Source citation ledger
Gallic War
Julius Caesar
book · c. 50s BCE
Caesar, Bellum Gallicum.
These are separate Atlas meetings that cite this source. Citation is not proof.
Caesar says Britons stained themselves with vitrum. A Roman report of a dye-practice, not a pan-Celtic blue theology.
from Julius Caesar · Gallic War, c. 50s BCE
used in · sourced · culturally specific
Woad yields a blue. Caesar’s vitrum and later antiquarian “Pictish blue” are not indigo plantations.
from Julius Caesar · Gallic War, c. 50s BCE; Pliny the Elder · Natural History, c. 77 CE
associated with · sourced · documented
Dye crafts include blues from woad and indigo. Politics of cloth-color are local laws and markets.
from Pliny the Elder · Natural History, c. 77 CE; Julius Caesar · Gallic War, c. 50s BCE
associated with · sourced · documented
Celtic tradition
Woad is associated with Celtic tradition.
The dye is often hung on “the Celts” in later writing. Caesar’s Britons are his enemy-report; Irish and Welsh literatures are other files.
from Julius Caesar · Gallic War, c. 50s BCE
associated with · partially sourced · historically uncertain