HKB
the defunct had cherished during his life, was thrown into the flames after his death; and even, before the Roman conquest, they joined with it his favourite slaves and clients.[105]
In the time of Cæsar, the greater part of the peoples of Gaul were armed with long iron swords, two-edged (σπἁθη), sheathed in scabbards similarly of iron, suspended to the side by chains. These swords were generally made to strike with the edge rather than to stab.[106] The Gauls had also spears, the iron of which, very long and very broad, presented sometimes an undulated form (materis, σαὑνιον).[107] They also made use of light javelins without amentum,[108] of the bow, and of the sling. Their helmets were of metal, more or less precious, ornamented with the horns of animals, and with a crest representing some figures of birds or savage beasts, the whole surmounted by a high and bushy tuft of feathers.[109] They carried a great buckler, a breastplate of iron or bronze, or a coat of mail--the latter a Gaulish invention.[110] The Leuci and the Remi were celebrated for throwing the javelin.[111] The Lingones had party-coloured breastplates.[112] The Gaulish cavalry was superior to the infantry;[113] it was composed of the nobles, followed by their clients;[114] yet the Aquitanians, celebrated for their agility, enjoyed a certain reputation as good infantry.[115] In general, the Gauls were very ready at imitating the tactics of their enemies.[116] The habit of working mines gave them a remarkable dexterity in all underground operations, applicable to the attack and defence of fortified posts.[117] Their armies dragged after them a multitude of wagons and baggage, even in the less important expeditions.[118]
Although they had reached, especially in the south of Gaul, a tolerably advanced degree of civilisation, they preserved very barbarous customs: they killed their prisoners. “When their army is ranged in battle,” says Diodorus, “some of them are often seen advancing from the ranks to challenge the bravest of their enemies to single combat. If their challenge is accepted, they chaunt a war-song, in which they boast of the great deeds of their forefathers, exalting their own valour and insulting their adversary. After the victory, they cut off their enemy’s head, hang it to their horse’s neck, and carry it off with songs of triumph. They keep these hideous trophies in their house, and the highest nobles preserve them with great care, bathed with oil of cedar, in coffers, which they show with pride to their guests.”[119]
When a great danger threatened the country, the chiefs convoked an armed council, to which the men were bound to repair, at the place and day indicated, to deliberate. The law required that the man who arrived last should be massacred without pity before the eyes of the assembly. As a means of intercommunication, men were placed at certain intervals through the country, and these, repeating the cry from one to another, transmitted rapidly news of importance to great distances. They often, also, stopped travellers on the roads, and compelled them to answer their questions.[120]
The Gauls were very superstitious.[121] Persuaded that in the eyes of the gods the life of a man can only be redeemed by that of his fellow, they made a vow, in diseases and dangers, to immolate human beings by the ministry of the Druids. These sacrifices had even a public character.[122] They sometimes constructed human figures of osier of colossal magnitude, which they filled with living men; to these they set fire, and the victims perished in the flames. These victims were generally taken from among the criminals, as being more agreeable to the gods; but if there were no criminals to be had, the innocent themselves were sacrificed.