For weeks, the world was told to stand down. The long-feared Red Heifer sacrificean ancient ritual tied to prophecy, purification, and the construction of the Third Templewasnt happening yet.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the group photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, on Nov. 11, 2017. Jorge Silva/Reuters File PhotoCommentaryWhen

The gaming platform Roblox is displayed on a tablet in New York on Oct. 30, 2021. Leon Keith/AP PhotoLouisiana filed a lawsuit against the popular gaming platform Roblox on Aug. 14, accusing the site

The offices of Meta in Menlo Park, Calif., on July 31, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch TimesTwo Republican Senators on Aug. 14 called for a congressional investigation into Meta Platforms, Facebooks

Language is power, and the ultimate expression of this power is to control what can and cannot be said. From the beginning of organized society, those in power have sought to control the words spoken by their citizens and subjects. Whether this was done for moral, political, religious, or some other purpose, censorship has played a major role in shaping the course of civilization and history. From ancient scrolls to modern-day social media, control over words and narratives plays a pivotal part in society.Damnatio MemoriaeTorso of Akhenaten, New Kingdom Egypt, c. 1353-1336 BCE. Source: Metropolitan Museum of ArtCensorship, in its broadest term, is the suppression or prohibition of certain information or expression, and is applied to a wide range of media, including historical records, novels, films, works of art, or religious texts. It has been practiced by virtually every civilization throughout history for several reasons. Some of the earliest forms of censorship date back to ancient Egypt. During the reigns of the pharaohs, certain rulers were erased from memory due to their perceived transgressions in an act known as damnatio memoriae, from Latin meaning condemning memory.One of the most famous examples was the pharaoh Akhenaten, a ruler who shifted Egyptian beliefs from a polytheistic pantheon to one of the earliest examples of monotheism. During his reign, he began a policy of erasing the names and references to any god other than his chosen deity, Aten, the sun disk. There is still debate over how extensively this policy was enforced, although it was clear that some of the names of other gods were chiseled off monuments and other artifacts.The same fate would eventually befall Akhenaten. After his death, mentions of the pharaoh were removed from statues and monuments, and his large building projects were dismantled. Images and statues of the pharaoh were defaced. Other pharaohs suffered the same treatment, their names struck from the historical record, such as Tutankhamen and Hatsheput.Marble Head of the Emperor Commodus, Roman, c. 185-190 CE. Source: British MuseumThis process of erasing the names of leaders and other individuals was also practiced in other parts of the ancient world, including among the Hittites, the Greeks, and the Romans. More often than not, these were leaders who were disgraced or overthrown, their memories damned as a form of propaganda to justify the new regime. In ancient Rome, the emperors Caligula, Nero, Domitian, and Commodus, though their names are still remembered, so with dubious success.Nikolai Yezhov with Josef Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov, before and after Damnatio Memoriae, 1937. Source: Wikimedia CommonsRemoving individuals from the historical record continued throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern day. Probably the most famous example comes from the reign of Soviet leader Josef Stalin, who famously would have photographs altered to eliminate the presence of undesirable individuals. The most well-known example is Nikolai Yezhov, the head of the NKVD, who was executed in 1940. Any photograph bearing his image was retouched to eliminate his existence. This has also been done in Nazi Germany, communist China, and North Korea among others.The Ancient WorldThe Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David, 1787. Source: Metropolitan Museum of ArtAncient Greece was a collection of warring city-states, each with its own distinct culture and politics. These ranged from the rigid Spartans to the much more liberal Athenians, and everything else in between. Each polity placed restrictions on what its citizens would say, based on their individual cultures. No Spartan, for example, would dare to question the militant regime they lived under. Speech was much more open in Athens; however, one of the first censorship trials in history occurred in Athens. The philosopher Socrates was placed on trial not for his actions, but for his words. He was accused of corrupting the youth and was forced to drink poisonous hemlock after being found guilty. His crime was not one of action, but of thought, and his words risked undermining the stability of society.At the other