Ethics and Principles

We don’t have any information about the ethics and morals of Cisalpine Gaul specifically. But as part of the Gallo-Roman world, we can have an idea of a “code of ethics” that can be applied in our contemporary daily-lives.

 

The base of Roman religion is cultivating Piety and avoiding Superstitio. 

 

Piety: The idea that the Gods are essentially benevolent, and that the interactions between humanity and the Divine requires human action first. A sense of duty and reverence towards the Divine and to what they represent. 

 

Superstitio: An irrational fear of the Gods, disturbed concepts of magic and fanatical ways to portrait and approach religious philosophies. An example of this would be an irration fear of approaching the Gods and receive their anger. This goes against the principle of Piety, and is a form of Superstitio that doesn’t have place on our modern spirituality. 

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More about roman principles can be found here: Roman virtues - NovaRoma

 

On the Gaulish side, we don’t know exactly which principles were the core of their social and religious life. What we have today is a result of comparative studies, reconstruction and personal interpretations.

Some of the basic guidelines includes: 

• Loyalty 

• Generosity 

• Honesty 

• Justice

• Duty 

• Compassion  

These principles are explained in more detail on modern Gaulish Polytheism’s sources like Rextoues Galation – Toutâ Galation (toutagalation.org)

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Philosophical schools such as the Pythagorics, Neoplatonics and Stoics can also be of great value for the contemporary Cisalpine paganism: The immortality of the soul from the Pythagoric school, The self-control and fortitude from the Stoics, and the Neoplatonic ideas of the cosmos and divine providence are one of the main ideas that can be explored on Cisalpine/Gallo-Roman paganism. 
 

For more: Philosophy in Gaul - Deo Mercurio