Another interesting word was handed down in Scotland alluding to the Druid role called the Coibhe or Coivi, said to be the archdruid in Scotland.² There’s also a wonderful Scots Gaelic proverb that alludes to this role where it was said, “The stone clings not faster to the ground, than Coivi’s help to the needy. This is expressive of the profound veneration the people of old entertained of their guides.”³ It’s thought most of these terms originate from Proto-Celtic Druwit or Druwid and Indo-European dóru, ‘tree’ combined with weyd, ‘to know’. They were ‘tree knowers’ or possibly later, given the oak’s significance, ‘oak knowers’. The name simply may have meant they had great knowledge in general or great ‘sight’ and connection to the Otherworld.

Along with this role, we have many other figures that may be reminiscent in function such as the Beanfeasa and Fearfasa, the ‘wise women and men’ who were healers, fairie doctors and witches in old Ireland. There were many other named liminal people as well that pertained to seership and the healing arts that held shared communal roles, both men and women, both Christian and ‘country pagans’. The rural townships in general in folk records were quoted as holding onto their traditional folk belief longer as well as being less inclined to attend church. The name pagan itself stems from Latin paganus which means ‘villager, rustic’ or from pagus ‘country district’. 

Naturally, there is much cross cultural relevance where the druids are concerned considering that their tradition once reached far and wide spanning the isles as well as western Europe. They were even well linked into Pythagoreanism on the continent and there are remnants of this belief as far as western Ireland. As an example, mysterious and likely pre-Christian triangular blocks have been discovered near cursing stones in Cavan built into an old church (Killinagh Church), undoubtedly built over a pre-Christian religious site.

There was also the generalized continued symbolism in the reverence of the number three among countless other aspects of folk belief we will explore. Even after Christianity reached and permeated Ireland, we know there was a steady transition from role to role and they seemed to have fulfilled the same or very similar roles within their communities. Having survived the longest in Ireland from a complex and nuanced but somewhat unbroken lineage of the Filí and bard, we can speculatively and carefully study each of these roles more closely. When we compare the Gaulish druids to the druids in the isles, along with mythical text, archaeology and etymology, we quickly find they are nearly identical in their role and function in their respective societies. 

While a particular nation’s chieftain or king were considered their official leader, druid opinion was of the highest value and therefore they were the true pillars of power within Celtic nations. Like many priestly figures within a society, past or present they oversaw political matters, quarrels amongst individuals big and small, served as teachers and healers among many other things. The druid role would likely have been a lifetime role as well whereas kings and warriors would have come and gone more readily which likely lended to druid significance. They would have not only been the learned members of society holding valuable cultural and medical knowledge as well as their tribal history, but also were the spiritual mediums between the Otherworld and the Gods.

Greek historian Diodorus Siculus went as far to say, “Philosophers, as we may call them, and men learned in religious affairs are unusually honoured among them and are called by them druids. The Gauls likewise make use of diviners, accounting them worthy of high approbation, and these men foretell the future by means of the flight or cries of birds and of the slaughter of sacred animals, and they have all the multitude subservient to them.”⁴ In Ireland, similarly, the chief Ollamh was allowed to wear six colors while the chieftain was only allowed to wear five. Even of more significance, the Ollamh was allowed to speak at an assembly before the High King.⁵

One of the largest sources on Gaulish Druids is Julius Caesar who also claims to have formed somewhat of a friendship with a named druid, Divitiacus who we’ll discuss further on. He claimed that the druids were engaged in all things sacred, settled all public and private legal matters and oversaw all private sacrifices to the Gods (the execution of criminals mostly). He claimed that the druids were held in great honor within their communities and that many young men went to them for the purpose of instruction. One man presided over all of the druids known as the head or arch druid and all of the druids met at a fixed period in the year in the Carnutes, considered a central location in all of Gaul. The Carnutes were a Gallic tribe dwelling near the Seine and Liger rivers near central France. He claimed the Druid order was brought over from Britain to the mainland and that generally if you wished to study more of the tradition, you would have traveled to Britain. One sparsely has to look at a map to surmise that this was likely southern Britain and quite possibly Wales given that Angelsey was considered the ‘chief seat’ of the Druids by classical understanding.⁶ 

