare a leader among those kings. The Druids were given that honor. Caractacus led the tribes in many successful unified battles, but as is so often the case, what Rome can't get by sheer force, it will take by treachery. Caractacus was captured by the duplicity of his cousin, Cartimandua, and taken back to Rome with his wife and daughter in chains. Before Nero and the Roman Senate , Caractacus spoke with quiet dignity, in latin none the less, proving he was no barbarian.
“I had men and horses, arms and wealth. What wonder if I parted with them reluctantly? If you Romans choose to lord it over the world, does it follow that the world is to accept slavery?
Further north, the Romans were forced to flee the land of Caledonia, a stronghold for the Druids. Guerrilla warfare was the name of the game up that way, and it didn't take the Caledonians, a combination of both Celts and Picts, long to demoralize the Roman soldiers, so far from home. They eventually withdrew from the upper Antoine Wall, leaving it to the barbarians, whose descendants we would see again as they fought for their freedom under the Banner of Wallace and Bruce more than a millenia later. The thirst for freedom still strong, and those guerrilla tactics still successful.
Interestingly enough, we still see that “Truth against the World” mentality when many of the leading men of Scotland sent the Pope a declaration of independence from Arbroath. Speaking of their forefathers, they said,
“The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many victories and untold efforts; and, as the historians of old time bear witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since.”
Clearly, the Druids were a people who believed in national sovereignty and freedom. On that score alone, they align themselves with some of the best men in history.
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