Many different tribes inhabited Gaul at the time of Caesar’s Gallic Wars. Most were of Celtic origin, but some, especially along the regions bordering the Rhine and in the northeast, such as the ferocious Nervii, were of mixed Celtic and Germanic descent. Several common factors bound the disparate tribes together: they shared a common language; they worshipped the same high gods, such as Toutatis and Dis Pater (the 'protector' and 'father god' respectively); and believed in animism, recognising the lakes, trees, and other features of the earth as divine. This unity in outlook is most apparent in the Celts’ reverence of their druids, a priestly class who advised their chieftains and councils.
