The Religion In De Bello Gallico

De Bello Gallico is an important work of Julius Caesar, the statesman of the late Roman Republic. It records Caesar's battles in Gaul, German and Britain. Though being a war history, De Bello Gallico includes a lot of religion customs, particularly Book 6, such as druids, augury, divination etc. The goal of the thesis is to discuss the relation of religion and war by analyzing theses factors. The focus of the thesis'first part is the regional customs in Book 6. In addition, Caesar has frequently mentioned fortune in De Bello Gallico. It is the main content of the second part to study Caesar's and even Roman attitude to fortune. In Caesar's mind, fortune is powerful, uncertain and human should use his virtue to fight against bad luck. The third part provides a survey on Caesar's piety to gods and concludes that his piety is doubtful. The epilogue focuses on the origin of war and religion as well as their mutual relation. The thesis'conclusion is, the impact of religion upon war has been weakened in the late Roman Republic and Romans were fighting for money, land and glory instead of gods.