In the teaching of
history today, in Europe at least there seems to be an inbalance in favour of the part played by the Roman
Empire. Such a bias has created the idea that very little of interest happened on the continent before the Roman Empire reached out and civillized the various peoples living there. Admittedly the Romans did leave a lasting influence on our land and in our minds but prior to their accension, Europe was peopled by a more mysterious but no less fascinating
culture, the Celts.
In 1995, The Celtic World arrived on our shelves and brought together a team of experts under the editorial leadership of Miranda Green, a senior lecturer in Archaeology and an acknowledged authority on the period. At over eight hundred pages this is not a light undertaking, but is as useful as an occasional reference as it is as a complete read. Re-addressing the balance of reletive importance of the various ancient European cultures is something long overdue, and this book succeeds in bringing the Celtic world to light from under the shadow of the Romans.
The first section of the book lays down a broad picture of the subject by asking "Who Were the Celts?". It examines their origins and their linguistic conections, an often over looked discipline which establishes some
interesting conections and helps to trace their origins. Also the Celts as seen through the eyes of the classic writers is examined. The celts themselves wrote almost nothing and any contemporary writtings are always by their enemies and as such are usually propaganda or at best biased. The nature of the celtic people can be seen in the fact that unlike the Romans that came after them they didnt see themselves as one nation, the idea of citizenship did not exist, and it is this attidude of tribal allegience that caused their downfall.
Two essays on the warfare of the celtic warrior gives us an insight into not only the weapons and equipment used, but also looks at the psychology of those using it. Although most of the written evidance relates to wars, a large section of the book is taken up with examining the society and economy that they where part of and this in many ways is where the book comes into its own. Many books have been written about the more dashing military prowess of the Celts as its easy to find source material to base the research on. The social aspects, such as settlement patterns and craftsmanship are much more difficult to examine and are based on archeaological finds rather than literary sources.
One of the areas that has always fascinated the reader is the artwork of the culture, and three essays on this cover their sculpture and jewellery, its creation, function and how it played its part in the social order. The religion of the Celts is covered in a very comprehensive fashion, the Druidic priests, their beliefs, the gods and the supernatural and death and the otherworld, all provide a picture of the pre-christain beliefs prevelant in Europe. This is also a section that is interesting to anyone interested in modern Paganism, as many of the ideas and themes that have been ressurected for use in modern ritual has its source in the Celtic view of the world.
The final part of the book covers the history of the various Celtic kingdoms and takes us right up to the Roman domination of Europe. One interesting comparison point in this section is between Britain, a celtic island that came under Roman rule and Ireland, a celtic island that the Romans never took. This provides some interesting insights as to how Britain might have delevoped without Roman influence. The books promotes the more modern view that the assimilation of Celtic Britain by the Roman Empire was a two way action. Many Celtic leaders were happy to join the Roman system for the benefits it brough. Similarly the Romans would not have travelled to these far flung Islands if they didnt have something that they needed, grain, coal and tin as well as the potential taxes from the newly Romanised population. The last word is regarding the survival of the Celtic culture in Europe today and specificaly examines the remnants to be found in Wales and the Welsh language.
This book is all you will need to study the Celtic Iron Age of Europe. Rather that showing the Celts as a primative and unimaginative culture that needed the Romans to pull them out of the past, they are highlighted as a creative and evocative people with a rich and full tradition and who left more that their fair share of influences on the continent. Dont be put off by the size of the book, it is best used as a reference as it is really a collection of seperate essays which can be read as seperate pieces of work. Although probably retailing at the ¢20 plus mark in paperback it is well worth the investment for those that wish to know what was going on in our pre-Roman world.