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War, Women, and Druids: Eyewitness Reports and Early Accounts of the Ancient Celts
"The ancient Celts capture the modern imagination as do few other people of classical times. Naked barbarians charging the Roman legions, Druids performing sacrifices of unspeakable horror, women fighting beside their men and even leading armies—these, along with stunning works of art, are the images most of us call to mind when we think of the Celts," observes Philip Freeman. "And for the most part, these images are firmly based in the descriptions handed down to us by the Greek and Roman writers." This book draws on the firsthand observations and early accounts of classical writers to piece together a detailed portrait of the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe and the British Isles. Philip Freeman groups the selections (ranging from short statements to longer treatises) by themes—war, feasting, poetry, religion, women, and the Western Isles. He also presents inscriptions written by the ancient Celts themselves. This wealth of material, introduced and translated by Freeman to be especially accessible to students and general readers, makes this book essential reading for everyone fascinated by the ancient Celts.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
22 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
About the author
Philip Freeman
76 books511 followersI teach Classics and Celtic studies at Luther College in the beautiful little town of Decorah, Iowa. I did my doctoral work at Harvard and taught at Boston University and Washington University in St. Louis before coming to Luther to help run the Classics department. I love teaching and see my writing as an extension of my work in the classroom. I hope you enjoy the books as much as I enjoyed writing them.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 19, 2025
A short book of 100 pages or so, containing quotes from various Roman or Ancient Greek texts describing the Celts, together with a limited amount of interpretation.
Some of the quotes are clearly nonsense. Others tells us a few things about the Celts. There seem to be a number of quotes about how the Celts display the heads/skulls of their enemies, either at their homes or on the necks of their horses when travelling. Enough of the sources corroborate each other to suggest this really was the case.
The last chapter has a few fragmentary bits of ancient graffiti written either in Gaulish or in a mix of Gaulish and Latin. The extracts themselves are of little interest, and consist of the same sort of rubbish that you get with modern graffiti. I found the linguistics interesting though. One recovered fragment apparently says:
“Moni gnatha gabi buddutton imon”
The standard translation is apparently “Come on girl, take my kiss,” but the author comments; “However, the word translated as "kiss" (Gaulish buddutton) may in fact be related to Old Irish bod ("penis") and better translated as such.” My own comments that follow are little more than guesswork (I’m not qualified in any of this stuff) but I couldn’t help noticing that “gnatha” was quite similar to a word in Scottish Gàidhlig, “mnatha”, meaning “woman,” whilst “gabi” looked similar to “gabh” (pronounced “gav”) which has a similar meaning (so for example, “Excuse me” in Gàidhlig is “Gabh mo leisgeul”, literally “Take my excuse”). I found it interesting to see these apparent similarities in different Celtic languages, thousands of years (and miles) apart.
Aside from that, the book has also told me the origin of the joke in the Asterix the Gaul series, where Chief Vitalstatistix was afraid of the sky falling on his head. You learn something every day!
The book is OK as an introduction, and as a pointer towards some of the original sources.
Some of the quotes are clearly nonsense. Others tells us a few things about the Celts. There seem to be a number of quotes about how the Celts display the heads/skulls of their enemies, either at their homes or on the necks of their horses when travelling. Enough of the sources corroborate each other to suggest this really was the case.
The last chapter has a few fragmentary bits of ancient graffiti written either in Gaulish or in a mix of Gaulish and Latin. The extracts themselves are of little interest, and consist of the same sort of rubbish that you get with modern graffiti. I found the linguistics interesting though. One recovered fragment apparently says:
“Moni gnatha gabi buddutton imon”
The standard translation is apparently “Come on girl, take my kiss,” but the author comments; “However, the word translated as "kiss" (Gaulish buddutton) may in fact be related to Old Irish bod ("penis") and better translated as such.” My own comments that follow are little more than guesswork (I’m not qualified in any of this stuff) but I couldn’t help noticing that “gnatha” was quite similar to a word in Scottish Gàidhlig, “mnatha”, meaning “woman,” whilst “gabi” looked similar to “gabh” (pronounced “gav”) which has a similar meaning (so for example, “Excuse me” in Gàidhlig is “Gabh mo leisgeul”, literally “Take my excuse”). I found it interesting to see these apparent similarities in different Celtic languages, thousands of years (and miles) apart.
Aside from that, the book has also told me the origin of the joke in the Asterix the Gaul series, where Chief Vitalstatistix was afraid of the sky falling on his head. You learn something every day!
The book is OK as an introduction, and as a pointer towards some of the original sources.
April 22, 2025
I loved this little tome. Not a book for seeking confirmation bias for more detailed views of the Celts. This book contains every classical description of the Celts and very little more. It is frustrating to come to the conclusion that so little is know about this enigmatic people. Overall, very satisfying and a great level plane from which to examine the Celts for further study through myths and archaeology.
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July 9, 2018A small collection of ancient quotes re various ethnic groups of Celtic origin. It's a great introductory guide, very basic and easy to digest. One downside is the price! I think it's awfully cheeky to charge £20 for a book of slightly over 100 pages that did not require a lot of work. Such a price befits a proper academic study, not an introductory pamphlet. I don't like when a book's price is defined by its catchy title instead of its contents.
September 2, 2014
Through descriptions left by classical writers and historians, Freeman pieces together the culture of the Celts in Europe. The first chapter, "War," tells of Celtic tactics, weapons, and strategy. Aristotle describes Celtic warriors as "being absolutely without fear" (2). Freeman inserts accounts of different Celtic tribes across Europe, including Gaul and the northern Balkans. He also makes note of the separation between mainland Celts and those in the Western Isles, Britain and Ireland.
