Cross-posted from Prague Diaries
Most people when they travel collect magnets, postcards, spoons; small items easily tucked into a suitcase. Me? I collect books which means the clothing side of my packing usually suffers which was the case in Ireland in which I horribly misjudged the proper clothing to wear on The Dingle Way managing to catch a cold which gave me time to read. An odd win-win to be sure, but hey, I got to rest and read while looking out a picture window at the rocky crags and cliffs, waves crashing against them higher and higher spraying those on the cliff walk. But I digress.
On the third day of the Dingle Way, I was soaked to the bone. A quick change into dry clothes and a glance out our hostel window, I could see a bookshop. It was in this tiny bookshop in Dingle, I found A Brief History of the Celts by Peter Berresford Ellis.
Now, I knew the Celts weren’t just in Ireland. That they existed beyond the islands and throughout Continental Europe and beyond, but I realized while reading this book, if the Celts had played by Roman rules or vice versa, then it may have been the Celtic Empire we studied in school rather than the Roman empire.
In light of today’s political climate, I found it interesting that the central issue between these two powers, and yes, these were the central powers of their day, along with Greece, is that the Celts believed in honor and the rule of law, the Romans believed in power. To borrow from my friend, Fallon Clark of @Fallon Writes, here’s a passage that struck a chord and describes one of the main responsibilities of the Celtic kings.
“Do you think yourself Christian if you oppress the poor?...if you enrich yourself making others poor? If you wring your food from other’s tears? A Christian is a man who never allows a poor man to be oppressed when he is by…whose doors are open to all, whose table every poor man knows, whose food is offered to all.” ~ the British Celtic bishop Fastidius in his book De Vita Christiana (The Christian Life) about A.D. 411.
Feeding the poor was not just an honorable thing to do, it was stipulated by law.
It is said the history books are written by the winners, and in the case of the Celts, this was certainly true. Caesar, and other classical writers, preferred to paint them as barbarians and uncivilized. Project much?
Yet, among the classic languages of Latin and Greek, Irish, is the third oldest language. To my own shame, I didn’t consider Irish language when I went into that bookstore. It wasn’t until I showed my new book to our Irish friend and told him where I’d gotten it that he shared, “that couple loves it when people try to speak a little Irish.” And the English in me, thought “Irish as a language?” Then, just as quickly realized, I’d considered Gaelic, but not Irish, that’s how well history has tried to make an entire civilization disappear. Thankfully, it failed. Though I know there are other civilizations who have not been so lucky, that is another discussion.
Every chapter of this book is a short, in depth dive into various aspects of the Celts from Celtic women to Celtic Art to Celtic Physicians, Farmers, Artists & Craftsmen to Celtic Religion, Myth & Legend, and History.
Backtracking a bit, I want to end with a passage from the preface.
“The ancient Celts have been described as ‘the first Europeans’…At the height of their greatest expansion, by the third century B.C., they were spread from Ireland in the west across Europe to the central plain of what is now Turkey in the east; they were settled from Belgium in the north to as far south as Cadiz in Spain and across the Alps into the Po Valley. They spread along not only the Danube valley, but Celtic settlements have been found in southern Poland, in Russia and Ukraine.”
A Czech student of mine wears a Tree of Life medallion. I commented on it once and he replied, “The Celts were everywhere.”
After reading A Brief History of the Celts, I know also that Celtic settlements have been found here, in the Czech Republic, and some are still being excavated; one of which is in a town just south of Prague. I wonder if they could use a volunteer.
Considering how much I’ve learned in around 220 pages, I’m digging into the bibliography at the back, with more of Mr. Ellis’s books as well as those he studied and read to write this one.
This wasn’t a book review in the traditional sense, I know. But I’ll end it as such. If you’re interested in and want to learn more about Europe’s ancient Celtic civilization, this book is a good start.
The amount of times of read the word Celts but never truly know who they are or where they came from. I appreciate the book review and look forward to reading it, once the waitlist at the library is shortened of course. Thank you for sharing!