The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c11.s2.22

v1.c11.s2.22

The question whether the Indo-European period knew a regular priesthood, or whether the householder was still his own priest, is impossible of decision, in the absence of any identity of name in the different speeches. The identity of the Indian Brahman with the Latin Flamen is not beyond reasonable doubt,² but the exact force of the terms is doubtful, and in any case the possibility of separate development is considerable in the case of so partial a similarity. The origin of the priesthood has been seen in the need of confederations of clans for those to care for the worship of the guardian deity of the federation, and in the Greek Selloi of Dodona, who with unwashed feet served Zeus, has been seen such a family; the name has also been compared with the Latin Salii, but without cogency. In Roman religion we find from a very early period groups of priests, and a strong priesthood—possibly not of Indo-European origin—existed among the Celts,³ and also among the Prussians. It is probable that Caesar⁴ is wrong in denying such a priesthood to the Germans: Tacitus,⁵ who was possessed of better information, records it, and that it developed in the period between the two writers is at the least not probable. The existence of an Aryan priesthood is of course certain from the close coincidence of Indian and Iranian names. But the evidence is clearly insufficient to decide anything for the state of the earliest Indo-European religion.