Friday, January 31, 2014
Five Scribes: Interview with Tor Sr. Editor, Claire Eddy
Five Scribes: Interview with Tor Sr. Editor, Claire Eddy: Claire Eddy is a senior editor at Tor/Forge Books and has been with the company for 28 years. She began editing science...
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Caesar's Invasion of Celtic Britain; Part 1— Apollo's Raven
Celtic Tradition of Raven: I have fled in the shape of a raven of prophetic speech (Taliesin). The raven offers initiation—the destruction of one thing to give birth to another. For deeper understanding, the heroine must journey through darkness to emerge into morning's new light.
Celtic Britain Setting
The unpublished historical fantasy, APOLLO’S RAVEN, is envisioned to be the first novel in a trilogy that spans from 24 to 40 AD in Celtic Britain, Gaul (modern day France), and Rome prior to the invasion of Claudius in 43 AD. Though Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain occurred 80 years earlier in 55 and 54 BC, there is archaeological evidence that Caesar’s invasion was not a momentary diversion from his conquest of Gaul, but was instead an effort to establish dynasties in the two most powerful tribes of southeast Britain who would owe their loyalty to Rome.
The next series of posts will summarize historical and archaeological evidence of possible events that precipitated the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, commencing 80 years earlier with the invasion by Julius Caesar. The political unrest of competing tribal rulers provided the backdrop for the trilogy about the heroine Catrin, destined to become warrior queen of her Celtic kingdom and the lover of the great-grandson of Marc Antony.
Caesar's First Invasion Celtic Britain
Planning
In 55 AD, Caesar was anxious to invade Britain because powerful chieftains had dispatched auxiliaries to secretly abet the Gauls in their war against Rome. Most of Caesar's limited information was derived from traders. Thus, he wanted to learn more about the island's size, the names of tribal leaders, their military state and organization, and the harbors suitable for landing larger vessels. He dispatched Commius, a king of the Atrebates tribe from Gaul, to impress upon the Briton leaders the need to cooperate with the Romans, whose general would soon visit them in person.
As Caesar prepared his fleet for invasion from a port near modern day Boulogne France, news of his intentions were conveyed by traders to Briton leaders. In response, some Celtic tribes from southeast Britain sent envoys promising to give Caesar hostages and to acknowledge the suzerainty of Rome. Encouraged by their willingness to negotiate, Caesar sent the agents back home.
Roman Landing
In late summer at midnight, Caesar disembarked 80 ships, sufficient to transport two legions (about 10,000 soldiers). He left instructions for 18 ships to transport the cavalry further north on the coastline. When his first vessels reached the British shores early the next morning, the whole line of hills (modern day Dover Cliffs) was crowned with Briton warriors. There was little space between the sea and rising white cliffs from which spears could easily be hurled down. As landing was impossible, Caesar directed his fleet seven miles north to an open, flat expanse of shingle beach. Celtic horsemen and charioteers followed Caesar’s ships on the hilltops as they sailed up the coastline.
- Coastal White Cliffs Near Dover
Battle with Celtic Horsemen
Caesar's forces had difficulty getting ashore as a result of Celtic warriors battling them on land while his men fought in shallow waters. Laden with heavy accoutrements, Roman troops were forced to jump overboard into the channel without knowledge of the bottom. While trying to maintain their footing in the surf, the Romans had to fight the Briton warriors who outmaneuvered them on land using trained horses and fighting from chariots.
At first, the Romans panicked in battle, but Caesar then relied on warships to hurl hot fire of sling-stones, arrows, and artillery at the Celtic troops, driving them from their point of vantage. Caesar recounts that an eagle-bearer from the Tenth Legion emboldened his comrades by leaping into the water and shouting, “I, at any rate, shall not be found wanting in my duty to my country and general.”
- Shingle Beach near Dover Cliffs
The battle was fiercely contested between the Romans and Britons. The Romans found it impossible to keep in formation, while the Celtic warriors seized very opportunity to dash in with their horses at isolated groups of soldiers struggling with the difficulties of landing. Once the Romans were firmly on land, their troops charged and routed the Britons.
Vanquished in battle, Celtic tribal leaders sent envoys to Caesar with promises of hostages and submission to his orders. Accompanying these envoys was Commius, who, it will be remembered, had been sent into Britain to herald Caesar’s coming.
(To be continued)
References:
Julius Caesar, translated by F. P. Long, 2005. The Conquest of Gaul. United States: Barnes & Noble, Inc.
John Manley, 2002. AD 43—The Roman Invasion of Britain. Charlston, SC: Tempus Publishing Inc.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Apollo's Raven: Celtic Cultural Identity: Art, Language, and Hiera...
Apollo's Raven: Celtic Cultural Identity: Art, Language, and Hiera...: http://www.linneatanner.com/blog/celtic-cultural-identity/
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Celtic Traders, Chieftains, and Warring Raiders
There are no final truths. The scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right question —Claude Lèvi-Strauss.
