Quo Vadis Caesar?
This is what Caesar says of Gallic religion
“The whole nation of the Gauls is greatly devoted to ritual observances, and for that reason those who are smitten with the more grievous maladies and who are engaged in the perils of battle either sacrifice human victims or vow to do so, employing the Druids as ministers for such sacrifices. They believe, in effect, that, unless for a man’s life a man’s life be paid, the majesty of the immortal gods may not be appeased; and in public, as in private, life they observe an ordinance of sacrifices of the same kind. Others use figures of immense size, whose limbs, woven out of twigs, they fill with living men and set on fire, and the men perish in a sheet of flame. They believe that the execution of those who have been caught in the act of theft or robbery or some crime is more pleasing to the immortal gods; but when the supply of such fails they resort to the execution even of the innocent. Among the gods, they most worship Mercury. There are numerous images of him; they declare him the inventor of all arts, the guide for every road and journey, and they deem him to have the greatest influence for all money-making and traffic. After him they set Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Of these deities they have almost the same idea as all other nations: Apollo drives away diseases, Minerva supplies the first principles of arts and crafts, Jupiter holds the empire of heaven, Mars controls wars. To Mars, when they have determined on a decisive battle, they dedicate as a rule whatever spoil they may take. After a victory they sacrifice such living things as they have taken, and all the other effects they gather into one place. In many states heaps of such objects are to be seen piled up in hallowed spots, and it has and often happened that a man, in defiance of religious scruple, has dared to conceal such spoils in his house or to remove them from their place, and the most grievous punishment, with torture, is ordained for such an offence. The Gauls affirm that they are all descended from a common Father, Dis, and say that this is the tradition of the Druids. For that reason they determine all periods of time by the number, not of days, but of nights, and in their observance of birthdays and the beginnings of months and years day follows night. In the other ordinances of life the main difference between them and the rest of mankind is that they do not allow their own sons to approach them openly until they have grown to an age when they can bear the burden of military service, and they count it a disgrace for a son who is still in his boy to take his place publicly in the presence of his father. The men, after making due reckoning, take from their own goods a sum of money equal to the dowry they have received from their wives and place it with the dowry. Of each such sum account is kept between them and the profits saved; whichever of the two survives receives the portion of both together with the profits of past years. Men have the power of life and death over their wives, as over their children; and when the father of a house, who is of distinguished birth, has died, his relatives assemble, and if there be anything suspicious about his death they make inquisition of his wives as they would of slaves, and if discovery is made they put them to death with fire and all manner of excruciating tortures. Their funerals, considering the civilization of Gaul, are magnificent and expensive. They cast into the fire everything, even living creatures, which they believe to have been dear to the departed during life, and but a short time before the present age, only a generation since, slaves and dependents known to have been beloved by their lords used to be burnt with them at the conclusion of the funeral formalities.”
And this is what he says of Germanic religion
“The Germans differ much from this manner of living. They have no Druids to regulate divine worship, no zeal for sacrifices. They reckon among the gods those only whom they see and by whose offices they are openly assisted — to wit, the Sun, the Fire‑god, and the Moon; of the rest they have learnt not even by report.”
And this is what Tacitus says of Germanic religion
“In the traditional songs which form their only record of the past the Germans celebrate an earth-born god called Tuisto… Above all other gods they worship Mercury, and count it no sin, on certain feast-days, to include human victims in the sacrifices offered to him. Hercules and Mars they appease by offerings of animals, in accordance with ordinary civilized custom. Some of the Suevi sacrifice also to Isis. I do not know the origin or explanation of this foreign cult; but the goddess’s emblem, being made in the form of a light warship, itself proves that her worship came in from abroad. The Germans do not think it in keeping with the divine majesty to confine gods within walls or to portray them in the likeness of any human countenance. Their holy places are woods and groves, and they apply the names of deities to that hidden presence which is seen only by the eye of reverence.”
Here are the Million Dollar Questions
Why are Tacitus’ Germanic Gods the same as Caesar’s Gallic Gods?
What happened to Caesar’s Germanic Gods?
Why are Caesar’s (but not, generally, Tacitus’!) Germanic Gods so similar to Slavic Gods?
Thus, we have:
- Sun – Chason sive Jassen who Strebowsky in his Sacra Moraviae Historia describes as “Sol Phoebus”, or Helios, who is interestingly, also identified with Apollo.
- Fire – Svarożyc – little Svarog or little Sun (almost a demigod or earthly manifestation of the Sun).
- Moon – księżyc simply means little ksiądz – with ksiądz originally meaning a “leader” or “ruler” (rather than the current meaning of “priest”). That leader or ruler was likely the Sun, of course, or Jassen. Interestingly, the Holy Cross sermons use the word księżyc to describe Christ (presumably because Christ was the Little God of the Greater God – Jassen).
Some people claim that Caesar was wrong and Tacitus was right. How is that again? Caesar who actually went to Gaul and crossed the Rhine was wrong but Tacitus who never visited Germany was right? Sounds like wishful thinking…
And here is the kicker:
What changed in Germany between the time of Caesar and the time of Tacitus – nearly a century and a half?
I can tell you one thing that changed: the Suevi, the Germanic tribe that Caesar fought with most directly and who, in Caesar’s time were themselves crossing onto the Gallic side of the Rhine, by the time of Tacitus had been beaten back beyond the Elbe and some even were transplanted into Pannonia – both places where years later the Carolingian Empire discovers the Slavs.
I would not be surprised if ancient Galls spoke a language that we would today call German.
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