Paganism in Roman Britain
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- Опубліковано 18 гру 2022
- Check out Ronald Hutton discussing this lecture and your unanswered questions on our brand new podcast "Any Further Questions?' available on Apple and Spotify
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What was religion like in Roman Britain? What pre-Roman deities persisted? Which new gods came with Romans?
This lecture looks at the evidence: inscriptions, statues and figurines, carvings and all the impediments of ritual, as well as the testimony of hundreds of burials. It shows how the Romans developed the cults of native deities such as Sulis and Belatucadros, and imported their own official divinities such as Jupiter and Mercury and mystery religions such as that of Mithras.
A lecture by Ronald Hutton
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/p...
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This "Ronald Hutton" is my favorite Doctor, even more so than Tom Baker.
I love it to find another timelord reference here. 😄
David Tennant was the best in my opinion.
Who?
There is a strong Jon Pertwee vibe going on!
The camp is high with this one for sure! Love his humour and knowledge
I love it when the gods of algoritms gives you a gift like this! Would never have thought to look up this subject and lecture otherwise, but I'm so glad I clicked on it - this is fascinating and masterfully presented!
Most universities (AND MUSEUMS!!) in the UK - and, in the U.S., as well as most other countries - have great lecture series' and some universities (Yale, Stanford and some other, English, universities, although, its not AS common for them to upload an entire, semester - or quarter - long class, as it is for them to upload lecture series with various guest professors - which is done, frequently, by the PENN museum in Philadelphia, the Oriental Institute, The Met, the British museum, Gresham College, IAS, in the States and the IAR - i hooe I got that right - in the UK - the British Schools at Athens, Cairo and Rome and Ankara, as well as the American Schools of the same, and many more, and they ALL have UA-cam channels with Tons of lectures!! Yale and Stanford, however, are two universities the UA-cam channels of which I KNOW upload SOME classes, and UCL, as well as some other British universities, do, as well, AND, THERE'S THE ADDED BENEFIT OF THE FACT THAT, IF THERE IS AN ENTIRE CLASS UPLOADED, YOU KNOW THAT THAT PROFESSOR IS GUARANTEED TO BE AN AMAZING, OUTSTANDING LECTURER!!! There is, also, if you like ART, and/or ART HISTORY, our - the U.S.' - National Gallery, in D.C., has many lecture series' and, each year, a different visiting, world class, lecturer doing a 4 - 6 part lecture series on their specialty, and they are, almost always, OUTSTANDING!! MARY BEARD DID A 5, OR 6 -?, PART SERIES ON ART/HISTORY OF, WHAT ELSE, THE ROMAN EMPIRE (IT WAS FABULOUS !!), BTW, SHE ALSO DID A GREAT SINGLE ONE, ON THE SAME SUBJECT, AT STANFORD, WHICH IS ON THEIR CHANNEL! OH! U.C.BERKLEY HAS MANY AMAZING ONES - AND SERIES,' AS WELL; AND UCSD HAS A CHANNEL CALLED UCTV, WHICH HAS MANY, MANY, FABULOUS LECTURE SERIES, GUEST SYMPOSIUMS AND, OCCASIONALLY, A CLASS. GRESHAM COLLEGE IN THE UK HAS AN AMAZING CHANNEL, FULL OF LECTURE SERIES, AND OXFORD - AND, ESPECIALLY, CAMBRIDGE - HAVE SO, SO MANY GREAT SERIES' ON THEIR CHANNELS! IF YOU LOVE LECTURES - ESPECIALLY HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY...AND, WELL, ANY NUMBER OF OTHER SUBJECTS, ACTUALLY - MATHS, PHYSICS, PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCES, TOO, YOU WILL, LIKE MYSELF, BE MADE SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY BY THE WEALTH OF GREAT INSTITUTIONS OFFERING HUGE NUMBERS OF LECTURE SERIES' ON UA-cam!! OH!! I ALMOST FORGOT HARVARD AND HARVARD'S PEABODY MUSEUM, AS WELL AS THEIR NEART EAST AND SEMITIC MUSEUM LECTURES, BROWN UNIVERSITY, MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY, IN THE UK, U OF M, IN THE U.S., AS WELL AS THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT DENVER, AND JUST THE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER. THERE'S ALSO, FOR ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANCIENT HISTORY, ESPECIALLY, THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, OXFORD'S ASHMOLEAN, etc., etc., etc.,!! I was SO UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY WHEN, YEARS AGO, I DISCOVERED THIS!!!
- PLEASE, HAVE FUN! I GENUINELY HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY THESE RESOURCES AS MUCH AS I DO/HAVE!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND TAKE CARE!!
MUCH LOVE, FROM LOS ANGELES 😊🥳
Me too!
@@michelerenea6477 Thank you for your generosity in sharing these resources!
@@michelerenea6477 I also love it when the gods suddenly makes you think about a lecture you watched months ago, and you then click on it and realize someone gave you a treasure trove of a comment full of recommendations. Thank you!
Hoorah! Ronald Hutton, he could talk about old socks and remain engaging and enthralling.
100% agree. Love him!!!
I was just thinking that I could listen to this man share his knowledge all day every day. I’m going to have to look for more of his lectures.
Always like hearing Ronald Hutton on any topic he has studied. He provides so much information and presents in a way one can follow and appreciate.
American here... you Englanders have a real treasure in Ronald Hutton. can we borrow him a few?
Wonderful lecture! Professor Hutton is an excellent teacher, expertly keeping our attention and interest focused on this fascinating subject.
I love his kind of Englishman.
Prof. Ronald Hutton is always a pleasure to watch and listen to.
Dr. Hutton is amazing. I wish I could meet him in person and thank him for sharing his talents.
I am lucky to have met and spoken to him a few times in London.
Love listening to him. He makes every topic fun and relatable.
This man is a treasure!!
Professor Hutton never disappoints! Thanks for this engaging lecture.
Another wonderful lecture from Dr. Hutton.❤
….Dr. Hutton is that rarest of gifts to students of history : An exceptional scholar whose enthusiasm and love for his subject is infectious ….
I visited an Orthodox Christean church in Greece in the early 70s where parts of peoples' bodies which were injured or diseased had tiny replicas purchased and hung up in the church for relatives when praying for recovery. Interesting to hear these also found in Roman temples in Britain.
Interesting to examine to what extent the medieval cult of the Catholic saints took the place of all these pagan gods and goddesses-I sort of think of old fashioned Catholicism as a way of having all the charms of polytheistic worship while still maintaining that you are monotheistic!
Yes, when he described the “gods club” in the temples, I thought “like a church with all different saints.”
A nice point. I have often thought about this too.
Hutton addressed this in one talk. He said theres no evidence for it, apart from in Ireland.
@whiggles9203 They're saying that the saints fill that same household deity role, not necessarily that specific pagan gods became saints. Which is kind of true, sainthood is not really a Christian concept
King Louis XIV built temples to Greek gods, really interesting.
Haven't watched a lecturer this engaging since Robert Sapolsky! Thank you Professor Hutton - I'd love to sit down with you over a couple of pints some day!
Me too.
I absolutely adore finding lectures like this online, thank you for sharing!
This professor is brilliant and I wish I had taken classes from him. It was so moving at the end the things that he said, mixing science with mysticism
Thank you for this fascinating, informative talk. I love the connection the professor makes with people through the centuries.
Can listen to Ronald Hutton all day :) Love this
Ronald Hutton (now a well deserved Professor!) has never disappointed in either his lectures or his published works. The subjects he deals with are not easy to communicate as there is a dearth of hard evidence, and what is left to us is 'open to interpretation', the theories emanating from these assemblages tending to tell us more about the priorities and idées fixes of more recent academic consensus (or those who taught them!) than those of the then-contemporary population in antiquity. The various Welsh Saints' cults give an interesting take on localism and rituals, for instance!
Ronald's scholarship, intellect and enthusiasm are quite remarkable!
Thanks again!
Excellent! Professor Hutton is so charming!
Thoroughly enjoyed this lecture AND the narrator! Thank you
Professor Hutton is a great speaker and a great mind. It's a pleasure to listen to his talks.
Great lecture, thank you for making it available to all of us.
Fun lecture made my day much better
Charming and very funny - I really enjoy watching Professor Hutton give his speeches…
I bought his book Stations of the Sun about British traditions years ago.
Thats where I discovered that, along with the druids, a lot were fanciful Victorian inventions. All those flowers and folk songs. Im sure traditions were much more visceral and in line with the often banned football matches (too many deaths and injuries) like the one still held in Derbyshire.
Just because some were Victorian inventions (like a lot of modern witchcraft stuff), others are older or based on older stuff.