The next chapter, "Feasting," describes Celtic banquets, as well as their love of wine. Phylarchus of Athens gives a vivid picture of a year-long feast offered by the Celt Ariamanes. Ariamanes divided up his country (location unnamed) and set up banquet halls at specific stopping points along the road.
Celtic culture is also well-known for its poets and bards. Celts used an oral tradition, rather than writing. Keeping track of stories, history, and genealogies in their memories was key. Greek writers noted the importance of bards in Celtic society, and understood the spoken word held more power than the written. In the second century, Greek writer Lucian converses with a Celt after observing a picture of the Celtic god Ogmios. The Celt tells him, "...the arrows in his quiver represent words - sharp, fast and hitting the target - which pierce the spirit of the listener" (32).
Caesar's Gallic War provides much of what is known about Celtic religion and the role of Druids in their society. Freeman dedicates over two pages of this chapter to Caesar's description which proves invaluable. Caesar notes what is perhaps one of the core beliefs that "the cardinal teaching of the Druids is that the soul does not perish, but after death, passes from one body to another" (42). In exploring the role of women in Celtic society, Freeman makes clear that the idea of ancient Celtic equality is "a romantic view not supported in the classical sources" (53). Though women may have fought alongside men in battle,or even led their warriors such as Boudicca, their world was still male dominated.
Though classical writers may have had biases against the Celts, most accounts presented by Freeman seem factual and objective. Tacitus, Julius Caesar, and Aristotle are just a few of the eyewitnesses to ancient Celtic life.
The next chapter, "Feasting," describes Celtic banquets, as well as their love of wine. Phylarchus of Athens gives a vivid picture of a year-long feast offered by the Celt Ariamanes. Ariamanes divided up his country (location unnamed) and set up banquet halls at specific stopping points along the road.
Celtic culture is also well-known for its poets and bards. Celts used an oral tradition, rather than writing. Keeping track of stories, history, and genealogies in their memories was key. Greek writers noted the importance of bards in Celtic society, and understood the spoken word held more power than the written. In the second century, Greek writer Lucian converses with a Celt after observing a picture of the Celtic god Ogmios. The Celt tells him, "...the arrows in his quiver represent words - sharp, fast and hitting the target - which pierce the spirit of the listener" (32).
Caesar's Gallic War provides much of what is known about Celtic religion and the role of Druids in their society. Freeman dedicates over two pages of this chapter to Caesar's description which proves invaluable. Caesar notes what is perhaps one of the core beliefs that "the cardinal teaching of the Druids is that the soul does not perish, but after death, passes from one body to another" (42). In exploring the role of women in Celtic society, Freeman makes clear that the idea of ancient Celtic equality is "a romantic view not supported in the classical sources" (53). Though women may have fought alongside men in battle,or even led their warriors such as Boudicca, their world was still male dominated.
Though classical writers may have had biases against the Celts, most accounts presented by Freeman seem factual and objective. Tacitus, Julius Caesar, and Aristotle are just a few of the eyewitnesses to ancient Celtic life.
April 21, 2022
Great collection of excerpts from original sources to provide a basic overview of the ancient Celts. Helpfully categorized into war, feasting, poetry, religion, women, and the western isles. It's a very quick read being <100 pages. While I found much of it useful, the chapter on women felt a bit lazy and patriarchal in its approach—unsurprising from an older male author but disappointing nonetheless when there's definitely more to be explored there. Anyway, being so short, it obviously only scratches the surface and doesn't allow for much nuance or discussion but it can serve either as a good introduction to then dive deeper or as a good collection of firsthand sources for someone who already knows the subject. As the author states himself, it's our job as readers to read with a critical lens and understand how a writer's worldview will affect their writing. That is to say, take everything about the Celts with a grain of salt! And read different viewpoints.
January 29, 2021
A decent enough little sourcebook, though lacking in nuance, and overtaken in value by the third edition of Stanley Ireland's competing collection. One cannot avoid the suspicion that the title was chosen as a form of pre-digital clickbait.
October 24, 2023
A very good and thorough collection of ancient primary sources to make sense of the Celts. I learnt a lot from this book and it is very useful for a research essay I am writing. Would recommend for research into ancient civilisations
January 25, 2024
Read this for Historathon 2024. It's okay. Learned some stuff but the writing was sub-par and boring.
July 17, 2009
A great work ! Freeman's book is able to present to in a very clear and concise way how the Ancient Celts were presented by Greek and Roman authors.
The book covers interesting topics such as Religion, the British Isles, Celtic Women and War.
Freeman's book plus David Rankin's Celts and the Classical World are a perfect combination for those who are interest in both Ancient History and also in Celtic Studies.
In my point of view War, Women, and Druids: Eyewitness Reports and Early Accounts of the Ancient Celts is a very good book and i strongly recommend it !
I guess the only bad critic i can made about this book is that somehow it's a very short book and Freeman isn't able to discuss much of the authors more than presenting their accounts.
The book covers interesting topics such as Religion, the British Isles, Celtic Women and War.
Freeman's book plus David Rankin's Celts and the Classical World are a perfect combination for those who are interest in both Ancient History and also in Celtic Studies.
In my point of view War, Women, and Druids: Eyewitness Reports and Early Accounts of the Ancient Celts is a very good book and i strongly recommend it !
I guess the only bad critic i can made about this book is that somehow it's a very short book and Freeman isn't able to discuss much of the authors more than presenting their accounts.
September 23, 2011
Please read my review at Celtic Scholar
January 4, 2014
Great collection of first person sources, and nicely concise. Translations can be questionable, but the author admits to this and offers other possibilities when possible.
December 17, 2016
Excellent commentary on well-chosen collection of Classical writers' descriptions of ancient Celtic tribes and customs.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews