Completed Critique Celts Busts

[Hans]

the blue tatoos of the celts are not tatoos at all, were war paint meaning that were not permanent neither too much detailed

Giovanni, are you sure? As far as I am informed, the only source of "blue" on skin is Ceasar during his short visit of Britain. "omnes vero se Britanni vitro inficiunt, quod caeruleum efficit colorem" which could be translated as a war paint very roughly. This inficiunt means normaly "staining" in the meaning of "inserting". Also Cesar did not use the correct word for (blue) woad, therefore it is quite uncertain what he exactly wanted to describe.
Herodian mentioned it for the Picts only, and about 200 years later.

Britons are not Celts. If blue paint or tatoos, whatever, would have been used in the Middle-Latene-Wars in Italy, Greece and Asia Minor or if Cesar would have seen it in the Gallic Wars or any of the other Greek or Italic Historians, why did they not mentioned it? The Blue Warpaint Myth is really based on a singular sentence by Ceasar, that's all.

H.

 

[gioazz]

Giovanni, are you sure? As far as I am informed, the only source of "blue" on skin is Ceasar during his short visit of Britain. "omnes vero se Britanni vitro inficiunt, quod caeruleum efficit colorem" which could be translated as a war paint very roughly. This inficiunt means normaly "staining" in the meaning of "inserting". Also Cesar did not use the correct word for (blue) woad, therefore it is quite uncertain what he exactly wanted to describe.
Herodian mentioned it for the Picts only, and about 200 years later.

Britons are not Celts. If blue paint or tatoos, whatever, would have been used in the Middle-Latene-Wars in Italy, Greece and Asia Minor or if Cesar would have seen it in the Gallic Wars or any of the other Greek or Italic Historians, why did they not mentioned it? The Blue Warpaint Myth is really based on a singular sentence by Ceasar, that's all.

H.

Hi Hans,

I wish I was as sure as you on the blue mystery.

Indeed the myth is coming from that sentence of Caesar, and on this myself and many more before me have depicted the celts with Blue war paint.

As for the meaning of inficiunt, I have to disagree, Cicero, writing around the same time as Caesar uses compungo to mean tattooed—barbarum, et eum quidem, ut scriptum est, compunctum notis Thraeciis

Latins (from what I remember at school and from my dictionary..) gives the meaning of inficio as to immerse in a pigment, dye, to impart a colour to, tint etc, as well as some metaphorical meanings. There is no mention of tattooing.

I think that therefore there is no evidence that Caesar was saying that they were tattoed , but rather that they were stained.

So to sum up, I agree, that Celts may have not be covered in blue paint, even though Ceaser said that about the Britons and was there (I was not..) but I disagree on your interpretation of the word inficio.

Thanks for this very constructive comment, I love this kind of discussions.

Thanks

Giovanni

 

[Hans]

I disagree on your interpretation of the word inficio

Fully accepted. My latin is only sparse and I have to trust my old dictionary...

H.

 

[Mike Stevens]

Well done sir!