In Ireland and possibly Scotland, as already mentioned, the role of chief Ollamh survived the arrival of Christianity which is the equivalent of the position of chief druid to the Gauls.⁷ The druids in the isles were also engaged in all legal matters as well as being teachers. In Ireland, this tradition as teacher was particularly passed on through the use of ‘classical or hedge schools’ and one of the last of such schools was run by a man that was well known as a poet in the classic druid sense named Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin. These private schools such as Eoghan’s were regularly used to continue teaching advanced school topics but also cultural traditions as well as the Gaeilge language that was outlawed during intense years of colonization where things of this nature had to be taught and kept in secret. It has been said that his school was descended from the last ancient and rigorous schools that trained bards and poets when Ireland was at the height of Gaelic power. Eoghan Rua lived a short life filled with misfortune but was known to be highly charming, witty, intelligent and talented. He knew four languages fluently, was a teacher second to none, as well as a farm laborer and soldier and was said to be a well known charmer of women. His life was incredibly inspirational as well as fascinating and worth reading about if you get the chance.  

Throughout the isles there is a strong sense that trade would have been as much of a societal crux as it is today but especially between neighboring countries and nations. We know that for example, Ireland and Wales as well as Britain with Brittany had a very close trading relationship and we’d have a hard time detangling where many specific cultural aspects originated. From an archaeological perspective, the earliest identifiable ‘Celtic’ artifacts would be from western Europe. It’s quite possible then that the druids did not spring from a ‘Celtic’ tradition at all but were there in the isles with many of the first settlers, the first monument builders in France or Iberia and idealisms were spread as they traveled upward along the Atlantic seaboard and to Ireland and beyond. As art evolved in the entirety of the area, ideas were spread back and forth but there are no hard lines as to where and when an identifiable Celtic culture that included the druids as their spiritual leaders was established. There is a strong impression it was a slow transition aided by subtleties in shared language and trade across the entire area. 

As already mentioned, many Neolithic sites have proof of historical use going back from the early settlement of Ireland to the classical era such as the hillfort of Emain Macha. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, and as has been proposed by countless others, that the early Irish mythical tales are referring to genuine waves of immigrants to Ireland. If the classical writers interpreted the druids as coming from the isles into Gaul, it’s possible that the ‘Tuatha Dé Danann’ brought a version of the tradition from the mainland at some point to the isles where it was eventually cycled back around again, going on to expand across and into western Europe. When Amergin arrived in Ireland with the Milesians from modern Spain, it was said that the druidical arts were already there, again with the Tuatha Dé Danann but Amergin was of course said to be a druid as well. Again, there is archaeological proof that culture and in this case, cultural roles spread as people moved to new locations but equal proof that cultural traditions spread far and wide while people stayed in their respective locations. 

To put it plainly, it’s impossible to know exactly when or how Druidry came to be in the isles but it’s possible that it was spread with the rest of Neolithic culture, from France and upward along the Atlantic seaboard. The Tuatha Dé Danann, if they were real ancestors, were likely the Yamnaya people arriving out of central Europe traveling along the Danube, and may have brought a version of the role with them. It may have then went on to be expanded within settled groups thereby ‘originating’ in the isles when it became a more solid and defined cultural pathway. This also happened in such a way that despite sharing the druid role, each nation would have had their own well defined identities as well as language grouping by the classical period.

Ultimately, this possibility allows for both the cultural and language connections that were carried from the Eurasian steppes but also the cultural uniqueness that arose out of the Bell beaker, Neolithic stone masons and descendent druidical system originating out of the Atlantic seaboard and southern tips of the isles. What could also hypothetically be linked in here and worth mentioning is the fact that the Ogham writing system based on the age of certain Ogham stones likely originated out of southern Ireland. This entire space from the Neolithic onward, from France, southern Britain and into Ireland as well as across to Iberia may have been a very culturally druidic pathway of travel and likely an important means of the sharing of knowledge. 

The druids of Gaul did not go to war, pay tribute or serve in the military. It is alluded that many sought out the profession or were sent by their kin to try and become a druid due to these social benefits. This generally lends to the idealism that youth were encouraged to pursue any trade and that the druid role could be fulfilled by someone fitting regardless of social status. This was seemingly true for the ancient Irish as well based on early Irish historical text however, this changed with the coming of Christianity. Likely partially to limit druid power, and partially because the chiefs and kings had to spend more money on land and titles to accommodate the priests, the role became limited in the 6th century to certain families deemed to have been the most respected and with the most well known lineage of druids. These were families such as Ó Dálaigh (O’ Daly), Ó hUiginn (O’Higgin), Ó Dochartaigh (O’ Doherty) and Ó Cobhthaigh (O’ Coffey) to name just a few. There is overlap here as well where many of these families in time were subsumed into the roles of the church while others remained as a Filí or Ollamh. Regardless of whether they were Christian or not, the role continued. 

