Note (return) — Chapter XX
Reading edition
In religious affairs the Druids were supreme, since they alone "knew the gods and divinities of heaven."1052 They superintended and arranged all rites and attended to "public and private sacrifices," and "no sacrifice was complete without the intervention of a Druid."1053 The dark and cruel rites of the Druids struck the Romans with horror, and they form a curious contrast to their alleged "philosophy." They used divination and had regular formulæ of incantation as well as ritual acts by which they looked into the future.1054 Before all matters of importance, especially before warlike expeditions, their advice was sought because they could scan the future.