3). Ancient celtic society

Caesar gives us a reasonably objective account of Celtic behaviour and dress in the first century вс. Не tells us that the Celts lived in uppida or townships, some of which have been identified with the three thousand or so Iron- Age hill-forts of southern Britain; similar oppida existed in Europe and Galatia. Archeо- logical evidence has allowed for reconstructions of the oppida dwel­lings, such as at Butser Hill in Hamp­shire, England. These were generally circular houses with wooden walls and thatched roofs; the banqueting halls of the myths would appear to be rectangular, though this may have been a medieval adaptation of the original story.

The Celts were primarily a warrior society ruled by warrior kings, queens and aristocrats, and the myths tell us nothing of the lower classes. They grew corn and herded cattle and learnt the use of coinage from the Greeks and Romans. Religious rituals played an important role in maintaining the social hierarchy of chieftains and tribes; the myths often presented and rein­forced the sacred power of the Druidic priests, and the bards appear to have held equal respect. Both the myths and historical accounts reflect the Celtic pride of dressing up for battle: 'The Britons dye themselves with blue woad in order to appear more terrifying in battle. They wear their hair long, and their bodies are shaven except for the head and the upper lip.' (Caesar, Gallic War V). Herodian, writing in the third century ad, adds: 'As they are not used to clothes, they wear iron ornaments about their waists and necks, which they consider to be both decorative and a sign of wealth . . . they tattoo their bodies with abstract patterns and all sorts of animals.' Diodorus of Sicily, a contemporary of Caesar, describes the Celts as 'tall and muscular, with pale skin and blond hair which they highlight artificially by washing it in lime-water; they gather it back from the forehead to the top of the head and down to the nape of the neck . . . therefore the hair becomes so heavy and coarse that it looks like the mane of horses.' Classical representations of Celts conform with these literary stereotypes and archeologists have found tattoos on preserved Celtic flesh. Caesar has little to say about Celtic women, except that they were 'shared between groups of ten or twelve men'. To the Romans and ourselves this would appear barbaric, but it may well imply a matriarchal system in which women had the social privilege of a number of lovers. Certainly high-ranking Celtic women enjoyed a degree of power unknown to their classical counterparts: witness the warrior queen Boudicca, who led the first-century ad rebellion against the Roman invaders. Although we must bear in mind that the Celtic myths were probably always told from a male viewpoint, the human female charac­ters in Celtic mythology are rarely the downtrodden or faceless figures of the Greek myths, which might also suggest that, unlike in Classical Athens, free-born women formed part of the bard's audience.