CHAPTER 1.

NOTICES OF BRITAIN AND ITS INHABITANTS IN ANCIENT

GREEK AND ROMAN AUTHORS.

Was Britain the Island ?—If so, Avebury may have been the Temple mentioned in the Fourth Century B.C.-Avebury only made generally known to the British Public in the Eighteenth Century-The Harp in use by the Ancient Inhabitants of Britain-They used Greek Characters, but not the Greek Language—Gold and Gold Ornaments-Torques-In Gaul and Britain the same Religion-Language nearly similar-Lost Country of LionnesseReligious services performed over the supposed Site of the submerged City of Ys-In Brittany, the alleged Site of the Palace and the Burial-Place of King Arthur Launcelot-du-Lac, Merlin, etc.-Cassiterides, Tin Islands, Britain, mentioned by Herodotus in the Fifth Century B.C.; by Aristotle in the Fourth Century B.C.; by Polybius in the Second Century B. C.; by Cæsar, Diodorus Siculus, and Strabo, in the First Century B.C.

THERE is in Diodorus Siculus' a statement which it is im

portant to examine when the primitive fanes and ancient religion of Britain are objects of inquiry. Some reasons are, therefore, now offered in support of the argument that Britain is the island, and that Avebury may be the temple of which Hecatæus had obtained vague information when he visited Syria in the fourth century B.C.2 The notice which is now to be

1 Booth's Diodorus S., 1814, vol. i. pp. 138-39.

2 I have treated the quotation as from Hecatæus of Abdera, although

VOL. I.

Hecatæus of Miletus may be meant ; in which case the account would not only be more ancient, but be still more valuable.

B

examined is introduced in no flattering terms by Diodorus, who says Amongst those who have written old stories much like fables, Hecatæus and some others mention an island, over against Gaul, as big as Sicily, under the arctic pole, inhabited by Hyperboreans, so called because they lie beyond the blasts of the north; that the soil is rich and fruitful, and the climate temperate; that the inhabitants of this island worship Apollo above all other gods, ascribe to him the highest honours, sing daily praises of him, and behave as if they were his priests; that Apollo had there a stately grove and renowned temple of a round form, beautified with many rich gifts; that there is a city consecrated to Apollo, the citizens of which employ themselves in chanting sacred hymns and tuning their lyres to the god; that the inhabitants of the island have a language of their own, but have been visited by Greeks, who had made divers gifts inscribed with Greek characters; moreover, that in this island the moon seems near the earth.

2

With regard to the island thus described, and its position, notwithstanding arguments to the contrary, I think the description is only applicable to Britain. I proceed, therefore, to consider those points that have reference to the great circular temple; to the worship of Apollo; to the use of the

1 Another translation of this passage is" There is in the island a sacred enclosure of Apollo of great splendour, and a temple worthy of note, adorned with many offerings, and spherical in shape."-Cat. Brit. Hist. vol. i. p. cxxxii.

2 By Toland, in his History of the Druids. A late writer, also of great research, and with ingenious arguments, attempts to prove that Heligoland, not Britain, is meant by Hecatæus.

ANCIENT TEMPLE OF APOLLO.

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lyre in the sacred rites; to the accumulation of rich gifts in the temple; to a native language; and to Greek inscriptions. It is not unworthy of notice that Hecatæus, as he accompanied Alexander the Great to Syria, may have derived information regarding Britain from Phoenician sources, and he would naturally feel particularly interested in the worship of Apollo, whose attributes so nearly resembled those of the Celtic god Belenus.1

With respect to the stately grove and round temple, the penitentials and early laws of Christian Britain, as well as the notices by classical authors, sufficiently establish the fact of the heathen rites being celebrated in groves; but the absence of any notice by Cæsar, Tacitus, or other ancient writers, regarding such Cyclopean monuments of the Celtic nations as Avebury, near the Roman station of Cunetio, or of Stonehenge, near the station of Sorbiodunum, is an omission that demands careful examination, and is only to be accounted for by the supposition that contempt for such rude monuments predominated over any feeling of wonder and admiration that might have been excited by the magnitude of the materials, and the extraordinary amount of labour expended in their erection.

Cæsar never reached the places in Britain just mentioned as being afterwards occupied by his countrymen, and could never have seen Stonehenge or Avebury; but possibly, even probably, he passed at least one anxious day amongst the most extensive and wonderful of all the Celtic monuments-

1 From Strabo it would appear that human victims were sacrificed at the promontory on which stood the temple

of Apollo Leucatas. They were of fered in honour of the god and to avert evil.

that day when, from ten A.M. until sunset, from the peninsula that overlooks the Morbihan Sea and the bay of Quiberon, he and his army watched the long-contested battle between the Roman fleet and the ships of the Celtic confederacy. Yet of the gigantic monuments at this spot, and in the surrounding country of the Veneti, Cæsar takes no notice. Those who have never seen the Cyclopean remains in that district, or doubt their antiquity, may nevertheless infer from the narrative of the victor that they existed, at any rate, prior to this naval action. For Cæsar followed up his success by putting the whole senate of the Veneti to death, and depopulating the country. By some writers, much weight has been allowed to the proposition that the Greek and Roman authors not having mentioned the Celtic monuments, is all but conclusive that they did not exist at the time of the Romans. The same argument, duly followed out, would prove Avebury to be a modern erection; for Avebury lay unnoticed, not only by those who wrote in Greek and Latin, but also by those who wrote in Anglo-Saxon, Norman, or English, up to the seventeenth century. Yet a high-road from London to the west, through Marlborough to Bath, passing by the mount of Silbury, and crossing the stone avenues that led to Avebury from Overton and Beckhampton, was in existence in the time of the Roman dominion' in South Britain, and continues in general use to this day.

1 C. Jul. Cæs. De Bello Gallico, lib. iii. c. 14, 15, 16.

2 This is proved by the galleries worked into and along the base of the mount of Silbury in 1849. The Via

Badonica avoided the mount. Had this mount not existed, the Roman road would have passed over its site. -Archæological Institute, Salisbury, 1849, p. 303.

Vastly superior in extent, as well as evidently of an antiquity greater than any similar monument in Britain, Avebury was nevertheless unknown or unnoticed until accidentally seen by Aubrey when following the hounds in 1648. The MSS. in which he describes Avebury was written about 1663; but it was eighty years after-viz., in 1743—that Stukeley visited, described, and published his account;' until which time this extraordinary monument may be said to have been unknown to the British public.

To return to the stately grove and renowned circular temple mentioned by Hecatæus. There exist even now, in this country, the remains of many primitive temples of that form which once were shaded by stately groves. But there is one, in particular, of surpassing size and interest, viz., Avebury. There is good reason to believe that it was in existence when Hecatæus wrote, and also that it was worthy of greater commendation if it had been better known to the historian of Abdera.

2

The next part of the passage from Hecatæus relating to the temple is that which mentions the worship of Apollo, the chanting of hymns, and accompaniment of the lyre, with which his votaries celebrated the praises of their god. There need be little hesitation in identifying the deity of the Celts, called Apollo by Hecatæus and Cæsar, with the god of day, or the sun, who was probably worshipped in Britain under the name of Bel, Belenus, or epithets somewhat similar.3

1 Sir Richard Colt Hoare's Ancient Wiltshire, vol. ii. pp. 57-65. 1812, fol.

2 Described in the chapter on "Great Circular Fanes of Britain." 3 See the articles "Bel-Baal," "Beltane."