Druids Procession, Nedlands

Druids Procession, Nedlands

Battle, Britain, British resistance, Britons, Caractacus, Caratacus, Cartimandua, Catuvellauni tribe, Celtic, Celtic revival, chieftain, Claudius (10BCE-54CE), conquest, druids, druidism, Emperor, execution, exoneration, float, imprisonment, invasion, Izzy Orloff (1891-1983), military prisoner, Nedlands, neo-druidism, pagan, parade, pardon, procession, Roman Emperor, Roman Senate, Rome, speech, Togodumnus, trial, WA, Western Australia

This black and white photograph, taken by WA photographer Izzy Orloff in 1924, depicts a horse-drawn float taking part in a Druids procession in Perth in 1924. Being re-enacted on the float, the banner suggests, was the trial of Caractacus before the Roman Emperor. Caractacus was a chieftain of the British Catuvellauni tribe who, with his brother Togodumnus (until he was killed in battle), led the resistance to Roman Conquest in the first century AD. Following Claudius’ successful invasion of Britain in 43AD, Caractacus went into exile. He was imprisoned years later by Cartimandua in Wales and handed over to the Romans, who sentenced him to execution. Caractacus was allowed to address the Roman Senate before his execution and is reputed to have made such an impression on Emperor Claudius that he was pardoned and permitted to live peacefully in Rome. The Roman invasion of Britain sought to stamp out druidism. However, there is some evidence that druids, or members of the priestly class in Celtic society, continued to exist in Ireland at least throughout the early medieval period (See for example, Philip Freeman, "Druids" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, Michael Gagarin (ed.), Oxford University Press, 2010, <http://www.oxford-greecerome.com/entry?entry=t294.e401>, Accessed 6 May 2011).

Orloff, Izzy

State Library of Western Australia

Izzy Orloff collection; BA1059/929, State Library of Western Australia, online media reference 012135D.

1924

State Library of Western Australia

Photographic Print