Introduction
This is part 1 of the Ancient Celtic Mystique, titled as such because any knowledge of the Celtic people is primarily derived by indirect accounts: Roman and Greek writers, archaeological finds, and their mythology. The epic historical fantasy, SPIRIT WARRIOR CHRONICLES [First unpublished novel, APOLLO’S RAVEN; Second unpublished novel, RAVEN'S FIRE], is set in Celtic Britain 24 AD—a time when powerful Celtic tribes in continental Europe were under direct Roman control, whereas Celtic dynasties loyal to Rome had been established in southeast Britain. The political unrest between British tribal rulers provides the backdrop to the tale about the heroine, Catrin—a spirit warrior destined to meet the great-grandson of Marc Antony and to become queen of her Celtic kingdom.
- Summit White Cliffs Britain
To understand the Celtic Mystique, one must understand the history of a powerful Celtic people who dominated Europe for almost 500 years. The following series of posts will delve into Celtic history, culture, and religious beliefs.
The Celtic Mystique
The Celtic Mystique
The Celtic Mystique conjures images of magic, warriors, castles, and animal spirit based on the rich mythology of a people who at one time spread from the British Isles across continental Europe to Russia and Turkey. The history of the Celts has been derived, in part, from their symbolic lore. An example is the ‘Arthurian’ myth of a king with a predestined envoy. Unfortunately, the Celts have also been saddled with the image of being barbarians who were civilized by Rome on which the Western civilization was based.
Yet the Celts dominated Europe for over 500 years, and there is no doubt their presence had a profound impact on European culture.
Who were the Celts?
In 5th Century BC, the Greek writer Ephoros described the Celts as one of the four great barbarian peoples, together with the Scythians, the Persians, and the Libyans, who lived beyond the confines of the Classical Mediterranean world. They were called Keltoi or Galatae by the Greeks and either Celtae or Galli by the Romans. Their homeland was known to lie north of the Alps.
Written and archaeological evidence suggests by 500 BC the Celts occupied lands stretching from the Iberian Peninsula to the upper Danube. It is unclear how the Celts viewed themselves outside their tribal communities, but they were a distinct racial group who had similar material culture, social structure, art, religious beliefs, and language. Beginning in 450 BC, these people moved across Europe and became the Celtic tribes in Britain. Both archaeological finds and later legends strongly suggest British Celts had a strong contact with Greece. Many European personal names are similarly derive from ancient Celtic worlds.
Limited Sources of Evidence
The Celts left few written records about their world except for funerary inscriptions. Knowledge of their world comes from a variety of indirect sources: accounts of Greek and Roman writers; the later vernacular literature of surviving Celtic societies in the post-Roman period; and artifacts from archaeological digs. One of the primary shortcomings of historical accounts was the bias Greeks and Romans held of Celts as wild and savage people. Vernacular sources were mostly written in the Middle Ages in the Christian environment and were solely concerned with myths and legends of Wales and Ireland.
- Statue of Dying Celtic Gaul
Historical Chonology
The historical chronology of Celtic history can be roughly divided into two periods:
- Halstatt period (750 – 450 BC), also known as the Age of the Princes
- La Tène period (450 BC – AD 100)
Halstatt Period
The earliest distinctive Celtic culture appeared in 6th Century BC toward the end of the European Iron Age. The Halstatt Period, named after an excavation site in Austria, was noted for the large number of rich burials and hill-fort settlements of ‘princedoms’ scattered across an area near the headwaters of several major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine, and the Saône. The period became known as the Age of Princes because of the elaborate and rich burial sites of local chieftains or local aristocracy which have been excavated.
La Tène Period
At the beginning of the 5th Century BC, the Halstatt princedoms were replaced by wealthy warrior societies further north, which extended from northeastern France to Bohemia. The material culture and artistic style called La Tène—named after the excavation site in Switzerland where it was first identified—became synonymous with the Celts. The artifacts during the La Tène period (450 BC - 100 BC) indicated that not only was Central Europe populated with Celts, but the people in these regions were wealthy, had an aristocracy, and high standard of living. With these cultural conditions in place, the people evolved into an appreciation of art and developed a spiritual side to their nature.
- British Celtic Helmet
To be Continued
The next series of posts will delve deeper into the Celtic history, warrior culture, and spiritual beliefs.
References:
Steve Blamires, Magic of the Celtic Otherworld: Printed 2009, Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury, MN.
Steve Blamires, Magic of the Celtic Otherworld: Printed 2009, Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury, MN.
Stephen Allen, Celtic Warrior—300 BC - AD 100: 2001 Osprey Publishing, New York.
Claude Lèvi-Strauss, The Raw and the Cooked: Mythologiques (1990), 7.
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