The Ancient Celts
by Barry Cunliffe
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barry CunliffeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-03-01
ISBN: 0140254226
Number of pages: 360
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of The Ancient Celts
Book Review: A Very Interesting Book, Serving to Build a Good Foundational Knowledge of Our Celtic Heritage.
Summary: 5 Stars
For anyone wanting an understanding of the Celtic people, Cunliffe's "The Ancient Celts" is an excellent introduction, as well as a fine review for those with a foundation in Celtic history. Cunliffe gives us a picture of the Ancient Celts from 1300 BC forward. The Celts had a most fascinating and expansive culture, dominating much of Europe up until the time of the Roman conquests. Following the Roman conquests of Europe and the Celtic lands, Celtic society faced the onslaught of Christianity which crushed some of the Celtic culture and absorbed other parts thereof. Still the spirit of the Celts survives even today... for those that know where to seek it.
As a student of Celtic Theology, I found Cunliffe's chapter on `Religious Systems' to be most interesting, but as Irish scholar Proinsias MacCana has described it Celtic religious beliefs are a "fertile chaos". There is a wide array of material reflecting the beliefs of the Celts, all of which offers us insight into their spirit and none of which fully explains it. Still, Cunliffe has done an admirable job in his explanation thereof in "The Ancient Celts".
Caesar (in "Commentaries on the Gallic War") writes that the Celts were extremely superstitious. This may be the case, but I feel that what Caesar calls superstition is nothing more than the `faith of the Celts'. One never sees superstition in one's own religion, only in the belief and practices of others.
Within the Celtic society religion was mediated by the Druids. These were the Celtic priests, but much more than mere teachers of religion, the Druids were the keepers of knowledge of the Celtic people. Also within this religious class were the `Faithi' or the seers ~ those who were inspired by the Gods to understand the `otherworld'.
Today the Celtic religious festivals survive in the forms of Samain (Halloween), Imbolc, and Lugnasad to name but a few. These and other rites were officiated at by the Druids.
I believe that the `path of the Druid' and an oneness with nature is an essential element for those who would learn the way of the Celts.
Although we tend to think of the Celtics as being centralized in the British Isles, it is important to note that the Celts established settlements across Europe into even Western Asia. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that the Celts served to slow and curtail the expansion of Rome.
Cunliffe's "The Ancient Celts" reveals the Celtic people to be of a poetic / warrior society which contributed greatly to the development of the soul of the European nations of today. Even today in television advertisement (for travel to Ireland) we see Ireland being described as a land of warrior-poets.
In a warrior society the way of the warrior contributes to the development of religion and religion contributes to the morality of the warrior. This combination of warrior ethos and religious faith make for greater equality within the society itself.
Cunliffe states: "Women clearly occupied a more significant position in Celtic society than they did in the Greco-Roman world..." Women in the Celtic Society have had a good deal of input into the development and working of that society, and this shapes the society in ways that are simply not present in a purely male-dominated society (i.e. Arab-Muslim society).
It is also interesting to note that although Celtic society may have been overshadowed by both the Romans and later by the Christian Church there is still a strong Celtic influence in modern society.
Overall, I found Cunliffe's "The Ancient Celts" to be a very interesting book, serving to build a good foundational knowledge of our Celtic heritage.
Summary of The Ancient Celts
For two and a half thousand years the Celts have continued to fascinate those who have come into contact with them, yet their origins have remained a mystery and even today are the subject of heated debate among historians and archaeologists. In this erudite and profusely illustrated history, Barry Cunliffe explores the archaeological reality of these bold warriors and skilled craftsmen of barbarian Europe who inspired fear in the Greeks and Romans. Tracing the emergence of chiefdoms and their migrations as far as Bosnia and the Czech Republic, he assesses the disparity between the traditional and contemporary information on the Celts and offers new insight into the true identity of this ancient people.
Each generation, the British scholar Jacquetta Hawkes has observed, chooses the archaeology that best suits its current ideology. For a century beginning in the late 1800s, archaeologists depicted the Celts as an inordinately brave and poetic tribal people who battled their way across the Eurasian world without being unduly aggressive--in the manner, that is, of good colonialists. Today some archaeologists are more inclined to consider the Celts as a people who kept ethnic unity alive across a huge span of territory and time, a view that may offer comfort in a time when, as Oxford University professor Barry Cunliffe writes, "ethnic divisions are becoming a painful and disturbing reality." Cunliffe himself takes the view that the Celts were at once alike and diverse, which led to the formation of many different Celtic cultures from the Black Sea to Ireland. This heavily illustrated, well-written book tells their story well, from the beginnings of Celtic culture in the distant Indo-European past to the height of Celtic power in the third century A.D.
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