ancient writers also refer, namely, the Bards, the Seers, and the Druids.
His narrative is apparently an expansion, in the light of his reading and
philosophical meditation, of information supplied by previous writers,
notably Posidonius. The latter, too, appears to have been Julius Caesar's
chief authority, in addition to his own observation, but Caesar does not
appear expressly to indicate the triple division here in question. The
account which he gives is important, and would be even more valuable than
it is had he told us how far what he describes was written from his own
personal information, and the degree of variation (if any) of religious
practice in different districts. However, Caesar's statements deserve
the closest consideration. After calling attention to the division of
the Gaulish aristocracy into two main sections, the Druids and the
Knights, he proceeds to speak of the Druids. These were occupied, he
says, with religious matters, they attended to public and private
sacrifices, and interpreted omens. Moreover, they were the teachers of
the country. To them the young men congregated for knowledge, and the
pupils held their teachers in great respect. They, too, were the judges
in public and private disputes: it was they who awarded damages and
penalties. Any contumacy in reference to their judgments was punished by
exclusion from the sacrifices. This sentence of excommunication was the
severest punishment among the Gauls. The men so punished were treated as
outlaws, and cut off from all human society, with its rights and
privileges. Over these Druids there was one head, who wielded the
highest influence among them. On his death the nearest of the others in
dignity succeeded him, or, if several were equal, the election of a
successor was made by the vote of the Druids. Sometimes the primacy was
not decided without the arbitrament of arms. The Druids met at a fixed
time of the year in a consecrated spot in the territory of the Carnutes,
the district which was regarded as being in the centre of the whole of
Gaul. This assembly of Druids formed a court for the decision of cases