However, in times of old, seemingly, anyone could be a learned member of society or a warrior while the chieftains and kings or queens were positions reserved for those of noble birth. It was understood that sometimes people were just born at random with special gifts that made them naturally more attuned to the role. There are some texts quoting these unique individuals as auspiciously ‘the seventh son or daughter.’ That’s not to say of course that professions were still not passed down or that someone born into a druidic family wouldn’t likely also have become a druid and been more readily accepted. Their training could take up to twenty years where they learned a great number of verses which were not written down. This was claimed because it would impact their memory but also these were things they didn’t wish to share with the masses unless it was told by themselves, possibly so that nothing could be misconstrued or they wished to keep a monopoly on their traditions.

The chief reasoning seems to have been that it improved their memory and they may have viewed themselves as living books or repositories that could not be easily stolen, destroyed or killed as they were highly protected members of society. There is another hypothetical reasoning for this in that the druids understood that life and cultural norms changed over time and they wanted their tradition to be mostly ‘living’ rather than stale and outdated. That is to say that of course they would have had books but possibly, only used them for historical references or basic idealisms. The Irish druids were claimed to have had 180 books burned by St. Patrick and undoubtedly used Old Irish and Ogham as well as possibly other languages such as Greek during the classical period. For public and private business matters, it was said that Gaulish druids used Greek script. There is also evidence they used Phoenician, Etruscan or Latin, depending on the area.⁸ 

Their greatest tenet was that souls do not die but pass after death from one body to another and the fear of death should be disregarded. They studied the stars and their motions, the natural world and the power of the immortal gods. Their rule was supreme and the worst of punishments by the druids was considered excommunication from their communities where no one was permitted to speak or interact with them. The Gauls claimed they were descended from the mysterious primordial underworld god Dis Pater (The Roman name for the God of the Underworld) which was said to be a tradition handed down by the druids. This was speculatively Cernunnos in Gaul with a possible relation to the Irish Dagda or Donn, and British Herne or Green man.⁹

Many people still question how involved women were as Druids and even question that they were at all despite evidence that points to the contrary and so I offer here just a few of many countless quotes that have not been mentioned already regarding women as druids both in the classical and medieval literature. 

Vopiscus…“This story my grandfather related to me, having heard it from Diocletian himself. “When Diocletian,” he said, “while still serving in a minor post, was stopping at a certain tavern in the land of the Tungri​ in Gaul, and was making up his daily reckoning with a woman, who was a Druidess, she said to him, ‘Diocletian, you are far too greedy and far too stingy,’ to which Diocletian replied, it is said, not in earnest, but only in jest, ‘I shall be generous enough when I become emperor.’ At this the Druidess said,​ so he related, ‘Do not jest, Diocletian, for you will become emperor when you have slain a Boar (Aper).”¹⁰

Tacitus… “On the beach stood the adverse array, a serried mass of arms and men, with women flitting between the ranks. In the style of Furies, in robes of deathly black and with dishevelled hair, they brandished their torches; while a circle of Druids, lifting their hands to heaven and showering imprecations, struck the troops with such an awe at the extraordinary spectacle that, as though their limbs were paralysed, they exposed their bodies to wounds without an attempt at movement. Then, reassured by their general, and inciting each other never to flinch before a band of females and fanatics, they charged behind the standards, cut down all who met them, and enveloped the enemy in his own flames.”¹¹

Lampridius… “The omens portending his [Alexander’s] death were as follows: When he was praying for a blessing for his birthday the victim escaped, all covered with blood, and, as he was standing in the crowd dressed in the clothes of a consideration, it stained the white robe which he wore. In the Palace in a certain city from which he was setting out to the war, an ancient laurel-tree of huge size suddenly fell at full length. Also three fig-trees, which bear the kind of figs known as Alexandrian,​ fell suddenly before his tent-door, for they were close to the Emperor’s quarters. Furthermore, as he went to war a Druid prophetess cried out in the Gallic tongue, ‘Go, but do not hope for victory, and put no trust in your soldiers.‘ And when he mounted a tribunal in order to make a speech and say something of good omen, he began in this wise: ‘On the murder of the Emperor Elagabalus’. But it was regarded as a portent that when about to go to war he began an address to the troops with words of ill-omen.“¹²

