Chapter XIX
Reading edition
ACCESSORIES OF CULT.
TEMPLES.
In primitive religion the place of worship is seldom a temple made with hands, but rather an enclosed space in which the symbol or image of the god stands. The sacredness of the god makes the place of his cult sacred. Often an open space in the forest is the scene of the regular cult. There the priests perform the sacred rites; none may enter it but themselves; and the trembling worshipper approaches it with awe lest the god should slay him if he came too near.
ALTARS.
IMAGES.
The Gauls, according to Cæsar, possessed plurima simulacra of the native Mercury, but he does not refer to images of other gods. We need not infer from this that the Celts had a prejudice against images, for among the Irish Celts images are often mentioned, and in Gaul under Roman rule many images existed.
SYMBOLS.
CULT OF WEAPONS.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Footnote 953: (return) Lucan, Pharsalia, iii. 399 f.Note 2 · Footnote 954: (return) Dio Cass. lxii. 7; Tac. Ann. xiv. 30.Note 3 · Footnote 955: (return) Strabo, xii. 51. Drunemeton may mean "great temple" (D'Arbois, Les Celtes, 203).Note 4 · Footnote 956: (return) Antient Laws of Ireland, i. 164.Note 5 · Footnote 957: (return) Holder, ii. 712. Cf. "Indiculus" in Grimm, Teut. Myth. 1739, "de sacris silvarum, quas nimidas (= nemeta) vocant."Note 6 · Footnote 958: (return) Livy, xxiii. 24; Polyb. ii. 32.Note 7 · Footnote 959: (return) Cæsar, vi. 13, 17; Diod. Sic. v. 27; Plutarch, Cæsar, 26.Note 8 · Footnote 960: (return) See examples in Dom Martin, i. 134 f.; cf. Greg. Tours, Hist. Franc. i. 30.Note 9 · Footnote 961: (return) See Reinach, "Les monuments de pierre brute dans le langage et les croyances populaires," Rev. Arch. 1893, i. 339; EvNote 10 · Footnote 962: (return) Rh[^y]s, HL 194; Diod. Sic. ii. 47.Note 11 · Footnote 963: (return) Rh[^y]s, 197.Note 12 · Footnote 964: (return) Joyce, OCR 246; Kennedy, 271.Note 13 · Footnote 965: (return) Lucan, i. 443, iii. 399f.Note 14 · Footnote 966: (return) Cicero, pro Fonteio, x. 21; Tac. Ann. xiv. 30. Cf. Pomp. Mela, iii. 2. 18.Note 15 · Footnote 967: (return) O'Curry, MS. Mat. 284; Cormac, 94. Cf. IT iii. 211, for the practice of circumambulating altars.Note 16 · Footnote 968: (return) Max. Tyr. Dissert. viii. 8; Lucan, iii. 412f.Note 17 · Footnote 969: (return) Antient Laws of Ireland, iv. 142.Note 18 · Footnote 970: (return) Rev. Arch. i. pl. iii-v.; Reinach, RC xi. 224, xiii. 190.Note 19 · Footnote 971: (return) Stokes, Martyr. of Oengus, 186-187.Note 20 · Footnote 972: (return) See the Twenty-third Canon of Council of Arles, the Twenty-third of the Council of Tours, 567, and ch. 65 of the CapiNote 21 · Footnote 973: (return) Mabillon, Acta, i. 177.Note 22 · Footnote 974: (return) Reinach, Rev. Arch. 1893, xxi. 335.Note 23 · Footnote 975: (return) Blanchet, i. 152-153, 386.Note 24 · Footnote 976: (return) Justin, xliii. 5; Strabo, xii. 5. 2; Plutarch, de Virt. Mul. xx.; Livy, v. 41.Note 25 · Footnote 977: (return) Cormac, 94.Note 26 · Footnote 978: (return) Keating, 356. See also Stokes, Martyr. of Oengus, 186; RC xii. 427, § 15; Joyce, SH 274 f.Note 27 · Footnote 979: (return) LL 213b; Trip. Life, i. 90, 93.Note 28 · Footnote 980: (return) O'Curry, MS. Mat. 284.Note 29 · Footnote 981: (return) Keating, 49.Note 30 · Footnote 982: (return) Jocelyn, Vita S. Kentig. 27, 32, 34; Ailred, Vita S. Ninian. 