Roman Writers on the Celts

Critically evaluate the persona of roman letters authors to our understanding of antediluvian patriarch Celtic culture.

The contribution of roman authors to our understanding of the superannuated Celtic culture is a vital one, but it is also problematic. Their contribution is vital because the Celts kept no written records of their own so the roman written sources provide an invaluable insight into aspects of ancient Celtic culture. The writings of the Roman authors also supplements and helps us reckon the archaeological remains of the material culture of ancient Celtic society. Celtic archaeological finds also help us sort the accuracy of the Roman written accounts. However, the contribution of Roman authors is problematic. Roman accounts are highly selective and tell us close to what the Romans were interested in and therefore provide a limited, non-white coverage of the richness of Celtic culture. Other biases in our Roman accounts comes from the personal agendas ( ends), experiences, and the intended audiences of the Roman authors.



Even the nature of the musical genre of writing creates bias; as a rule the deeds of Historians (such as Julius Caesar, Polybius, Livy and Tacitus) tend have a clearer political purpose compared with the workers of the ethnographers (such as Strabo, Posidonius and Pausanius) whose goals were to record the culture they saw. All our Roman sources have varying degrees of bias and whilst their contribution is invaluable, their accuracy must be carefully tested.

The Roman writers give us an comical contemporary commentary on the Celtic culture they encountered in Europe. The Celts kept no written records of their own, so the Roman commentary, but flawed, is vital in providing us with the names, places, tribes of Celtic Gaul and Britain, as well as aspects of Celtic society that are tricky to interpret from material remains alone (such as customs, values, attitudes and sacred beliefs). For example the Roman authors writings on religon and religious...If you want to lay a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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