Aurelianus… “[O]n a certain occasion Aurelian consulted the Druid priestesses​ in Gaul and inquired of them whether the imperial power would remain with his descendants, but they replied…that none would have a name more illustrious in the commonwealth than the descendants of Claudius. And, in fact, Constantius is now our emperor, a man of Claudius’ blood,​ whose descendants, I ween, will attain to that glory which the Druids foretold. And this I have put in the Life of Aurelian for the reason that this response was made to him when he inquired in person.”¹³

Pomponius Mela…“Sena in the British Sea, opposite the Osismian shores, is remarkable for its oracle of a Gallic divinity; the priestesses of which, inviolable from perpetual virginity, are said to be nine in number. They call them the Gallicanae, and believe them to be endowed with remarkable powers: to stir up the waves and the winds with their songs; to change themselves into whatever animals they wish; to cure diseases which among others are incurable; to know and to foretell future events; but not devoted to any except to those who have sailed there, setting out for this purpose only, that they may consult them.”¹⁴

As mentioned, the Gaulish Druids were quoted as practicing the doctrine of Pythagoras.¹⁵ Before we discuss Pythagoras it’s important to keep in mind that nearly everything about his life, his teachings, his discoveries and credit he was given as well as general topics surrounding him are speculative. For one thing, he was greatly influenced by his own teachers as well as his travels to foreign lands to learn from other philosophers, including most importantly, Egypt and India where much of his views were shared or based upon. There are also many conflicting statements made by classical writers and his followers that continued his tradition for a few hundred years after his death. They possibly may have taken liberties and added in their perspectives to his general or purported teachings. Pythagoreanism is thought to have originated in a Greek colony near Italy around the 6th century BCE by the philosopher Pythagoras. Within Pythagoreanism, we find a rich oral tradition as well as the encouragement and flourishing of scientific knowledge, acting in harmony with nature, fighting for justice and maintaining ritual purity and moral behavior.¹⁶

The soul was thought to be entombed in our bodies while we are alive and the belief in reincarnation and transmigration was a crux of his belief system. Their highest goal was to attain enlightenment to the point of escaping the cycle of reincarnation here on earth. The only real punishment upon death was thought to be reincarnation and in essence meaning that our lessons here were not done, that we had more learning to do. Knowledge of our past lives, regardless of what form they occurred in, animal or human was said to be hidden within our self and could be accessed under the right circumstances and essentially through guided meditations, dreams or journeys as we understand them today. 

There was also a large focus on the significance of numerology and there were thought to be secrets of the universe hidden in numbers. The number three and ten were particularly revered as well as the triangle and pentagram. Pythagoreans developed countless procedures for solving advanced mathematical problems of their time. They also combined their study of mathematics with the study of music to discover some of the most harmonious and natural sounds aligned to nature’s patterns. Math was even argued to have been related to justice as it was thought that correct mathematical proportions regarding symmetry could or should be mimicked in legal matters to ensure that each party involved received their fair dues. Injustice in the world on large and small scales was said to invert natural order as we are meant to be living in harmony with our surroundings and one another. The soul is separate from the body and the mind but works in tandem with it, allowing us to experience sensation and emotion and only through again, harmony and balance of the body, mind and soul was it thought that we can be healthy. 

One of the most striking beliefs for its time of Pythagoreans was in vegetarianism and that any being that experienced pain and suffering should not have these things inflicted on them unnecessarily. The only justifiable reason for killing anything be it human or animal was in self defense and to do otherwise was to lower the moral status of a human. Pythagoras quite famously yet very speculatively said that “As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” They believed humans were animals as well but merely with higher capacity for intellect and the ability to connect at greater ease with the primordial essence and energy of the universal cosmological energy or consciousness.¹⁷

