Druids.”
“I fail to make the connection.”
“How powerful would a priesthood be if it had a monopoly on literacy, Decius? Think about it. I know that you are not as dense as you pretend.”
It was flattery of a sort. “You mean like the Egyptians before they learned Greek writing?”
“Something like that. But imagine a society in which only the priests could read and write while even the nobles and the kings were illiterate. The Druids have a position almost like that.”
“Lovernius told me they were repositories of law and tradition as well as intermediaries between the Gauls and their gods.”
“Exactly. And as such they are arbiters on all matters of contention between the petty kings and chieftains, not that they stop much of the fighting. They wield great influence where the Gauls must cooperate to deal with a non-Gallic people such as the Germans. Or Rome. There are twenty or more major Gallic nations and a hundred petty chieftains and their tribes, with no unity among them. But there is a single cult of Druids from the Pyrenees to Britannia all the way to Galatia. They are the sole unifying force among the Gauls. If I am to subdue the Gauls, I may first have to break the power of the Druids.”
Well, I held no brief for the Druids. Hereditary priests have always struck me as a parasitical lot. Our forefathers showed great foresight in making the priesthoods a part of political office.
“Good riddance to them, then,” I said.
Caesar sat and leaned forward. “And, Decius, they are notjust bards and lawgivers. Their religion is a dark and bloody one. Their great festivals involve human sacrifice. In their groves they erect great effigies of men and beasts made of wicker. At important rituals these are filled with men and women and animals and set afire. The screams are said to be appalling.”
I felt the thrill of horror that we usually feel when the subject of human sacrifice is mentioned. Of course, the Gauls would have to exert themselves to come up with human sacrifices as horrifying as those of our old, implacable enemies, the Carthaginians. But these wicker immolations would certainly suffice to characterize the Gauls as savages. Our own very rare human sacrifices were always carried out with great dignity and solemnity, and we used only condemned criminals for the purpose.
“Your plans do not lack grandeur,” I admitted. “But then, ambitious men predominate in Rome just now, not safe, conservative plodders like my own family.”
“Nonetheless, I would welcome the support of the Caecilians.” This was the Caesar I knew; the Forum politician who was so adept at building a coalition to back his schemes.
“You are talking to the wrong one. I am by far the least of my family. Nobody listens to me.”
He smiled. “Decius, why must you always behave like a dutiful boy? The great men of your family are getting old and soon will step down from public life. By the time you hold the praetorship, you will be high in the family councils. Bonds forged in the field are lasting, Decius.”
It was a fine sentiment but not altogether true. Old soldiers cherished a certain good fellowship, but only as long as their ambitions did not clash. Marius and Sulla and Pompey had all been great comrades-in-arms in many campaigns. Until they vied for power, at which time they became deadly enemies.
4
T HE NEXT DAY I BEGAN MY TEDIUS work in the praetorium while Lovernius and the rest of my ala conducted their patrols and sweeps and escort duties. Most of these duties were performed by the regular auxiliary cavalry, of which we were acquiring a prodigious number. Caesar wanted an immense cavalry force for this campaign and was most insistent that the province provide every able-bodied man and beast for this service. We Romans have always been rather contemptuous of cavalry, but the more horsemen you have, the more Gauls respect you.
At least my duties kept me safe. As safe as one may be in a tiny legionary
“I fail to make the connection.”
“How powerful would a priesthood be if it had a monopoly on literacy, Decius? Think about it. I know that you are not as dense as you pretend.”
It was flattery of a sort. “You mean like the Egyptians before they learned Greek writing?”
“Something like that. But imagine a society in which only the priests could read and write while even the nobles and the kings were illiterate. The Druids have a position almost like that.”
“Lovernius told me they were repositories of law and tradition as well as intermediaries between the Gauls and their gods.”
“Exactly. And as such they are arbiters on all matters of contention between the petty kings and chieftains, not that they stop much of the fighting. They wield great influence where the Gauls must cooperate to deal with a non-Gallic people such as the Germans. Or Rome. There are twenty or more major Gallic nations and a hundred petty chieftains and their tribes, with no unity among them. But there is a single cult of Druids from the Pyrenees to Britannia all the way to Galatia. They are the sole unifying force among the Gauls. If I am to subdue the Gauls, I may first have to break the power of the Druids.”
Well, I held no brief for the Druids. Hereditary priests have always struck me as a parasitical lot. Our forefathers showed great foresight in making the priesthoods a part of political office.
“Good riddance to them, then,” I said.
Caesar sat and leaned forward. “And, Decius, they are notjust bards and lawgivers. Their religion is a dark and bloody one. Their great festivals involve human sacrifice. In their groves they erect great effigies of men and beasts made of wicker. At important rituals these are filled with men and women and animals and set afire. The screams are said to be appalling.”
I felt the thrill of horror that we usually feel when the subject of human sacrifice is mentioned. Of course, the Gauls would have to exert themselves to come up with human sacrifices as horrifying as those of our old, implacable enemies, the Carthaginians. But these wicker immolations would certainly suffice to characterize the Gauls as savages. Our own very rare human sacrifices were always carried out with great dignity and solemnity, and we used only condemned criminals for the purpose.
“Your plans do not lack grandeur,” I admitted. “But then, ambitious men predominate in Rome just now, not safe, conservative plodders like my own family.”
“Nonetheless, I would welcome the support of the Caecilians.” This was the Caesar I knew; the Forum politician who was so adept at building a coalition to back his schemes.
“You are talking to the wrong one. I am by far the least of my family. Nobody listens to me.”
He smiled. “Decius, why must you always behave like a dutiful boy? The great men of your family are getting old and soon will step down from public life. By the time you hold the praetorship, you will be high in the family councils. Bonds forged in the field are lasting, Decius.”
It was a fine sentiment but not altogether true. Old soldiers cherished a certain good fellowship, but only as long as their ambitions did not clash. Marius and Sulla and Pompey had all been great comrades-in-arms in many campaigns. Until they vied for power, at which time they became deadly enemies.
4
T HE NEXT DAY I BEGAN MY TEDIUS work in the praetorium while Lovernius and the rest of my ala conducted their patrols and sweeps and escort duties. Most of these duties were performed by the regular auxiliary cavalry, of which we were acquiring a prodigious number. Caesar wanted an immense cavalry force for this campaign and was most insistent that the province provide every able-bodied man and beast for this service. We Romans have always been rather contemptuous of cavalry, but the more horsemen you have, the more Gauls respect you.
At least my duties kept me safe. As safe as one may be in a tiny legionary
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