end of the Eurasian continent, in 213 BCE, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China, ordered the burning of vast numbers of scrolls and books. The only exceptions were works on agriculture, astronomy, medicine, divination, and certain approved histories. This was done as a way to reset the clock, so to speak, making sure that history would begin with the Qin dynasty. Owning a book of poetry or one of Confucian philosophy was severely punished. There were also reports that he executed Confucian scholars by burying them alive, though this may be either an exaggeration if not a complete fabrication.Portrait of Qin Shi Huang, 19th-century copy of a 1609 Chinese portrait. Source: Wikimedia CommonsIn ancient Rome, the Republic created a Senatorial position known as the censor. Derived from the word meaning to judge, the censor had a number of duties, including conducting the census, or accounting of Roman citizens and their property, as well as maintaining lists of those who qualified for the equestrian and patrician classes. They also played a role in maintaining public works. Their most prestigious role, however, was the upkeep of public morals. Since they had the duty to determine who was eligible for the Senatorial class, they could also revoke this status if necessary. Though they technically had power over all citizens, they mostly focused on the equestrian and Patrician classes.Crimes that the censors could punish citizens for included, but were not limited to, improper divorces, unnecessary luxury, allowing ones fields to fall into improper cultivation, excessive cruelty to ones clients or slaves, or other improper actions that undermined Roman codes of morals. For public officials, the list of crimes that could be punished by the censor included bribery, perjury, disobedience or cowardice by soldiers, or general neglect of ones civic duties. The punishments included the removal of the individual from the Senatorial or Equestrian lists, essentially demoting them from their social status. It is from this position that we get the modern words censor and censorship.Religious CensorshipAn 18th-century edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Source: Bridwell Libraries Special CollectionFollowing the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Europe underwent profound political and cultural transformations. With the Roman government no longer able to fulfill its duties, the slack was taken up by the burgeoning Catholic Church. Even after stability was restored, Christian doctrine colored the nature of censorship and literary suppression. The most famous example was the forbidding of translations of the Bible. There is a misconception that all translations of the Bible were forbidden by the Church, with Latin being the only approved language; however, this is not the case. In certain circumstances, certain translations were approved, but these were limited in number and scope. This was mostly done to avoid faulty translations, which could lead to misinterpretations and possible heresy.The Church also attempted to ban and suppress other works, which were codified into a list known as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Books and writings found on the list were deemed heretical and threatening to the faith and were prohibited. The penalty for possessing a banned book could include excommunication from the Catholic Church. The Index included a wide range of texts, such as political and social theory and philosophy, religious treatises, and even secular love stories. Famous thinkers whose books found their way onto the list included Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, John Milton, Daniel Defoe, Voltaire, and Jean-Paul Sartre. The list was enforced, on paper if not in practice, until 1966, when it was removed from official Church canon. Today it is only used as a moral guideline and a historical document.Salman Rushdie in 1992. Source: The Los Angeles TimesIn the Islamic world, there are a plethora of laws and decrees that are meant to combat blasphemy. The religion has a prohibition on the visual depiction of a living or sentient creature, although the exact interpretation of this law is subject to considerable debate. Blasphemy, such as heretical teachings, insults against Allah or the Prophet Mohammad, or desecration of the Quran or other holy works, has been, and in some cases still is, severely punished. This has become much more extreme in scale and scope in the 20th century with the rise of numerous fundamentalist Islamic regimes. Perhaps the most famous act of censorship in the Islamic world is a fatwa, or legal ruling by the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran against author Salman Rushdie for his book The Satanic Verses, which has led to several assassination attempts against Rushdies life.The Land of the (Sometimes) FreeAnthony Comstock, US Postal Inspector and architect of the Comstock Acts, 1913. Source: Wikimedia CommonsCensorship