@Helsby
But modern 'Druidism' mostly is.
If it’s in your blood and you live close to the natural cycle and you have practiced purifying spirit (zen for instance). You just get it. You can reinvent
It's fascinating how similar Shintoism from earlier Japanese practice is to Roman polytheism.
The Kami (spirit/deities) are developed in much the same way, and the people's attitudes towards them are also highly inclusive with a worshipful practicality and devoid of any dogma or scriptures.
hi! I'm reading your book Pagan Britain! I picked it up in Glastonbury as you were recommended as the most interesting and clear writer on the subject. I am enjoying it so much bc you see the people behind the data. That's what I would like to do with studying the diaspora of myth, too
Thankyou so much for the privilege of hearing this wonderfully erudite man!
This was tremendous! My thanks to the college and to Prof Hutton for bringing this to YT.
Thank you so very much for this video lecture... Informative and very interessting...
What an excellent talk, from a marvellous honest speaker.
I love that this guy is still rolling out lectures ❤
Saw this randomly on my page and feeling very happy to find this wonderful professor Hutton. Thank you. I too come from near Stonehenge.
Wonderful! You can find more of Professor Hutton's lectures and upcoming events at www.gresham.ac.uk/speakers/professor-ronald-hutton
I LOVED that moment in Britannia. It is among my favorite scenes. Very beautiful ritual.
A wonderful lecture from a poetic historian.
Thank you very much indeed Professor Hutton. Absolutely fascinating, as well as relaxing. A relaxed student makes for a better "sponge", I think. Many thanks, also, Gresham College.
Very interesting and engaging, always enjoyable to listen to Prof Hutton
I enjoyed this lecture immensely, thank you
what a treat. Thank you.
This ending of Saturnina standing besides Anne, and Magnius standing besides you, expressed as a feeling, deserves a tablet of its own to be put somewhere at the original site or the museum. For it was no coincidence. The image and feeling around are beautifull, and if it had not been so, I would have never, ever learned about it. Thank you, send my regards to Magnius.
I love this I am so happy I got to see one of this great teachers lectures.
Wonderful lecture.
well done. really informative.
Fascinating and rather moving talk.
How absolutely entertaining and enlightening. Thank you 🌹
With someone with the same last name and the same passion with the history of religions and other mysterious past events, I really want to meet Mr. Hutton and see if we have any family ties 🤷🏼♀️❤️
I could listen to this dude all day, well I have lol
Great lecture.
Why did the native Gallic language disappear from Gaul but Celtic language survived in Roman Britain ? ( Breton arrived in France from Britain after the Romans had left )
I don't think anyone knows, but it may indicate that Britain was less thoroughly Romanized than Gaul.
Possibly significant:
-in Western Europe, Britain was last in and first out of the Roman Empire. It has even been suggested that this was a distant cause of our contemporary ambivalence about our relationship with Europe. In any event, Gaul was part of the Roman Empire for around 500 years, while Britain was only part of the Empire for about 350 years. Hence there was more time for Gaul to be Romanized and Latinized.
-Also, the parts of Roman Britain that had probably become the most Romanized and where Latin was most likely to have begun to replace Celtic speech, the most urbanised and closest to the Continent were in the lowland South and East. These were exactly the parts that were subsequently conquered first and most thoroughly by the Germanic Anglo-Saxons, and Latin speech and Roman civilisation there replaced by Germanic. The upland areas of the North and West which the Anglo-Saxons conquered later and less thoroughly, if at all, were less urbanised and less Romanized, so Celtic rather than Latin speech still predominated there.
@@whitepanties2751 What I find even more interesting is that the Franks who later invaded Gaul and gave it their name, and the Normans, who gave their name to another part of it, lost their native languages and spoke what was a descendent of the Latin tongue.
@@whitepanties2751 Not sure 'conqured' is still considered the right word when discussing the Saxons.
@@bearhustler if you look at the latest archeo genetic studies you will understand that there was a substantial population inflow and replacement of locals.
In “Food in England “ Dorothy Hartley mentions a belief that the meat of an animal that died in fear would be unpalatable. Perhaps the sacrificed animals benefited from this less than altruistic motive.
Our local farm/farm shop firmly believes that meat from animals who have lived well and died as stresslessly as possible will be sweeter and my experience bears this out. He is my main supplier!
It’s a well known fact that the meat of a stressed animal taste different!
