Villages Gauls our Cotentin certainly resembled that of the adventures of Asterix and Obelix!
First, because we belong to the same region: Armorica ........ Like what we do really no reason to bicker constantly with the Britons! We're country!
More broadly, we were in that Julius Caesar called the "Hairy Gaul" or "Hirsute"!
In his mouth, it was not a compliment! It really took us for Barbarians!
Gaul was obviously a heavily wooded and wild, unless cleared and cultivated the Roman Italy ... Although .... Populous and fairly well organized. ... Finally .... For Barbarians!
And the Gauls wore breeches, pants sort of more practical to run the wood, but much less civilized than the Roman Toga!
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| Gallic warrior and his equipment © A. Rapin |
Above all, they were .... Hairy! They wore a long wig and a thick mustache hairy!
What frighten the Romans always clean shaven!
coastal tribes Celts regrouped in Armorican confederation - which roughly means " those near the sea "- like what, we were not so wild as that!
We do not know much about the origin of the Celts. ... Did they come from Asia Minor, where they have always lived there ... .. it's still a mystery ...
The maximum expansion of the Celts happens to IV and III e th centuries BC ... Around 450 BC, Gaul was invaded again by peoples from the east and bringing new customs, one can speak here of Celts in the proper sense of the word ...
Contrary to what one might have thinking, this migration does not take a massive, Celts implanted in small groups and assimilate with the original stand, which makes it difficult to determine their exact original source!
They are attracted by the agricultural wealth and trade in Western Europe, they flee their lands overcrowded and deteriorating climate (colder and wetter ).... The classic authors speak of these terrible Celts as barbarians (fierce), mounted shirtless (to defy their enemies) and helmets on their little horses, a long sword. They spread to Belgium, Gaul, Spain and cross the English Channel (already!) ...
A dozen small tribes divides Armorica, and occupy the Cotentin Unelli!
Their capital is Cosedia, Coutances, but they also have an important port, Crociatonum, Carentan. ... Right next to my house!
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| Illustration from the book History of France for elementary courses in 1969 |
Let's see how people lived at the time ... .
The Gallic society comprises three groups:
This elite was small. At the summit, were precisely those aristocrats, knights was called ... ....
They owned large areas, many slaves and mints, and controlled as much as possible trade. They had imposed their power to many freemen, their clients ..........
These aristocrats were allied with the priests or druids ... Each other and came from the same family ... The clergy included other characters more humble and poorly known, the Bard, the Ovate ....
The Gauls, like many ancient civilizations, kept them running reports on the principle of customer .... Customers served patterns, probably originally to repay old debts, to repair some mistakes, or for other reasons of a social nature and this link was transmitted hereditarily Man .... client or the people was free (clientelism is different from the ancient slavery) but it would render services or perform tributes .... A boss could have multiple clients .... He could finally break the link that weighed on its customers or its customers to send another .... The "people " , whole families, could well be customers of a person or family and then another .....
Only the craftsmen, perhaps for religious reasons, seem to have maintained a relative independence. We needed a better life for their art!
Celtic civilization has long fascinated the aesthetes. Little is known about the Gallic language because it has left few writings. However, it is possible to perceive a seductive art, especially sculpture, coins and jewelry was ... The Armorican flirt!
Fine jewelry adorned the beautiful and elegant, such as brooches, pins that kept the garment on the shoulder ...
Hostile realism Greco-Roman artisans seeking symbolism, the face represented by lines sometimes strange ...
3) slaves (often prisoners of war) ... We know little about their lives .... but it's quite easy to imagine: hard work until death!
In war, people took refuge in an oppidum located on a hill or on an island .... This vast walled city is a regional economic center, it includes sanctuaries, home to artisans constantly ... ..
Celtic Gaul is a prosperous country .... From an economic standpoint, as elsewhere in Gaul, was the predominant wheat or barley rather millet and ..... But we can distinguish a northern Gaul, where they drank beer and where they cooked in butter, a southern Gaul, characterized by the wine and oil ... ... ...
In the North, had been invented agricultural implements advanced for its time, a combine formed by a body mounted on wheels and equipped at the front teeth that cut the ears ... ... ....
The forest also played a large role. The wood for heating, building houses, boats and trucks, came from forests where we raised hogs on parole ...
The Gauls were roads, certainly less sophisticated than Roman roads, but still ... And they traded by sea with many people!
For livestock, besides oxen, horses played an important social role: they characterized the elite, knights, warriors ...
The Celts were mainly a nation of migrants and warriors but they were not bloodthirsty barbarians described by the Romans. At least, their religious traditions were no more barbaric than other peoples!
Well, there is indeed this custom of burning alive of prisoners locked up in a wicker cage . ... but ....'ll quickly on it!
The Gallic society is dominated by druids and warriors. But do not think that the warriors were sowing death while the Druids cut the mistletoe with golden sickles!
This teaching is based on introducing the death we should be able to receive without fail but also no weakness!
The religion of the Druids taught that every man has an immortal soul that passes on the death, the body of another man ... but without any recollection ... she was reborn but does not reincarnate!
So do not fear the step that marks the end of a life, nor hesitate to get ahead in the fight to arouse the admiration of the enemy and meet the gods by sacrificing his own ....
To achieve perfection in this culture of violence, the young warriors are grouped by age and cut off from the world Adult ...
They learn the techniques of hunting and the Unarmed combat ...
To accentuate the natural blond of hair, the Celtic warriors soaked in lime water ... they were as big and strong enough ..... frightening to their enemies!
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