is common in virtually every country in the world to one degree or another, including the United States. The First Amendment of the Constitution enshrines the rights of freedom of speech, religion, and the press. By and large, this principle has been upheld, at least on a national level; however, restrictions and censorship have been imposed at the state and local levels, sparking considerable controversy. Still, there have been instances where Americans were unable to express themselves fully.One of the first challenges to the First Amendment was the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Among other things, these made it illegal to publish false, scandalous, or malicious tracts against the federal government. These acts were wildly unpopular and were either repealed or allowed to expire after a few years. In 1873, the United States passed one of the first sweeping obscenity laws, the Comstock Law, which made the distribution of pornography, birth control, sex toys, or any information about them illegal through the US Postal Service. Incidentally, the law was never repealed and remains technically on the books, although its scope has been significantly reduced and is almost never enforced, except in certain specific situations.During the Cold War, fears of communism were rampant, and anything that even suggested advocating for communism was suppressed as a threat to national security. Hundreds were arrested for their writings or their beliefs, which continued well into the time of the Vietnam War. Today, one of the most significant debates surrounding censorship centers on books in public schools. Many books, especially those with LGBT subjects, have been removed from school libraries. Opponents of these measures state that this is discrimination and suppression based on sexual orientation, while proponents state that many of these materials are sexually explicit and inappropriate for young children. These bans, however, are primarily at the state and local levels.Censorship in the Modern AgePropaganda Poster urging self-censorship during World War II, 1941-1943. Source: National ArchivesIn the 20th and 21st centuries, censorship has become a heated topic of debate. Most nations have some degree of censorship, even in countries that value freedom of speech and expression. Obscenity laws prevent the viewing or distribution of certain materials in specific settings, such as banning explicit pornography in school systems or around minors in general. Pieces of media, such as films or music that contain profanity, nudity, or extreme violence, are also either outright banned on the airwaves or heavily modified for the exact same reason.Another common type of censorship limits public access to government secrets. Soldiers, government agents, and, of course, spies and intelligence agents are closely monitored to ensure they do not divulge sensitive information that could compromise national security. This is especially true in wartime, when soldiers mail is openly read and censored by superior officers to prevent the leaking of intelligence, even if done inadvertently.Political censorship remains a contentious issue in the modern era. In many countries, certain political views and parties, whether far right or far left, are banned from public discourse on the grounds that these ideologies are deemed dangerous to society at large. In certain nations, especially those with authoritarian or totalitarian governments, any criticism of the ruling regime, real or imagined, is harshly punished.Arab Spring Protesters in Tunis, 2011. Source: NPRThe rise of the internet and social media has added a new dimension to the long history of censorship. Never before have so many individuals worldwide been able to communicate on such a large scale. While this is a new frontier, attempts to censor online material have already been made. Some of these are implemented by individual companies, with terms of service that forbid certain content, and there are more subtle approaches, such as shadow banning, which restricts content without directly censoring it.National governments can also overtly control social media. China is infamous for banning numerous popular social media sites, including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest, among others. North Korea has an almost total ban on the internet, with only select individuals having online access. Social media is also highly restricted in many countries in the Middle East, especially after it was used to facilitate the Arab Spring uprisings in 2010. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and others restrict certain websites for political, religious, and moral reasons, though many citizens of these countries continue to skirt these regulations through the use of VPNs.As the internet continues to shape society at large, it represents another front in the ongoing battle between control and freedom, a conflict that has endured for ages and will persist well into the future.

