Leiden University Student Repository

Driel, Claire van (2010)

Caesar en de archeologie. Een comparatief onderzoek naar C. Iulius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico en archeologische realia van de Gallische samenleving in de 1e eeuw v.C. in Frankrijk

Bachelor thesis | Archeologie (BA)

This thesis attempts to give a view of the reliability of Caesar‟s De Bello Gallico. This is done by examining the parts of the text that can be compared with archaeological information. First, the text elements that I expected to be supported by archaeological evidence are discussed, divided into four aspects: economy, religion, technology, and funerary practises. In the second chapter, I describe to what extent this evidence agrees with Caesar‟s statements. I also pay attention to the fact that the research is hindered by Caesar‟s generalisation of „the Gallic society‟, as well as the presence of very little pre-conquest data (in this thesis archaeological finds between 100-60 BC are described), because the Romans highly influenced the Gallic tribes after the conquest and a lot of the archaeological material found in Gaul are Roman remains. Finally, a clear comparison between archaeological information and Caesar‟s text is provided, after which is stated how reliable the text...Show moreThis thesis attempts to give a view of the reliability of Caesar‟s De Bello Gallico. This is done by examining the parts of the text that can be compared with archaeological information. First, the text elements that I expected to be supported by archaeological evidence are discussed, divided into four aspects: economy, religion, technology, and funerary practises. In the second chapter, I describe to what extent this evidence agrees with Caesar‟s statements. I also pay attention to the fact that the research is hindered by Caesar‟s generalisation of „the Gallic society‟, as well as the presence of very little pre-conquest data (in this thesis archaeological finds between 100-60 BC are described), because the Romans highly influenced the Gallic tribes after the conquest and a lot of the archaeological material found in Gaul are Roman remains. Finally, a clear comparison between archaeological information and Caesar‟s text is provided, after which is stated how reliable the text actually is.Show less

Author

Driel, Claire van

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Supervisors

Meer, L.B. van der

ECTS Credits

10

Language

nl