Traces of Celtic Population and Beliefs in the Roman Provinces of the Central Balkans

ed. by R. Haeussler and A. C. King. Aberystwyth 2017.

What is Celtic religion? And does it survive into the Roman period? This multi-authored volume explores the 'Celtic' religions in pre-Roman and Roman times. It book brings together new work, from a wide range of disciplinary vantages, on pre-Christian religions in the Celtic-speaking provinces of the Roman Empire. The twenty-six chapters are the work of international experts in the fields of ancient history, archaeology, linguistics, epigraphy and Celtic studies. It is fully illustrated with b&w and colour maps, site plans, photographs and drawings of ancient inscriptions and images of Romano-Celtic gods. The collection is based on the thirteenth workshop of the F.E.R.C.AN. project (Fontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum), which was held from the 17th to the 19th October 2014 in Lampeter, Wales.

uring the 4 th century and at the beginning of the 3 rd century BC, the Carpathian Basin witnessed an eastward and southward extension of the area inhabited by Celtic communities. Their advance was slow, in successive phases that lasted several generations, and can be noted in the distribution and chronology of the cemeteries from the mentioned area. One result of this colonisation is the appearance of some new communities characterised by the cultural amalgamation of the newcomers with the indigenous populations, which developed new ways of constructing and expressing their collective identities 1 . At the same time, the "colonists" 2 established different social, political or economic relationships with different indigenous populations of the Balkans. This article discusses some practices that can be related to the cultural interactions between the aforementioned communities and the ways in which these connections can be identified through the analysis of material culture from the eastern and southern Carpathian Basin, and from the northern and north-western Balkans. In this case, Abstract -The result of the colonisation of the eastern and southern part of the Carpathian Basin by Celtic communities was the appearance of some new communities characterised by the cultural amalgamation of the newcomers with the indigenous populations, which led to the construction of new collective identities. At the same time, the "colonists" established different social, political or economic relationships with different indigenous populations from the Balkans. This article discusses the practices related to the cultural interactions between the aforementioned communities and the ways in which these connections can be identified through the analysis of material culture from the eastern and southern Carpathian Basin, and the northern and north-western Balkans.

Kelto-Römische Gottheiten und ihre Verehrer. Akten des 14. F.E.R.C.AN.-Workshops Trier, 12.–14. Oktober 2015., ed. by K. Matijević (Pharos 39), 2016

This paper re-examines all Celtic divine names attested in Latin inscriptions of Roman Dalmatia. Contrary to current opinion, it is argued that Epona and Camulus are most probably not mentioned in the epigraphy of ancient Salona. The article analyses inscriptions of the area which are thought to be associated with Gaulish Taranis / Taranus, and also discusses the provenance of worshippers of “Celtic” cults in the province.

Continuity and Innovation in Religion in the Roman West, Vol 1, ed R. Haeussler & A. C. King, 2007

Under the Roman Empire, polytheist religions interact and integrate in a drastically changing environment resulting from military occupation and urbanisation and from the development of a range of social groups that were part of empire-wide hierarchical networks. In light of the extent of sociocultural change, particularly in the Julio-Claudian period, could pre-Roman Celtic and other Iron Age religions survive? How did Celtic religion in the western provinces adapt to suit Roman provincial societies? Can we recognise 'relics' of Celtic religion in the Roman period? What do we know of the evolution, origin and raison d'etre of local religions in the Roman West? Considering such questions helps to improve our methodological framework for interpreting the evidence.

American Anthropologist 96: 584-605., 1994

in R. Haussler and A. King (eds), Celtic Religions in the Roman Period: Personal, Local and Global. Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2017

This multi-authored book brings together new work, from a wide range of disciplinary vantages, on pre-Christian religion in the Celtic-speaking provinces of the Roman Empire. The chapters are the work of international experts in the fields of classics, ancient history, archaeology, and Celtic studies. It is fully illustrated with b&w and colour maps, site plans, photographs and drawings of ancient inscriptions and images of Romano-Celtic gods. The collection is based on the thirteenth workshop of the F.E.R.C.AN. project ( fontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum), which was held in 2014 in Lampeter, Wales. celtic studies publications CSP-Cymru Cyf celtic studies publications CSP-Cymru Cyf 9 7 8 1 8 9 1 2 7 1 2 5 0 1 3 9 9 5 ISBN 978-1-891271-25-0 cover Celtic Religions Cocidius knockout terfynol.indd 1

IN: Fraude, Mentira y Engaños en el Mundo Antiguo, ed. by Franciso Marco Simón, Francisco Pina Polo and José Remesal Rodríguez. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona (Colleccio Instrumenta, vol. 45), pp. 35-54, 2014

Did druids really exist? Did Celts perform human sacrifice? The aim of this paper is to scrutinise our sources on Celtic religion. We can see that our sources are not only unreliable, but they were also consciously used to manipulate the readers’ image of Celts. Rome’s long-standing fear of the Galli had made way for a fear of the druids by the 1st century A.D. The Romans were increasingly interested in the Celts/Galli in the 1st century B.C., catalysed by Caesar campaigning in Gaul and Britain. But despite first-hand knowledge, authors used obsolete topoi. The reasons for this changed through time and the ‘Celts’ became increasingly instrumentalised. This leads us to another important question: can we use these Graeco-Roman sources for the study of Celtic religion? Are the information on deities, rituals, priesthoods, re-incarnation and Pythagoreanism reliable? These are some of the questions addressed in this paper.