Why were the Druids of the British Isles such a threat to their Roman occupiers? From the time of pre-Roman Britain, the Druids were regarded as the educated, priestly class among the Iron Age Celtic civilisations of Gaul (France), Britain, and Ireland. They are best known as spiritual leaders, mystics, medicine men, poets and scholars of natural law. The Druids were also regarded as adepts and seers in their day, and among their many prophesies was the prediction of the coming of Saint Patrick. Little is known about the Druids of old as they left behind very little in terms of written or visual records because of the dominance of the oral traditions, but their legend lived on through story tellers who passed down their history over generations, and there is some representations that can be derived from stone carvings and other pagan relics. There were some accounts of Druids left behind by Greek and Roman artists and authors and later from medieval writers. Other cultures regarded them as heretics, accusing Druids of practicing pagan witchcraft and the occult. Modern archaeological have uncovered evidence of their pagan the religious practices, as well as other disturbing historical reports suggesting Druids were involved in both human sacrifice and cannibalism. Their legend can be seen today’s Britain, where you have a Council of British Druid Orders. Why did Romans view them as a threat during their occupations of Gaul and Britain? Perhaps Rome saw the Druidic version of paganism as competition to its own cultural and spiritual hegemony. That trend surely intensified as Rome transitioned into to Christianity across the Empire. The Druid presence in Britain can be traced back to at least 200 BC, but because of Roman prohibition and persecution their numbers tailed off to near extinction. The ancient story of Vortigern, recounts one possible surviving Druids in Britain after the Roman conquest. The remaining Druids survived into 700-800 AD, at which time Christianity emerged as the dominant institution in the British Isles – sealing the fate of Druids for almost 1,000 years. Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans Traditionally, British history has been regarded as starting with the Roman Conquest. Yet this is to ignore half a million years of prehistory that still exert a profound influence on British and Irish life today. In Britain BC, Francis Pryor sets the record straight. Aided in recent years by aerial photography and coastal erosion (which has helped expose such sites as Seahenge), and by advances in scientific techniques such as radiocarbon dating and wood analysis, archaeologists have discovered compelling evidence for a much more sophisticated life among the Ancient Britons than has been previously supposed. Far from being woad-painted barbarians, the earliest inhabitants of the British Isles had developed their own religions, laws, crafts, arts, trade systems, farms, and priesthood long before the Romans' brief occupation. Examining sites from the great ceremonial landscapes of Stonehenge, Avebury, and the Bend of the Boyne to small domestic settlements, and objects from precious ritual offerings to the tiny fragments of flint discarded by toolmakers, Francis Pryor, one of our leading archaeologists, has created a remarkable portrait of the life of our ancestors, in all its variety and complexity. His authoritative and radical re-examination of Britain and Ireland before the coming of the Romans makes us look afresh at the whole story of our islands. An authoritative and radical rethinking of the history of Ancient Britain and Ancient Ireland, based on remarkable new archaeological finds. British history is traditionally regarded as having started with the Roman Conquest. But this is to ignore half a million years of prehistory that still exert a profound influence. Here Francis Pryor examines the great ceremonial landscapes of Ancient Britain and Ireland -- Stonehenge, Seahenge, Avebury and the Bend of the Boyne -- as well as the discarded artefacts of day-to-day life, to create an astonishing portrait of our ancestors. This major re-revaluation of pre-Roman Britain, made possible in part by aerial photography and coastal erosion, reveals a much more sophisticated life in Ancient Britain and Ireland than has previously been supposed. A druid was a member of the educated, professional class among the Celtic peoples of Gaul, Britain, Ireland, and possibly elsewhere during the Iron Age. The druid class included law-speakers, poets and doctors, among other learned professions, although the best known among the druids were the religious leaders. Very little is known about the ancient druids. They left no written accounts of themselves, and the only evidence is a few descriptions left by Greek, Roman, and various scattered authors and artists, as well as stories created by later medieval Irish writers.

• published: 26 Apr 2015
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