One enduring phenomenon from the Wild West is its notorious gangs. The gangs appeared after the American Civil War, surfacing in hotspots like Missouri, Texas, and Arizona. These outlaws seldom stayed put but traveled far to hold up banks, stagecoaches, or raid trains.The 1860s West was a period of lawlessness that only ended with the turn of the century. Traders, settlers, and people arrived ahead of any established laws. Laws tended to be enforced by corrupt officials or frontier justice. In this vacuum, gangs like the James-Dalton Gang were formed. They brazenly operated, supported by sympathetic locals. The outlaws were tough, experienced, and heavily armed.Western Areas Became HotspotsJames Wanted Poster Source: Historic MissouriansThe Wild West gangs came about in locations marked by extraordinary situations. The James-Younger Gang hailed from Missouri, a state of the losing Confederacy.After 1865, Union troops occupied Missouri, enraging many. This helped create sympathy for the outlaws and overlooking their deeds. The James gang took advantage of this antipathy. As ex-Confederate raiders, the James brothers had excellent survival skills. They traveled far afield, even committing an 1876 bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota, hundreds of miles away.Film poster for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Source: AmazonButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids gang, called the Wild Bunch, moved about four states: Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. Their main hideout, called Hole-in-the-Wall, lay in Wyoming. The vastness of these big states aided their robberies; plus, like all the gangs, they used fast horse mounts called Quarter Horses. Combined with the Wild Bunchs cunning, these steeds let them consistently evade the law.As Western boomtowns magically sprang up, lawless hotspots followed. People arrived to build saloons, brothels, and gambling halls to cash in on the boom. Their simple goal: relieve prospectors, flushed with cash, of their coin.With little to no laws, violence and death became commonplace. Tombstone, Arizona, and Deadwood, South Dakota, are examples of boomtown bust to dust.The Most Feared GangCowboy Riding Quarter Horse Source: Wikimedia CommonsDespite the periods lawlessness and violence, particularly dreaded gangs stood above the noise. At the top stood the James Younger Gang. These men had a reputation for violent and aggressive methods. Serving as Civil War bushwhackers or guerillas, the gang used brutal tactics. Postwar, none hesitated from stealing, motivated now by money. The James Younger gangs successful robberies continued until the 1876 Northfield raid.Jesse James, Americas most famous outlaw, created a Robin Hood self-image. Unlike other gangs, he posted letters to newspapers. He proclaimed his innocence or the persecution he faced. This tactic only had limited success but did help.How Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Evaded CaptureHole-in-the-Wall Pass Entrance Source: Wikimedia CommonsThough late to the game, the 1890s Wild Bunch Gang still became (in)famous. Butch and Sundance evaded capture partly through a series of hideouts. The first was Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyomings Big Horn Mountains. This semi-valley has a narrow entrance, so anyone sneaking up would be spotted quickly. The second, aptly named Robbers Roost, lay in Utahs rugged territory and challenging to reach. Here, the gang could recuperate for the winter and carefully plan their next heists.As experienced outlaws, Sundance and Cassidy knew how to plan and execute their robberies. Each one had an escape route. A willingness to fight their way out didnt hurt either. Supportive ranchers aided the outlaws, giving them fresh horses and supplies or the occasional hiding place. Locals, like James and Daltons, gave them Robin Hood attributes. The image derived from their consistent robbing of banks and trains.These two targets were seen as bastions of wealth and power. Butch and Sundances violent actions were ignored or romanticized.When the Violent Times of the Wild West EndedFamous Gunslingers from the Wild West.The Wild Wests decline started as the U.S. government declared the frontier closed in 1890. States like Missouri, Utah, and Wyoming began harshly cracking down on outlaws. As settlements turned into established towns, the people wanted law and order. Better telegraph communications sent word of robberies ahead of what any horse could run. Posses organized much faster, anticipating the gangs moves. Even using paper checks instead of cash or gold coins ended train heists.The times changed, too, with citizens fed up with violent robberies. The bounties, dead or alive, doubled by the 1890s. The outlaw gangs didnt rest, as many kept looking over their shoulders. Very few Wild West outlaws died of old age. A new gang member, Frank Ford, ended Jesse Jamess career with a headshot collecting a $10,000 bounty. Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid fled America to Argentina in 1901 due to law enforcement pressure. The states from where theyd emerged had changed with the time, too.

