The names of indigenous Celtic gods may contain Roman and native elements or may be purely Celtic. Thus Mars and Mercury were frequently invoked with different Celtic surnames or epithets: Mars Lenus, worshipped among the Treveri, and Mars Corotiacus, invoked in Suffolk, are just two of numerous examples (Wightman 1970: 208-17; Thevenot 1968: 60-73; Duval 1976: 70; Green 1992a; 142-3; Collingwood and Wright 1965: 213). Mercury was equally diverse: his titles or surnames include Cissonius and Moccus (Duval 1976: 70; Thevenot 1968; 157). Jupiter was surnamed Brixianus in Cisalpine Gaul and Parthinus in north-east Dalmatia, both topographical names associated with high places: these are just two of many such titles (Pascal 1964; 76-83; Wilkes 1969: 165). Apollo was worshipped in Gaul mainly as a healer; Moritasgus, Grannus, Belenus and Vindonnus are among his epithets (Green 1992a: 30-2). Sometimes the Celtic name comes first: a good example is Sulis Minerva, the healer-goddess of Bath (Aquae Sulis). The pairing of Roman and Celtic god-names is confusing and difficult to interpret (Webster 1986b). Sometimes the Celtic surname is descriptive - hence Mars Rigisamus (‘Greatest King’) at West Coker in Somerset (Collingwood 1931: fig. i, 2), or topographical, like Apollo Grannus at Grand in the Vosges (de Vries 1963: 82-3). But Sulis was clearly a goddess in her own right, equated in the Roman period with the classical Minerva.
Another method of epigraphic pairing concerns the linkage of male and female divinities (see Figure 25.12). A pattern may be discerned here, in that, very frequently, the male deity bears a Roman or Roman and Celtic name, whilst that of the female is wholly indigenous. Examples include Mercury and Rosmerta; Apollo Grannus and Sirona; Mars Loucetius and Nemetona. Sometimes both members of the divine couple have Celtic names: such is the case with Sucellus and Nantosuelta; Luxovius and Bricta, the local spirits of Luxeuil; or Ucuetis and Bergusia, the craft deities of Alesia (Green 1986a: 46; 1989; 46-54, 75-86; 1992a: 180-1, 160). Again the native element may often be interpreted as descriptive: ‘Sucellus’ means ‘The Good Striker’ (and his iconographic image is that of a man bearing a long-shafted hammer); Nantosuelta’s name means ‘Winding Brook’; Rosmerta is ‘The Great Provider’; Nemetona ‘The Goddess of the Sacred Grove’. Interestingly, goddesses like Rosmerta and Sirona may be invoked alone, without their partner, thus signifying their independent status within the Celtic pantheon.
Epigraphy gives us the names of many more purely native divinities, sometimes linked with images. Such is Epona, the great horse-goddess, worshipped all over the Celtic world (Figure 25.5) (Green 1992a: 90-2; Linduff 1979: 817-37; Magnen and Thevenot 1953; Oaks 1986: 77-84). The mother-goddesses or deae matres are interesting; often they are known merely by their Latin title ‘matres’ or ‘matronae’, but they may bear descriptive epithets which bear witness to localized versions of their cult. The Rhineland mother-goddesses bear outlandish-sounding topographical surnames, such as the Matronae Aufaniae or the Vacallinehae (Green 1992a; 146-7; von Petrikovits 1987; 241-54; Lehner 1918-21, 74ff.). The Celtic thunder-god Taranis is sometimes equated with the Roman Jupiter, but his occurrence alone on several inscriptions argues for his independent identity (Green 1982: 37-44; 1986b: 65-76). The god of the Lydney (Glos.) sanctuary, Nodens, is invoked on his own, but he is also linked with both Mars and Silvanus (Henig 1984: 51-6; Green 1992a: 162), as if the native god were perceived as possessing an affinity with the functions of both Roman deities. This apparent confusion in pairing recurs, for instance, with Mars and Mercury in Gaul, whose native surnames are sometimes shared: thus both Mars Visucius and Mercury Visucius were invoked on dedications (de Vries 1963: 150; Duval 1976: 88).
Figure 15.j Stone relief of Epona, with fruit; Kastcl, Germany. Second-third century AD,
Width 75 cm. (Photo: author.)
The Evidence of Iconography
The imagery of Celtic religion in the Roman period is rich and varied. If it is accompanied by a dedicatory inscription, a sculpture or figurine may be positively identified; if not, the symbols accompanying the image must be used to attempt some classification in terms of character or function, A depiction may be associated with an inscribed name on only one or two stones, although the image itself may appear many times. In these instances, scholars have tended to use the inscribed name to identify similar images where the dedication is absent. Such is the case with Epona, the horse-goddess, whose image (a woman riding side-saddle on a horse or sitting between two or more horses) is far more common than are epigraphic dedications bearing her name. Likewise, the inscribed name ‘Cernunnos’ accompanies a depiction of an antlered, torque-bearing god on an early first-century AD stone in Paris. But there are many images of a similarly antlered being from Romano-Celtic Gaul which bear no name. Are we justified in assuming these portrayals also represent Cernunnos? The name Itself merely means ‘Horned One’, and so it is less a true god-name than a descriptive title. The names Succllus and Nantosuelta occur at Sarrebourg near Metz, on a carving of a male and female, the most distinctive accompanying symbol being the long-shafted hammer borne by Sucellus. But many other images of a similar divine couple were the focus of veneration in Gaul and the Rhineland, without the identifying names, although Sucellus is mentioned on one or two scattered dedications in Britain and Gaul (C/Z, XIII; 4 J42; Green 1983:46-54; Lsnckenheld 1329:40-32; deVries 1963: 99-100).
