Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/308

 294 STRABO. CASAUB. 197. jection to the Romans. They have a peculiar castQmjnJJieir Assemblies. If any one ma,]^s_j|n uproar or interrupts the person speaking, an attendant advances with a_ drawn jswprd, and commands him with menace to be silent ; if he persists, the attendant does the same thing a second and tjburd_time ; and finally, [if he will not obey,] cuts off from bis sagum so largeji piece as to render the remainder useless. The labours of the two sexes are distributed in a manner thejreverse~of what^tJaej^ are with us. but this is a common thing with numerous other barbarians. 4. Amongst [the Gauls] there are generally three divisions of men especially reverenced, the Bards, the Vates. and the Druids. The Bjr^s_jc^Qmpi)sed and chanted hymns ; the ^Vates occupied themselves with the sacrifices amT'the Jrtudy Q nature ; while the Druids joined to the study of nature that of moraLpJiJlQsopIiy^ The belief in the justice | or the JDruids] is so great that the decision both of public and private disputes is referred to them ; and they have before now, by their decision, prevented armies from engaging when drawn up in battle-array against each other. Alt' cases of murder are particularly referred to them. When there is plenty of these they imagine there will likewise be a plentiful harvest. Both these and the others l assert that the soul is indestructi- Jile, and Hkewisejthe world, but that sometimes fire and some- Times water haveprevailed in making great changes. 2 5. To their simplicity and vehemence, the Gauls join much folly, arrogance, and love of ornament. They wear golden _coliars round their necks, and bracelets on their ^rms and wrists, and those who are of any dignity have garments dyed and worked with gold. This lightness of character makes them intolerable when they conquer, and throws them into consternation when worsted. In addition to their folly, they have a barbarous and absurd custom, common however with many nations of the north, of suspending the-^heads of their enemies from their horses' necKson their return from battle, aHcT when they have~arrive"cT nailing them as a spec- tacle to their gates. Posidonius says he witnessed this in many different 'places, and was^ at first shocked, but became familiar with it in time on account of its frequency. The 1 By the others are probably meant the Bards and Vates. 2 These opinions are also to be found in the Pythagorean philosophy.