Book VI Section II: Ethnography of Gaul and Germany
This chapter doesn’t contain Roman/Gallic conflict or a concrete plot. It’s merely a description of the geography, culture, vegetation and rituals of the German and Gallic lands and people. Caesar often pauses in his wartime accounts to describe the enemy he’s slaughtering. Before launching into the rise of Vercingetorix and the extermination of Gallic culture, he devotes a whole chapter to their anthropology.
Summary:
“At this point of our narrative it will not perhaps be thought inopportune if we pause to consider in some detail the national life of Gaul and Germany.” (page 149)
Re: Gauls
Caesar the Anthropologist! Caesar began by describing the political customs of the Gauls. There was typically two politically prominent tribes at any given time, and at the beginning of this narrative, it was the Aedui and the Sequani. The Aedui were the most powerful, until the Sequani enlisted Ariovistus and the Germans to their aid — and we know what happened there. Ariovistus temporarily destroyed the Aedui until Caesar came to their rescue and obliterated both the Germans and the Sequani. To replace the ousted Sequani, the Remi tribe took their place and ruled with the Aedui as the two most senior tribes.
Caesar, on his obvious authority as Chief Roman Anthropologist, then dove into the defacto class system throughout Gaul — which was composed of common people, Druids and Knights. Caesar dedicated a sad sentence to the common people:
“…commons…may for our purposes be disregarded, since it is virtually that of slaves, powerless of themselves to initiate any political action, and wholly unrepresented …the majority, indeed, are so crushed down by debt and excessive taxation…that they are glad to enter into voluntary servitude.” (page 151).
Basically, most Gallic citizens were common folk, and their lives sucked. Caesar took the keenest interest in the Druid or religious class. The Druids were half priest, half lawyers and were wrapped in a mystical sheen that originated in Britain. They settled criminal and civil cases, were exempt from normal taxes, took no part in national wars and officiated human sacrifices (we’ll get to that later). The Druid ruling reigned supreme and if a lowly Gallic citizen ignored their proclamations, that person would be forever excommunicated from the tribe. Becoming a Druid was super intensive; they had to study for 20+ years, travel to Britain to complete their rituals and commit all of their secrets and doctrines to memory.
“…they still retain a superstitious objection to committing the secrets of their doctrine to writing…experience generally showing that the constant presence of a manuscript serves only to weaken the natural powers of application and retention possessed by the mind.” (age 152)
The second highest class, the Knights, were your typical warrior class. They “live exclusively by the sword” and composed the standing armies of Gaul. ⚔️
According to Caesar, the Gauls were “extra” when it came to religion…and their common practice of human sacrifice! They believed one human life could only be substituted for another, and the Druids even had reincarnation-type beliefs where the human soul “merely passes at death from one tenement to another.” These were some weighty and cultish religious beliefs, especially when it came to human sacrifice to satisfy the heavens:
“Others keep by them a grotesque and gigantic image of some favorable god, into whose huge limbs of wicker-work those destined for sacrifice are packed alive; fire is then placed beneath the pile, and the souls of the victims pass away amid a torrent of roaring flames.” (page 153)
Man what the?! Caesar might’ve been trying to de-humanize the Gauls to justify his conquest of them, but this image was stark and specific. It reminded me of that scene in Sabrina: the Teenage Witch where Sabrina’s pals were about to be roasted alive at the local carnival.
The Gauls also worshipped a pantheon similar to the Romans: Mercury, Apollo, Jupiter and Minerva, which hinted at the extent Roman culture had seeped into the tribes.
On a more human level, Caesar briefly mentioned family relationships and funeral rituals. Boys weren’t allowed to meet or “be seen in public by the side of his father” until he was an adult. Husbands could kill their wives and children since they “exercised the power of life and death.” And when it came to the funerals of rich dudes, their slaves and retainers were thrown onto the funeral pyre as well.
Despite all these seemingly barbarous acts, the Gauls, at the time Caesar was writing, were “softened” by Roman influence and culture. As we’ve seen in previous chapters, they adopted Roman engineering methods, drank themselves silly on mulled wine and lacked the fighting prowess they possessed in previous decades. Which begs the question…how could the Romans also have all of those soft qualities and conquer the Mediterranean world?
Re: Germans
Ah, our favorite wildlings from beyond the Rhine. The Germans were starkly different from their Gallic neighbors, despite being thrown into the catch-all bucket of “savage.” The German religions consisted of casual worship of the Sun, Moon and God of Fire. They lived carefree and by Roman standards, immodest lives where everyone bathed together and had free sex after the age of 20. They didn’t farm but subsisted on milk, cheese and flesh. And most curiously, private ownership of land was strictly prohibited:
“Neither the exclusive enjoyment nor the private ownership of land is permitted; but instead an annual distribution of it is made by the government officials and local chiefs…everyone of these groups being required to remove elsewhere a year afterwards.” (page 156).
Germans enjoyed their lands equally and moved constantly in a nomadic lifestyle. The chief reason for this mobility was that the Germans wanted to remain strong, “live off the land,” and not get soft from farming. They also viewed money as the “pernicious root of all discord and class hatred.” Since they were far removed from the Romans, they weren’t as influenced by the luxuries of wine, trade and refined culture. Instead, German tribes separated themselves from other people as much as possible and viewed this isolation as a badge of honor:
“Among the tribes there is no more coveted distinction than to live in the center of a vast wilderness.” (page 156).
The Germans were wild, strong and free (and probably rad campers). Interestingly, in decades past, the Gauls were viewed as more violent and powerful than the Germans, especially in the battlefield. But again, once the Romans plied the Gauls with wine (and ethnically cleansed them), the Germans easily outstripped the Gauls in fighting qualities.
Caesar the Naturalist?
The end this unusual chapter, Caesar elaborated on the Hercynian forest and the flora and fauna within it. This part was uncalled for, but Caesar clearly thought writing about “ox shaped like a deer,” elk and the urus were worth it. The first animal referred to was a reindeer, and the urus was a species of large, wild cattle, similar to a bull or elephant. A quick Google search of a urus revealed this pithy line:
“[A Urus is…] a very large, powerful, and savage extinct bovine animal.” 😢
Words:
- palmated — (of an antler) in which the angles between the tines are partly filled in to form a broad flat surface, as in fallow deer and moose
- parti-coloration — showing different colors or tints; especially having a predominant color broken by patches of one or more other colors.
- vicissitude — a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant
- obsequies — funeral rites
- Archdruid — the head of all the Druids, “invested with supreme powers”