Today they even build slaughter houses in ways that reduce stress on the animal and it has absolutely no idea of what’s about to happen to it when they trigger the bolt pistol!
From now on I am a big fan of Count Dracula, I mean of Prof. Hutton.
😈
Thank you for such an informative presentation. I loved watching it. However, one tiny correction, it’s Tol-KEEN, not Tol-KIN or Tol-key-in. That’s how Professor Tolkien pronounced it.
Great stuff!
That is great lecture!
I alway knew Cunomaglus as 'The Hound Lord', much more dramatic than 'Lover of Dogs'.
I thought this was a great lecture but I was confused when he said Christians were the first to revolt against the idea of worshipping the emperor. I may be mistaken, but I thought the Jews were doing that long before?
One thing Professor Hutton doesn’t mention, and is quite obvious, is that the ancient religion of Britain was one of venerating trees. The name Druid itself a mispronounced version of Derwydd, an agglutinate word made of elements Der=oak (or perhaps, more broadly, tree) and Wydd=knowledge. So something approximating to knower of trees. It’s interesting that idolatry wasn’t so present in the religious practices of the Druids, but was made so by the Romans after their annihilation. It makes me wonder while the Druids certainly believed in gods and had names for them were their beliefs and practices more akin to Shintoism; that they were essentially animists who believed that spirits were infused with the nature around them.
We don't know, but Oaks are not the only trees. there are trees that live by the river and surely have a place in any pantheon.
@@inregionecaecorum the Welsh for oak, derw, comes from the PIE daru, meaning tree. We still see this morpheme in modern languages, mostly Slavic: Russian; derevo= tree. I would suggest that the ancient Britons exalted the oak to an extent that it’s name simply meant The Tree. Such was its importance in their belief system. So the common interpretation of Druid/Derwydd to mean Knows the Oak may not be accurate. I would suggest it meant They Who Know Trees.
Druids probably were animists, yes. He does point out that we don't know anything for sure about prehistoric British religion. The idea of venerating trees comes from linguistic archaeology and is subject to debate. Druí isn't a mispronunciation, it's Irish, so you might want to look at the relationship with "Duir" and the rest of the medieval Book of Ballymote, particularly the Auraicept na-Éces, which is where most of the information about trees comes from. As Hutton is a practising Druid, I'm sure he's familiar with the Oghamic sources. "Gwyddon" in Welsh means both Wizard and Scientist.
@@inregionecaecorum Ovid's Metamorphoses, particularly #10 goes into detail about Greek tree lore.
@@TreforTreforgan in both Welsh and Irish words for "wood" and "letters" are linguistically related. Wood was an important resource, so an expert in the properties of wood and the use of language was considered to be a wise person.
Great closing.
Ask Sulis if you don’t know where your towel is.
wonderful
15:00 - weird description of Maponos. Musician deity on the continent? Except from the healing shrine at Chamalières, hardly known on the continent at all.
LOL Guy would totally say the Romans took over completely. Always fascinating! He's such an interesting speaker :)
This chap is hilarious. Really enjoyed the lecture. What a tragedy that we have lost all these gods and knowledge of the associated religion and cults. Christianity is so dull in comparison.
It sure is as tradagey.
One remaining mystery. What sort of knot is Ronald using to tie his tie?
Brilliant
I have a lot of respect for Hutton, but at around 9:00 he falls into the habit of assuming that any Celtic deities known on the continent and in Britain (Epona, Maponos, etc) were brought to Britain by the Romans. Yet, as Huttons says, there is absolutely no way to know this. Caesar and others seem to believe that the Druids of Gaul had communication/training/whatever in Britain, and surely some of the more widespread deities (Epona in particular) would have been known. Perhaps many deities were already shared.
There must be a prog rock band called Maponos, no?
Very much enjoyed. They are with us, belief not necessary. In fact, they may not be real at all. But still the human spirit can experience or need.
I am now wondering whether there were Romans who hated the idea of the Empire because they did not want Roman culture to be constantly watered down by the addition of new areas of influence.
Of course being British I am thinking about how the Brexit campaign was predicated upon the idea of Britishness and not wanting it to be diminished by outside influences. From what you are saying here it seems as though the Roman imperial culture was a lot more inclusive and multi cultural than the British Empire ever was wherein the whole idea seemed to be to 'civilize' ie Christianize brown and black skinned peoples around the planet.
