 The Romans justified their actions by also accusing the Celts of practicing human sacrifice.According to Pliny the Elder, human sacrifice was banned by law during the consulship of Publius Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus in 97 BCE, although by this time it was so rare that the decree was largely symbolic.The Romans also had traditions that centered around ritual murder, but which they did not consider to be sacrifice.