The Retreat of Napoleons Army from Russia in 1812 by Ary Scheffer, 1826. Source: Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven.What really doomed Napoleons Grand Army in Russia? For over 200 years, the story has been told as a tale of General Winter freezing Europes mightiest army into defeat.In June 1812, Napoleons Grand Army, numbering between 450,000 and 600,000 troops, poured across the Neman River into Russia. But by the end of the campaign, fewer than 120,000 soldiers remained in Napoleons Grand Army.The brutal Russian winter was certainly part of the problem, but DNA analysis has since revealed an even more insidious enemy working against Napoleons Grand Army.Science Reveals the Real Killer of Napoleons Grand ArmyNapoleon and his Officers, Russian Campaign, 1812 by Jan van Chelminski, c. 19th century. Source: Christies.It turns out that disease played the most decisive role in the demise of Napoleons Grand Army.In the early 2000s, archaeologists excavated a mass grave in Vilnius, Lithuania, filled with soldiers from Napoleons Russian campaign. Years later, DNA extracted from the soldiers preserved teeth revealed two deadly infections: Salmonella enterica (paratyphoid fever) and Borrelia recurrentis (relapsing fever). These bacteria thrived amongst the Grand Army, who lived with starvation, contaminated food and water, and lice-infested clothing.Fever, delirium, and crippling weakness would have spread quickly through crowded bivouacs. Soldiers were dying by the thousands in late summer and early autumn, months before frostbite and Cossack raids became a threat. The Grand Army would have already been hollowed out by disease by the time it approached Moscow.Why Napoleons Invasion Created the Perfect Conditions for Disease OutbreakIV Corps of the Grand Army in the invasion of Russia, 1812 by Albrecht Adam, 19th century. Source: Wikimedia Commons.Napoleons ill-fated Russia campaign officially began on June 24, 1812. The Grand Army crossed the Neman River as a massive multinational force of French troops, Poles, Italians, Germans, and others. Napoleons goal was to force Tsar Alexander I into submission after Russia withdrew from the Continental System, Napoleons economic blockade against Britain.The Russians avoided battle, retreating deeper into their own territory while employing a scorched-earth strategy. They burned crops and destroyed villages, cutting off the Grand Army from access to food or shelter.When fighting did occur, such as at Smolensk and Borodino, it was costly. At the Battle of Borodino alone, both sides suffered staggering casualties, with at least 70,000 troops killed in a single day.Napoleons Grand Army grew desperate. Starving, soldiers consumed whatever food they could find, which was often spoiled or contaminated. Meanwhile, their overcrowded camps became breeding grounds for lice and filth. These conditions were perfect for the rapid spread of paratyphoid and relapsing fever. The armys size, which had been its strength, now became a liability as disease tore through its ranks.The Final Collapse of Napoleons Grand ArmyNapoleons Retreat from Moscow by Adolph Nothern, 1851. Source: Wikimedia Commons.When Napoleon finally entered Moscow on September 14, 1812, he found the city eerily empty, having been burned by its residents. By then, disease had already gutted Napoleons forces, leaving tens of thousands too sick to march or fight. Those still standing faced plunging temperatures, relentless Cossack attacks, and the deadly crossing of the Berezina River in November.The Grand Army waited in vain for a Russian surrenderbut by mid-October, with winter approaching, Napoleon ordered the retreat. When the survivors finally staggered back across the Neman in December, the hidden killer had done its work, destroying the Grand Army and dooming the Russian campaign long before winter could claim the credit.