6.Note 31 · Footnote 983: (return) Gildas, § 4.Note 32 · Footnote 984: (return) For the whole argument see Reinach, RC xiii. 189 f. Bertrand, Rev. Arch. xv. 345, supports a similar theory, and, accNote 33 · Footnote 985: (return) L'Abbé Hermet, Assoc. pour l'avancement des Sciences, Compte Rendu, 1900, ii. 747; L'Anthropologie, v. 147.Note 34 · Footnote 986: (return) Corp. Scrip. Eccl. Lat. i. 122.Note 35 · Footnote 987: (return) Monnier, 362. The image bears part of an inscription ... LIT... and it has been thought that this read ILITHYIA origiNote 36 · Footnote 988: (return) Roden, Progress of the Reformation in Ireland, 51. The image was still existing in 1851.Note 37 · Footnote 989: (return) For figures of most of these, see Rev. Arch. vols. xvi., xviii., xix., xxxvi.; RC xvii. 45, xviii. 254, xx. 309, xxiiNote 38 · Footnote 990: (return) See Courcelle-Seneuil, op. cit.; Reinach, BF passim, Catalogue Sommaire du Musée des Ant. nat.4 115-116.Note 39 · Footnote 991: (return) Reinach, Catal. 29, 87; Rev. Arch. xvi. 17; Blanchet, i. 169, 316; Huchet, L'art gaulois, ii. 8.Note 40 · Footnote 992: (return) Blanchet, i. 158; Reinach, BF 143, 150, 152.Note 41 · Footnote 993: (return) Blanchet, i. 17; Flouest, Deux Stèles (Append.), Paris, 1885; Reinach, BF 33.Note 42 · Footnote 994: (return) P. 30, supra.Note 43 · Footnote 995: (return) Hirschfeld in CIL xiii. 256.Note 44 · Footnote 996: (return) RC xii. 107; Joyce, SH i. 131.Note 45 · Footnote 997: (return) Blanchet, i. 160 f.; Muret de la Tour, Catalogue, 6922, 6941, etc.Note 46 · Footnote 998: (return) View of the State of Ireland, 57.Note 47 · Footnote 999: (return) RC xx. 7; Martin, Études de la Myth. Celt. 164.Note 48 · Footnote 1000: (return) IT i. 206; RC ix. 144.Note 49 · Footnote 1001: (return) CM xiii. 168 f.; Miss Hull, 44, 221, 223.Note 50 · The earliest temples of the Gauls were sacred groves, one of which, near Massilia, is described by Lucan. No bird built in it, no animal lurNote 51 · Sacred groves were still used in Gallo-Roman times, and the Druids may have had a preference for them, a preference which may underlie the wNote 52 · The old idea that stone circles were Druidic temples, that human sacrifices were offered on the "altar-stone," and libations of blood pouredNote 53 · Professor Rh[^y]s is disposed to accept the old idea that Stonehenge was the temple of Apollo in the island of the Hyperboreans, mentioned bNote 54 · Lucan describes realistically the awful sacrifices of the Gauls on cruel altars not a whit milder than those of Diana, and he speaks of "altNote 55 · The existence of images among the Celts as among other peoples, may owe something to the cult of trees and of stones set up over the dead. TNote 56 · The number of existing Gallo-Roman images shows that the Celts had not adopted a custom which was foreign to them, and they must have alreadNote 57 · "Idols" are frequently mentioned in Irish texts, and there is no doubt that these mean images.977 Cormac mac Art refused to worship "idols,"Note 58 · For the British Celts the evidence is slender, but idolatry in the sense of "image-worship" is frequently mentioned in the lives of early saNote 59 · If the native Celts of Ireland had images, there is no reason to suppose, especially considering the evidence just adduced, that the Gauls, Note 60 · As has been seen, some purely Celtic images existed in Gaul. The Gauls, who used nothing but wood for their houses, probably knew little of Note 61 · Incidental proofs of the fondness of the Celts for images are found in ecclesiastical writings and in late survivals. The procession of the Note 62 · The images and bas-reliefs of the Gallo-Roman period fall mainly into two classes. In the first class are those representing native divinitiNote 63 · To the images of the second class is usually attached the Roman name of a god, but generally the native Celtic name is added, but the imagesNote 64 · Images of the gods in Gaul can be classified by means of their symbols—the mallet and cup (a symbol of plenty) borne by the god with the hamNote 65 · Here some reference may be made to the Celtic cult of weapons. As has been seen, a hammer is the symbol of one god, and it is not unlikely t