However, clearly, much of the ritualistic Celtic feasts held by chieftains, subject kings and kings surrounded the eating of pork and deer so this is an idealism that may only have been shared with some of the druids who took to the idea on a personal basis. Druids in Ireland were quoted as not only chewing raw flesh as a means of divination but also taking a lead role in the tarbhfheis, a traditional Irish feast where a druid ate flesh of a slain cooked bull and drank a broth, possibly laced with psychotropics. After which, they would descend into a meditative trance in the hopes of receiving a vision about the next true High King. This feast of course shares parallels with the famous classical quote illustrating Gaulish druids ritually cutting mistletoe and killing two white bulls before a personal feast. The druids of Gaul as well as in the isles commonly performed various divinations and predictions for their people and kings. These would have been mainly through augury, analyzing the movement of animals such as birds or rabbits as well as through music, darkness, meditation and likely the use of mushrooms such as Amanita muscaria or herbal psychotropics such as mugwort. 

Pythagorean women were given equal opportunity to study similarly to the druids and countless women contributed to written and recorded Pythagorean philosophical doctrines. The wife of Pythagoras was said to be a highly respected and distinguished philosopher and took over his role and leadership upon his death. Plato and Aristotle, two of the most renowned philosophers of the classical era and arguably, household names were highly influenced by Pythagoras and his teachings. Overall, Pythagoreanism was the quest and framework for uncovering the fundamental and combined mental, physical, spiritual and philosophical essence of reality and the universe, the cosmos, our world and the Otherworld. Of course, it was by no means a perfect system and Pythagoras himself was as flawed as anyone. We can see many parallels here within this belief system to the druids and going back further, there are equal parallels in Indian Vedic culture through cultural symbology, reverence of certain animals such as the cow and ritual as well as etymology through the Indo-European language. Here are just a few of the great quotes attributed to Pythagoras…

“Souls never die, but always on quitting one abode pass to another. All things change, nothing perishes. The soul passes hither and thither, occupying now this body, now that . . . As a wax is stamped with certain figures, then melted, then stamped anew with others, yet it is always the same wax. So, the Soul being always the same, yet wears at different times different forms.”

“Happiness consists in knowledge of the perfection of the numbers of the soul.” 

“A man is never as big as when he is on his knees to help a child.”

“Let no one persuade you by word or deed to do or say whatever is not best for you.”

“Do not take roads traveled by the public.”

“Most men and women, by birth or nature, lack the means to advance in wealth or power, but all have the ability to advance in knowledge.”

“We ought so to behave to one another as to avoid making enemies of our friends, and at the same time to make friends of our enemies.”

According to Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus in the 4th century CE, the druids were said to keep track of their tribe’s history and the Gauls were made up of a portion of people that were native to western Europe while the others came from far away islands (likely Britain and Ireland) driven there by war. After a long while of peace in Gaul, the liberal arts and consequently the class of the druids flourished there. They sang of the heroic feats of men and composed many songs and verses, bound by brotherhoods and of superior intellect. They again, “…as if decree of Pythagoras, focused all their attention on questions deep and arcane, and scorning the human condition, pronounced the soul immortal.”¹⁸ From this entire description, we are again reminded of Caesar’s claim that the druid tradition was brought from the isles.

There is an overall impression during the classical era that the druids were very much interconnected, communicating and involved with other philosophers and philosophical communities outside of their own. This would have of course been ultimately for the betterment of their people and to be able to hold the broader knowledge being taught by intermingling with the best and brightest minds available. This was still occurring in Ireland up through the middle ages as druid type community leaders were still traveling to Europe to study and translate important texts, particularly medical knowledge, into Gaeilge.

In summary, the druids from Gaul through to the isles shared a communal role similar to other spiritual leaders in Europe and arguably with all spiritual leaders the world over. They were their king and queen’s most trusted counselors and kept their people’s memory and stories alive via a rich and vibrant oracular tradition. Song and instruments implemented along with trance and poetry were a crux for both divination purposes as well as storytelling. Herbal medicine was likely used along with incantation and music for spiritual as well as physical wellness purposes. They would have been the guides in birth and in death practices, serving as ancient midwives, likely in conjunction and with the aid of archetypal deities such as the powerful Irish Cailleach, the great mother.

