CELTE, or CELTES, an ancient nation, by which most of the countries of Europe are thought to have been peopled. The compilers of the Universal History are of opinion that they were descended from Gomer the eldest son of Japhet, the son of Noah. They think that Gomer settled in the province of Phrygia in Asia; Ashkenaz his eldest son, or Togarmah his youngest, or both, in Armenia; and Riphath the second son in Cappadocia. When they spread themselves wider, they seem to have moved regularly in columns without interfering with or disturbing their neighbours. The descendants of Gomer, or the Celte, took the left hand, insensibly spreading themselves westward towards Poland, Hungary, Germany, France, and Spain; while the descendants of Magog, Gomer's brother, moving eastward, peopled Tartary.
In this large European tract, the Celtes began to appear a powerful nation under a regular monarchy, or rather under several considerable kingdoms. Mention is made of them indeed in so many parts of Europe, by ancient geographers and historians, that Ortelius took Celtica to be a general name for the continent of Europe, and made a map of it bearing this title. In those parts of Asia which they possessed, as well as in the different parts of Europe, the Celtes went by various names. In Lesser Asia they were known by the names of Titans and Sacks; in the northern parts of Europe, by those of Cymmerians, Cymbrians, &c.; and in the southern part they were called Celtes, Gauls, or Galations.
With respect to the government of the Celtes we are entirely in the dark. All we know is, that the curates, and afterwards druids and bards, were the interpreters of their laws; judged all causes whether criminal or civil; and their sentence was reckoned so sacred, that whoever refused to abide by it was by them excluded from assisting at their sacred rites; after which no man dared to converse with him: so that this punishment was reckoned the most severe of all, even severer than death itself.
They neither reared temples nor statues to the Deity, but destroyed them wherever they could find them, planting in their stead large spacious groves; which, being open on the top and sides, were, in their opinion, more acceptable to the Divine Being, who is absolutely unconfined. In this their religion seems to have resembled that of the Perses and disciples of Zoroaster. The Celtes only differed from them in making the oak instead of fire the emblem of the Deity; in choosing that tree above all others to plant their groves with, and attributing several supernatural virtues both to its wood, leaves, fruit, and misletoe; all of which were made use of in their sacrifices and other parts of their worship. But after they had adopted the idolatrous superstition of the Romans and other nations, and the apotheosis of their heroes and princes, they came to worship them much in the same manner; as Jupiter under the name of Taran, which in the Celtic signifies thunder; Mercury, whom some authors call Heus or Hesus, probably from the Celtic handl, which signifies a dog, and might be the Anubis latrans.
Celtes, latrans of the Egyptians. But Mars was held in the
Celtiberia. greatest veneration by the warlike, and Mercury by
the trading, part of the nation. The care of religion
was immediately under the curates, since known by
the name of druids and bards. These were, as Cæsar
tells us, the performers of sacrifices and all religious
rites, and expounders of religion to the people. They
also instructed youth in all kinds of learning, such as
philosophy, astronomy, astrology, &c. Their doc-
trines were taught only by word of mouth, esteeming
them too sacred to be committed to writing. Other
more common subjects, such as their hymns to their
gods, the exploits of princes and generals in time of
war, and especially before a battle, were couched in
elegant verse, and recited, or rather sung, on all pro-
per occasions; though even these were also kept
from vulgar eyes, and either committed to memory,
or, if to writing, the whole was a secret to all the
laity. The latter indeed seems the most probable, if
what Cæsar hints be true; namely, that those poetic
records were increased in his time to such a bulk, that
it took up a young bard near 20 years to learn them
by heart. Diodorus tells us farther, that these poets
used to accompany their songs with instrumental music,
such as those of organs, harps, and the like; and that
they were held in such veneration, that if in the time
of an engagement between two armies one of these
bards appeared, both sides immediately ceased fighting.
The reason of this was, that they were universally be-
lieved to be prophets as well as poets; so that it was
thought dangerous as well as injurious to disobey what
they supposed came from their gods. These prophetic
philosophers kept academies, which were resorted
to, not only by a great number of their own youth,
but also of those from other countries, insomuch that
Aristotle says, their philosophy passed from thence
into Greece, and not from Greece thither. Diodorus
likewise quotes a passage from Hecateus, which is
greatly in their praise; viz. that the druids had some
kinds of instruments by which they could draw distant
objects nearer, and make them appear larger and
plainer; and by which they could discover even seas,
mountains, and valleys, in the moon. But whatever
might be their learning, it is certain, that in process
of time they adopted several very barbarous customs,
such as sacrificing human victims to their gods, as more
acceptable to them than those of any other animals.
And Diodorus tells us of another inhuman custom they
used in their divinations, especially in great matters,
which was done by killing some of their slaves, or
some prisoners of war, if any they had, with a scymitar,
to draw the augury from the running of his blood from
his mangled limbs.
For the history, &c. of the different Celtic nations,
see the article GAUL, &c.