Image: from the Texas Coritani Iron Age Living History Group.
“Nearly all the Gauls (Celts) are of a lofty stature, fair and ruddy complexion: terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troupe of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single Gaul if he called his wife to his assistance who is usually very strong, and have blue eyes; in rage her neck veins swell, she gnashes her teeth, and brandishes her snow-white robust arms. She begins to strike blows mingled with kicks, as if they were so many missiles sent from the string of a catapult. The voices of these women are formidable, even when they are not angry but being friendly.”
—
Ammianus Marcellinus, 4th century Roman (of Greek origin) soldier and historian.
An open-minded scholar for his day with famous observations about both pagan and christian fanatics. From the Res Gestae that “no wild beasts are so deadly to humans as most Christians are to each other.” Too true today even.
“Marcellinus writes of Christianity as being a pure and simple religion that demands only what is just and mild, and when he condemns the actions of Christians, he does not do so on the basis of their Christianity as such.”