Rituals large and small would have been led by druids to guide and chant invocations, delineate sacred space or otherwise perform actions as a medium and communicator of the gods and Otherworld. They would have guided the youth and taught any number of topics to children and adults alike looking to learn the language, history, astronomy and the sciences as they were understood to them along with any number of topics. As community seers, they may have interpreted symbology surrounding them in the natural world to be favorable or not favorable such as impending bad weather, rare natural phenomena or astronomical observances. Finally, they would have been the judges of their communities, deciding the outcome of legal issues and the proper restitute for crimes. The druids share a staggering amount of belief with Pythagoras and his followers and much of this collective belief was absorbed into the unique Celtic Christianity of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We will dive into all of these individual functions more deeply in the following section. 

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References

1. Berresford Ellis, Peter. A Brief History of the Celts. Constable & Robinson Ltd, 1998. Pg. 57.

2. Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica. Edinburgh, 1900. Pg. 269.

3. Jamieson, John. Ancient Culdees of Iona. Edinburgh, 1811. Pg. 27. Dr. Macpherson’s Critical Dissertations, xix. p. 317, 31S.

4. Diodorus Siculus. Library of History (Books III – VIII), trans. C. H. Oldfather. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935.

5. Berresford Ellis, Peter. A Brief History of the Celts. Constable & Robinson Ltd, 1998. Pg. 39.

6. Suetonius: The Lives of the Twelve Caesars; An English Translation, Augmented with the Biographies of Contemporary Statesmen, Orators, Poets, and Other Associates. Suetonius. Publishing Editor. J. Eugene Reed. Alexander Thomson. Philadelphia. Gebbie & Co. 1889. 

“Suetonius Paulinus, attacked Mona or Anglesey, the chief seat of the Druids, and extirpated them with great cruelty. The successes of Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, who inhabited Derbyshire, were probably the cause of Nero’s wishing to withdraw the legions; she having reduced London, Colchester, and Verulam, and put to death seventy thousand of the Romans and their British allies. She was, however, at length defeated by Suetonius Paulinus, who was recalled for his severities.”

7. Berresford Ellis, Peter. A Brief History of the Celts. Constable & Robinson Ltd, 1998. Pg. 39.

8. Berresford Ellis, Peter. A Brief History of the Celts. Constable & Robinson Ltd, 1998. Pg. 32.

9. Caesar’s Gallic War, trans. W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn. 1st Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1869.

10. Vopiscus. “The Lives of Carus, Carinus and Numerian.” Historia Augusta. translation by David Magie. Loeb Classical Library, 1932. 

11. The Annals. Tacitus, trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb. New York: Random House, Inc., 1942. 

12. Lampridius, Aelius. The Life of Severus Alexander. Translated by David Magie, Ph. D., for the Loeb Classical Library (1924). 

13. Historia Augusta. translated by David Magie ; revised by David Rohrbacher. Historia Augusta. Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England :Harvard University Press, 2022.

14. Mela, Pomponius, Description of the World, trans. J. M. Miller, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1990, Book 1, Chapter 12.

15. St. Hippolytus. “Philosophumena”: The Refutation of All Heresies. translated by the Rev. J. H. Macmahon, M.A. Fathers of the Church. 

“Among his followers, however, who escaped the conflagration were Lysis and Archippus, and the servant of Pythagoras, Zaniolxis, who also is said to have taught the Celtic Druids to cultivate the philosophy of Pythagoras. And they assert that Pythagoras learned from the Egyptians his system of numbers and measures; and I being struck by the plausible, fanciful, and not easily revealed wisdom of the priests, he himself likewise, in imitation of them, enjoined silence, and made his disciples lead a solitary life in underground chapels…. And the Celtic Druids investigated to the very highest point the Pythagorean philosophy, after Zamolxis, by birth a Thracian, a servant of Pythagoras, became to them the originator of this discipline. Now after the death of Pythagoras, Zamolxis, repairing thither, became to them the originator of this philosophy. The Celts esteem these as prophets and seers, on account of their foretelling to them certain (events), from calculations and numbers by the Pythagorean art; on the methods of which very art also we shall not keep silence, since also from these some have presumed to introduce heresies; but the Druids resort to magical rites likewise.”

16. Richard D. McKirahan (2011). Philosophy Before Socrates (Second Edition): An Introduction with Texts and Commentary: An Introduction with Texts and Commentary. Hackett Publishing. p. 89.

17. Gordon Lindsay Campbell (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Lifen. Oxford University Press. p. 540.

18. The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, translated by C. D. Yonge (1862).

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