The Celts were one of the most popular peoples of ancient Europe. In the 4th century BCE, the Greek historian Ephorus summed up the world by saying that the Scythians lived to the north, the Indians lived to the east, the Ethiopians lived to the south, and the Celts lived to the west. They occupied a very large portion of central and western Europe, and from the 3rd century BCE onwards, Celtic groups migrated significantly to the east. For a group spread over such a large area, it is worth asking: did the Celts actually have a sense of shared identity?The Different Celtic GroupsMap of Celtic Gaul. Source: Wikimedia CommonsTo help us understand this issue better, we first need to understand what exactly we mean when we refer to the different Celtic groups. There were the Celts of Gaul, also known as the Gauls or the Gallic tribes. Their territory, Gaul, roughly corresponds to a large portion of France, although the southwest portion of France was inhabited by the non-Celtic Aquitani. Further southwest, in Iberia, there were other Celtic tribes. These were similar to the Celts of Gaul in many ways, although their language was Q-Celtic, unlike the P-Celtic of the Gauls.The Britons are also recognized today as having been Celts, in as much as they spoke a Celtic language. This language, Brythonic, was P-Celtic and closely related to the language of the Gauls. The Irish, likewise, are recognized today as having been a Celtic people by virtue of their language, which was Q-Celtic like that of the Celts of Iberia.The Galatians, in Asia Minor far to the east, were descendants of Gallic tribes that had migrated there in the 3rd century BCE.Was There Any Basis for a Sense of Shared Identity?Larzac Tablet, displaying a valuable Gaulish inscription, c. 100 CE. Source: Wikimedia CommonsAs we can see, the various Celtic-speaking peoples inhabited a very large portion of Europe. Did Celts from one area see themselves as the same people as Celts from another area? Or, rather, did they simply identify as members of their own local community, with everyone outside being others? One problem with analyzing this issue is that we have very little in the way of Celtic writing. While there are plenty of isolated examples of ancient Celtic inscriptions, they reveal next to nothing about how they viewed themselves.The first thing to note is that just because they were widely spread does not mean that they could not have had a sense of shared identity. After all, the ancient Greeks were spread out over a very large area too. In addition to occupying all of Greece, they established colonies all over the Mediterranean, including the coasts of Asia Minor and the Black Sea. Yet, countless pieces of ancient Greek literature demonstrate that they maintained a sense of shared identity.Map showing the extent of Greek colonization in the Archaic Period. Source: Wikimedia CommonsSomething that helped the Greeks maintain this sense of shared identity was the fact that they continued to speak Greek and worship the Greek gods. Did the same factors apply to the Celts? Did the Celts as a whole speak the same language and have the same religion, in contrast to surrounding nations? If so, then it would not be remarkable at all for them to have identified as one people.In reality, there were a variety of Celtic languages. As we have seen, there are P-Celtic and Q-Celtic languages, and even within these groups, the languages may not have been entirely mutually intelligible. However, it does appear that Brythonic was mutually intelligible with Gaulish.Let us just focus for a moment on the Celts who definitely spoke a mutually intelligible language, such as the Gallic tribes themselves. Based on this shared language, it is entirely possible that a Celt from one Gallic tribe would have recognized a Celt from a different tribe as being a member of his own people.Celtic GodsCarlisle Castle, built in medieval times over the site of the Roman fort of Luguvalium, which preserves the name of the Celtic god Lugus. Source: Wikimedia CommonsWhat about the issue of the Celtic gods? Even if their respective languages were not all mutually intelligible, did the various different Celtic groups at least worship the same gods? The answer is complicated. In many cases, it is possible that the same god was known by different epithets in different areas, much as the Greek gods were. This makes it difficult to know if any given inscription is simply using a local epithet for a widely worshiped god or is actually referring to a distinct local god.However, at least some gods seem to have been worshiped across essentially the entire Celtic world. Lugus is one example. Inscriptions to Lugus appear mostly in Iberia, but also in Gaul. None have been found in Britain or Ireland, but place names and personal names provide strong evidence that he was worshiped in Britain. The mythological figure of Lugh in medieval Irish mythology is very likely an evolution of Lugus, showing that he was worshiped there as well.Evidence From Classical WritersBust of Julius Caesar, by Andrea di