Edit: maybe that's why the Roman Empire lasted much longer than ours !?!
There was some hostility in Rome to new ideas from Greece and opposition to Romans learning and speaking their language. Some also experienced culture shock from watching Greek comedies in which masters and slaves spoke over-familiarly. The senator Cato (the Elder) ended every speech, on whatever topic, with "Carthage must be destroyed!"
I thought that some evidence of pre-Roman human sacrifice in Britain had been found. This was a fairly widespread practice in Europe, even the Romans resorted to it occasionally, in times of great crisis. Isn’t it safe to assume that the Britons worshipped their own local forms of Celtic gods? Their languages, at least, were Celtic ones and they had other Celtic cultural practices before the Romans arrived.
My understanding opinion is divided on human sacrifice, as the archaeological evidence is maybe suggestive of it or maybe it was just executed criminals and war prisoners.
Could we not make an educated guess by the writings about temples in Rome? If they are modeled on the temples they knew in Rome, they should be similar.
The Celts believed in reincarnation so there could be some ancient Vedic influence/s there? Apparently there could have been looking into it.
'The Druids of the ancient Celtic world have a startling kinship with the Brahmins of the Hindu religion and were, indeed, a parallel development from their common Indo-European cultural root which began to branch out probably five thousand years ago.'
Imagine people who respected and were even open to other religions... oh wait, that was almost everyone until monotheisms rotted our brains. Lol
OK, But I Still Like Tom Baker. ❤😂🎉😅😊😅😊❤.
👏👏👏
👍
You justify the existence of youtube.
Thanks to Hanna for making me aware it’s the gods of algorithms 😢and not 😮 the algorithm demons to whom👿 I had invoked inappropriately in the past❤🎉❤
It’s getting dark so it’s time for me to come out. 😂😂😂
So why is Britain saying its a Christian country when it WAS Pagan .
Uh, the Roman's cutting down the sacred groves of local deities was not a demonstration of respect. It's difficult to know whom can be trusted in such a discussion.
The Romans saw the Druids as a continuing threat to Roman rule and disliked their sacrificial practices.
They were generally tolerant of other religious practices.
@@Wotsitorlabart The Romans "disapproved" of foreign blood-rites, but enthusiastically endorsed gladiatorial events to the death (which, by all accounts, they had inherited from the Etruscans) for the bloodthirsty amusement of the masses. 🙄
There are several places in Devon with Nymet and Nympton in their name. This means Sacred Grove. North Tawton was the site of a large Sacred Grove.
Whatever the nutters who these days dress up as pretend Druids might say the real ones were deeply unpleasant.
We know virtually nothing about the Druids, their existence is only attested by a few, mostly second hand, Roman writers.
Plenty of evidence for human sacrifice in Pre Roman Britain.....But then again, it was not till the Christian take over or the Roman Empire that the “Games in the Arena” were stopped.
A more accurate statement...." when the Roman Emperor adopted Christianity as a national religion"... as to human sacrifice, do we really have facts to back up it stopped?....After all, there were Roman Christians before this....and public executions...have continued into the modern era.
There is plenty of evidence that MIGHT indicate human sacrifice, but most historians and archaeologists keep an open mind on the matter. We have to be careful not to regard such evidence in the light of assumptions already made.
Strange title. The Romans were "pagans".
"Paganism", I guess that includes the Christian religion as well!
🌜🌚🌛
In other words, they ate halal meat.
Well, probably ate pig too - so Halal slaughtered haram meat?
6:05
gangstar
Even Ronald fears the mob
Those mother goddesses are suspiciously greys!!so are many celtic gods !
Or, much more likely, vice versa……
Gealic gods.
@@theshamanarchist5441 thank U kev 🐆 I am Shaman ,+ bless U ➕
@@kevleppard9119 Big up and all power to you bredren. 🌱
@@theshamanarchist5441 thank you man , lots o luck ☘, we lost Nik Turner in 2022, check him he was one of the few shaman I knew of, only person to ever record an album in the great pyramid,! 🎶 🗻
Wrong title it should be Roman paganism in Christian Britain .
Yes, and Christianity eradicated all other faiths. That is what is going to happen again, with another fundamentalist religion.
Virtually Zero! The Britons were already Christian by the time Rome had become Christian. Rome had its first taste of Christianity thanks to Linus, who was Brythonic. The First Church in Rome was British (Now known as the Welsh by English speakers).
Thanks mate that was great