So far as I have been able to trace, wherever the Greeks and Romans
came in contact with Celts so as to acquire a closer knowledge of
Celtic affairs, they found this kind of patrician republican
government. Cæsar found no kings in Transalpine Gaul, and the
governing authority, when he mentions it, belongs to senates and
magistrates, _i.e._, chief officers of state. It was apparently so in
Spain a century earlier; and in distant Lusitania, corresponding to
the modern Portugal, the most western Celtic region on the continent,
in resisting the Roman conquest the chief command is held by Viriatus,
who is not called a king by the Roman and Greek historians, nor is any
king mentioned in his time. Nor do we read of kings in Cisalpine Gaul.
Thus from farthest east to farthest west, the patrician republican
form of government seems to have prevailed in all Celtic communities
with the probable exception of Ireland; and this was probably their
political condition as far back as 300 B.C., or earlier, before the
Galatians passed into Asia Minor.
At some earlier period, the Celts were undoubtedly governed by kings.
The word for king, represented by the Irish word _ri_, is widely
exemplified in ancient Celtic names. From it, as I have already
remarked, the Germanic languages took their word for kingdom or realm.
Sometimes it is found in the names of peoples, _e.g._, the Bituriges,
Caturiges, etc.; sometimes in the names of men, _e.g._, Dumnorix,
Ambiorix, Vercingetorix. We find evidence, too, of a strong
anti-monarchical sentiment, as among the Romans. The law of the
Helvetii made it a capital offence, under penalty of being burned
alive, to aim at autocratic power.
Not only the Celts, but the Germans of that time, were governed
without kings, as Tacitus records. He adds, however, that they
appointed kings to command them when they went to war. Here we have a
parallel to the Roman dictatorship, the vesting of the power of the
republic in the hands of a single ruler during a time of critical
warfare.
I have already mentioned the proficiency of the Celts in the
construction of wheeled vehicles, and the consequent deduction that
they were practised in the making of roads. The passage already quoted
from Livy shows that, with all their military ardour, they were known
to be active in agriculture; and this is corroborated by other ancient
authorities. The countries occupied by the Celts excelled in ordinary
agriculture not only during what we may call Celtic times but in
subsequent ages, and it is these countries that have furnished the
most excellent breeds of domestic animals--cattle, sheep, poultry,
dogs.
Originally an inland people, the Celts who occupied the seaboard soon
became proficient in navigation. Cæsar bears witness to their skill in
ship building, and he seems to have found no great difficulty in
collecting from the Belgic coast a sufficient fleet of ships to
transport his army and supplies to Britain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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