Pietro di Marco Ferrucci, c. 16th century. Source: Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe fact that at least some Celtic gods appear to have been worshiped all across the Celtic world is significant. It lends credence to the idea that Celts from one area could have identified similar traits in Celts from another region and feel a sense of shared identity. Of course, the fact that some of the Celtic languages were likely not mutually intelligible would work against this.Helpfully, there are some useful statements from certain ancient Classical writers. One of these is from Julius Caesar. In the Bello Gallico, he states explicitly that the Celts of Gaul were called in their own tongue Celtae. This directly supports the idea that the Celts of Gaul had a sense of shared identity. They called themselves by this word, but apparently did not use it for other people. This shows that they understood their fellow Gallic tribes as distinct and different from the non-Celtic peoples.Miniature of Pliny the Elder writing, by Andrea da Firenze, c. 1457. Source: British LibraryBased on this evidence and the fact that the Gallic tribes all spoke the same language, it seems very likely indeed that they had a sense of a shared identity. Of course, Caesar was only talking about the Gallic tribes, not all Celtic peoples. To what degree did this apply to the Celts of Iberia?Interestingly, there is some evidence from Pliny the Elder. Writing a century after Julius Caesar, he noted that the Celts of Iberia recognized themselves as Celts as well. He referred to the tribe of the Mirobrigenses as being surnamed Celtici. Inscriptions from Iberia have confirmed that this term was indeed used in conjunction with this tribe. If the Celts of Iberia used this term in reference to themselves, then this appears to show that they may have had the same sense of shared identity as the Gallic tribes.True, they may well not have had a completely mutually intelligible language. Yet, it is notable that the Celts of Gaul and those of Iberia both worshiped at least some of the same gods and, apparently, both referred to themselves as Celts.Did the Celts Inhabit a Small World?A Greek vase from the Vix Grave of the Hallstatt Celts, France, c. 6th century BCE. Source: Wikimedia CommonsOne argument against the idea that the Celts would have had a sense of shared identity is the idea that the world of each individual Celt was very small. The argument is that the average Celt would have only known their local community, meaning that everyone outside of that, regardless of ethnicity, would have been viewed as equally foreign.This argument, however, does not really hold up to scrutiny. In fact, both modern archaeological research and evidence from ancient documents show that the world of the Celts was not a small one. There was a well-established trade route that went up the Rhone from the Mediterranean coast and all the way to the tin deposits of northwest Gaul. Archaeology demonstrates that there was regular trade from the Mediterranean, even from as far as Britain. The Hallstatt Celts of 6th century BCE Gaul regularly traded with the Etruscans in central Italy.This was not communication between kings and princes, but between traders. Of course, we do not know exactly how much knowledge of the world the truly average Celt would have had. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that many Celts would have been familiar with the existence of other nations in the surrounding regions.Did a Sense of Shared Identity Really Exist Among the Celts?Celtes Primites, illustration for Vie De Cesar, c. 19th century. Source: Look and Learn History Picture ArchiveIn conclusion, did the ancient Celts really have a sense of shared identity? Since we have no ancient Celtic texts that describe how they saw the world around them, we cannot say for sure. However, there certainly are some indications that there was a common Celtic identity.Many of the Celts spoke mutually intelligible languages and dialects, although this admittedly does not apply to all of them. According to Classical writers, the Celts of Gaul and at least some of those of Iberia called themselves Celts, in contrast to non-Celtic groups. Contemporary inscriptions support this claim. We can also consider the evidence for at least some pan-Celtic gods, such as Lugus.Put simply, we cannot be sure that Celts from Iberia, for example, would have considered themselves to have been the same people as Celts from Gaul. Nevertheless, there is good reason to believe that they may have done so. Even if not all of the Celts shared a sense of common identity, many of them likely did.

Summertime and the livin is easy, but the parable of the Good Samaritan, coming as it does in summertime, reminds us that there is no vacation from lifes obligations. But what is the parable about?

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal assault on Israel. As 5,000 rockets slammed into civilian targets, terrorists massacred at least 1,200 Israelis, wounded about 3,500, and took 251 hostages. They