Known by “more civilized” parts of the world as “barbarians” because of their lack of knowledge of the Greek language, the Gauls were a simple, yet fierce, people group, scattered over a large area in the Mediterranean and divided into three main tribes.  In 4th century B.C., kings of well-established realms—Alexander the Great, for example—allowed Gallic warriors to be mercenaries, which were soldiers who were recruited to fight for a foreign army.  These mercenaries’ interactions with a wide array of kingdoms led to the introduction of the concept of a structured monetary system to the Gallic world.  By 3rd century B.C., the Gauls’ bartering system included the practice of trading coins made of gold, silver, and bronze in exchange for goods.  What appeared on the face of the coins—such as the head of Philip II of Macedonia—was heavily influenced by the Greeks.  Around 2nd century B.C., however, coinage began to reflect the Gallic culture’s own gods and tribal leaders, marking a new, more independent period in the history of the Gauls; during this time, the merchant class also emerged, and the monetary system expanded greatly. By 1st century B.C., images of war and weaponry were introduced to the face of Gallic coins, supporting the Gauls’ claim of being a “warrior people.”

 

  Interestingly enough, the Gauls were not so much concerned with the actual face value of the coin, but rather the size of the coin.  For example, when the Romans tried to push their coinage system consisting of extremely large coins on the Gallic areas they had conquered, the Gauls physically cut the coins into smaller pieces because they simply focused on what the coin represented, rather than the monetary value itself.  The Romans found this to be very strange, considering their own culture heavily emphasized the preciousness of the metals used to make the coins, and the preciseness of transactions when making business deals. 

 

  A symbol of great wealth and high status from about the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D., the torc was made out of either a single piece of stiff metal, such as gold, or a few pieces of metal twisted together, and typically worn around the neck of influential men.  Gods in the polytheistic Celtic religion were also often seen with torcs somewhere on their beings, emphasizing the power and importance that the object represents.  Torcs were usually slightly open in the front and of substantial weight; because of these aspects, it is thought that the torc was made to be worn as a permanent piece of jewelry.  The most iconic torc is found on “The Dying Gaul,” a statue of a naked Gallic warrior whose only material possession is the ring of metal found around his neck.  Ancient historian Polybius notes how Gallic warriors—specifically the Gaesatae in the Battle of Telamon, 225 B.C.—went bravely into battle adorning themselves with nothing but their bare skin and fiery confidence.  Some simply thought Nature would shield them from the throes of death, according to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus.  “The Dying Gaul” symbolizes how, though the Gauls were fierce, passionate warriors, approaching battle with only a torc as protection against the brutal weapons of war led, ultimately, to their defeat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With such a wide span of territory marked as “Gallic,” it would be ignorant to conclude that “all” Gauls lived a certain lifestyle.  It is safe to say, however, that most Gauls were farmers under a clearly defined system of land tenure; though individuals owned a certain piece of land, they shared grazing areas for their animals, and the freedom to forage where necessary, with their neighbors on common lands.  Family farms and artisan centers were the places where the majority of the Gallic people carried out life, while the upper class—educated citizens or military officials—resided in oppida; residents of an oppidum lived off the rent and taxation of the lower classes.  Different tribes throughout the region functioned under their own constitutional rules, allowing the hierarchy manned by the military to flourish.

 

  Typically a fortified settlement, an oppidum was mainly used for economic purposes, such as crafting materials for export and acting as a storehouse for imported goods.  Often times, oppida (plural of oppidum) contained immense structures built on raised surfaces, and were surrounded by a wall made of stone and wood; this made it very easy to distinguish an oppidum from a hill fort.  A hill fort, a much more primitive type of settlement used by the Gauls (and those who came before them), was typically established on a hill, mostly because digging and rearranging earth was much easier to do on an elevated surface.  Dirt walls and deep ditches meant a hill fort’s main purpose was to be a fortress—especially during war—while an oppidum functioned more as a legitimate city.  Oppida did not become popular with the Gauls until 2nd and 1st centuries B.C., during the La Têne period. 

 

  Though there are very few early accounts written about them, druids were a very prominent group of people in pre-Roman Celtic society.  As educated individuals, druids fulfilled the roles of poets, doctors, law makers, and, most importantly, religious leaders.  Appearing to be somewhat cultish, the religious druids were believed to have performed animal—and in many cases, human—sacrifices.  Despite the lack of tangible proof for this barbaric practice, different accounts of Caesar, Lucan, Cicero, and Suetonius all mention it, thus the reason why human sacrifice is immediately associated with the druids of ancient Gaul.  As intermediaries between the Celtic people and the Celtic gods, specifically Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, Minerva, and Sucellus, druids played a crucial role in the functioning of society.  They oversaw the functioning of festivals and feast days, and regulated the worship at numerous shrines found across the Gallic territory.  Julius Caesar is one of the first to describe druidic practices in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico (written about 50 B.C.), but the accuracy of his account is questionable; there is no surviving evidence of any religious texts possibly used by the Gauls, so the extremeness of their execution rituals and the specificities of their religious practices are not known for certain.