- Links: Hygieia -- Sirona
- I've attempted to keep these two goddesses
intact, though fictionalized.
-
- Peoples/tribes migrated across Europe before
and after the Christian era. My original intent was for The Pitcher
of Sirona to portray an interchange between the Gauls and the
Goths. Though I don't claim to comprehend half of what I've read,
I've included some historical links below, in case you want to
do some of your own research.
-
- Goths -- Germanic People -- Germanic Paganism -- Germanic Deities
-
- The following is as much for my
future education as it is for yours.
- History can be very confusing,
when peoples and borders keep changing.
-
- Gaul (Gallia) was a division of the Roman
Empire, including northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland
and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank
of the Rhine river. Most of Gaul was occupied by Celtish tribes,
while the Goths and early Germanic tribes occupied much of eastern
Europe.
-
- Both the Romans and the more "barbaric"
tribes were polytheistic.
-
- Some believe the Goths migrated south from Scandinavia due
to climate changes. In the 3rd century they split into two groups,
the Ostrogoths (East), and the Visigoths (West). The Visigoths
launched the first major "barbarian" invasion of Rome,
and sacked Byzantium in 267, but then suffered a defeat at the
Battle of Naissus and were driven back across the Danube River by 271. (Those of you who have
read Jean Auel's book: The Plains of Passage will recognize
this river.) The Visigoths settled north of the Danube river
and established a kingdom in an abandoned Roman province of Dacia.
They were paid a fee by the Romans to protect their borders,
but later turned on them and overthrew what remained of the Roman
Empire during the Migration Period of 300-500 AD. Though that's
several hundred years after the setting for this story, my thinking
is that there were probably smaller bands of vagrant Goth/Germanic
tribes that wandered and perhaps raided the Romans earlier, since
the Romans were trading as far north as England.
-
- It's interesting that our general usage of
Celtic and Anglo-Saxon, to refer to the peoples of the British
Isles are technically not valid.
-
- The British Isles were a major source of
tin and the Greeks had established trade with the "tin islands" by the 4th century
BC.
-
- Celt is a modern word (1707), and they are
generally considered to be the inhabitants of the British Isles,
yet the Greek historian Hecataeus in 517 BC locates the Keltoi tribe in Rhenania (West/Southwest
Germany).
-
- So the Celts (Keltoi) originated in Europe.
They occupied most of Gaul and the British Isles by the time
that Julius Caesar invaded England, which began
in 55 BC, as an offshoot of his campaigns to conquer Gaul and
"Belgium," with subsequent Roman invasions for a century.
In 43 AD, there was a major invasion of 4 Roman legions including
20,000 troops and as many auxiliaries. Hadrian's Wall was built between 122-132
AD, since the Romans never conquered the Scots (Caledonians).
-
- During the Iron Age, the Romans would annex
and control new territories by occupying the oppida, which were the first town-like settlements
through Western and Central Europe, sometimes growing around
hill forts or inside earthen walls, and probably related to commerce,
based on the trade of local resources.
-
- Germanic peoples, including Angles, Saxons, Frisians and Jutes migrated
to southern Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire around
the 5th century, and may have replaced some of the indigenous
population, or may have been assimiliated or coalesced into a
unified culture which began the kingdom of England. For some
interesting English history, read about how the French speaking
Normans
conquered Britain in 1066.
-
- In conclusion, I am once again struck by
the fluidity of regional boundaries, and even more by the migration
and assimilation of peoples and cultures, to the degree that
what we consider to be the nationality of a nation is often comprised
of foreigners who migrated there. A good example is the US, where
we consider ourselves American, while we are truly Europeans,
Africans, and Orientals. Our forefathers carried on a campaign
of genocide against the Americans, taking their land, destroying
their established culture, and nearly wiping out their genetics.
-
- Trade and commerce seem to produce positive
interchanges between "nations." However, the expansion
and growth of one people into another's territory, and the desire
to gain control of their land and resources, will always create
resistance.
-
- Cultural differences have often been considered
a threat, and major portions of ancient history are missing,
due to the eradication of conflicting beliefs. Charlemagne is
believed to have collected pre-Christian Germanic writings. It is believed
that this large collection was deliberately destroyed after his
death in AD 814. Yes, the Dark Ages, and the Church was protecting
itself.
|