The symbols or motifs which accompany images of Celtic deities give some clues as to their function or identity, although our interpretation of these symbols may be open to misconception. The celestial god frequently carries a solar wheel as his main attribute (Figure 25.6) (Green 1984, 1991a). The fact that this wheel-god is sometimes invoked under the the name of Jupiter, the Roman sky-god, makes the native divinity’s identification secure. The Celtic god of the sky and sun was sometimes invoked as a divine horseman, the horse symbolizing the prestige and swiftness appropriate to the high god of sun and firmament. Although this equestrian deity is entirely indigenous to the Celtic world, in terms of image and meaning, he is nevertheless venerated under the Roman name, Jupiter. The triple mother-goddesses may be represented by name, but their imagery alone betrays their responsibilities as promoters of fertility. Thus they may be portrayed with babies, children, fruit, corn or loaves. The Burgundian Mothers are often represented one with an infant at the breast, a second with a napkin, and the third with a bath-sponge and basin, and a
Figure 35,6 Bronze figurine of the celestial god with his solar wheel; Landouzy-!a-Ville,
France. Ht 22 cm. (Photo; author.)
Cornucopia is frequently present in emphasis of the symbolism of abundance. Occasionally, this simple fertility imagery is subtly changed, so that the symbols of fecund plenty are accompanied or partially replaced by motifs of the Fates, such as a balance or spindle, reflective of the thread of life. In these images, the rolled napkin may instead be interpreted as a scroll, the Book of Life (Green 1989: 192-3; Esperandieu nos. 3377, 2081; Deyts 1976: no. 170; Thevenot 1968; 173-6). The CeltO'Germanic mother-goddesses are distinctive in their imagery; they never reflect human fertility, but instead their attributes are those of fruit, bread or coins, symbolic of prosperity and commercial success (Figure 25.7). Moreover, these Rhineland goddesses may represent different ages of womanhood; the central goddess is always depicted as a young girl with flowing hair, whilst her flanking companions are older and wear huge beehive-shaped bonnets or headdresses (von Petrikovits 1987; 241-J4; Green 1989; 194-8; Wild 1968; pi. i). The triplistic character of many mother-goddess images expresses the power of ‘three’ in Celtic religion, a significance which transcends mere intensity of expression by means of repetition. Triplism is an important characteristic of Celtic religious iconography, and triadism may be observed in imagery other than that of the Mothers. The Genii Cucullati were hooded dwarves associated with fertility, and indeed with the Mothers themselves, and they usually occur in threes. Gods with triple heads were depicted especially among the Remi, the Aedui and Lingones; and a triple-horned bull was venerated particularly in north-east Gaul (Green 1991b: 100-8).
Figure 25.7 Pipe-day group of the Rhenish mother-goddesses, with fruit, corn or coins in their laps; Bonn, Germany. Ht approx, 10 cm. (Photo; author.)
The symbolism of the healer-deities is varied and interesting. The Celtic Mars, at such therapeutic shrines as Mavilly (Cote d’Or) and Trier, is not a warrior in the true, Roman, sense, but instead he fights and protects against ill-health and barrenness. Sometimes, his image is that of a soldier, as at Mavilly (Figure 25.8) (Green 1989: 65, fig. 26; Thevenot 1968: 118). Frequently, the motifs of healing and fertility are blurred and merged. Thus curative goddesses such as Sirona and Damona are represented with ears of corn, eggs and snakes: the corn is a symbol of plenty; eggs have strong fertility associations, but may also represent death and regeneration (since the egg must be broken in order to release new life). Because of their habit of skin-sloughing, serpents were clear symbols of rebirth. Many curative deities were partners, such as Apollo and Sirona: in their imagery, it is often the goddess who possesses the symbolism evocative of function. But many healer-goddesses themselves carry no emblems which in themselves are indicative of their curative function: Sequana, the divine healer of the Seine at its spring-source near Dijon, is depicted as a woman in a long robe and a diadem, sailing in a duck-prowed boat to reflect her aquatic symbolism. But it is the presence of dedications and votive offerings that identify Sequana as a healer (Deyts 1985).
Perhaps the most powerful group of images is that associated with animals. The close relationship between god and beast is clearly reflected in iconography which
Figure 25.8 Stone relief from a pillar, depicting a healer-god in the guise of a Celtic warrior (fighter against disease), accompanied by a goddess and a ram-horned snake; from the curative spring-shrine at Mavilly, Burgundy. First century AD. Ht of monument i m 79 cm.
(Illustrator: Paul Jenkins.)
Displays the ubiquity and cult importance of animal symbolism. Some creatures accompanied anthropomorphic images, presumably to demonstrate a particular quality or feature associated with the god’s character, just as occurs in classical imagery. But there are indications that animals in Celtic religion achieved a status denied them in the Mediterranean world. Some divinities - and Epona is a prime example - are dependent upon animals for their iconographic and epigraphic identity. Thus, Epona is always depicted riding on a mare or accompanied by horses. Moreover, her name is philologically linked with epos, a Gaulish word for ‘horse’. She was the goddess of the craft of horse-breeding, and she was revered by cavalrymen as a divine protectress of them and their animals. But she also possessed wider responsibilities as a deity of fertility and general well-being (Figure 25.9). There was even an underworld dimension to her cult (Green 1989: 10-16). Other, less widely known goddesses enjoyed a similar affinity with beasts: Arduinna, the boar-deity of the Ardennes Forest is one; Artio, bear-goddess of Muri in Switzerland, is another. It is difficult to establish whether or not the animals themselves possessed divine status; the likelihood is that they were sacred only inasmuch as they symbolized certain features of a particular cult. But there is debate over the status of certain creatures which appear in the iconography: monstrous animals, like the ram-horned serpent and the triple-horned bull, may well have been worshipped as beings of tremendous power, because of their hybrid or unnatural imagery. The triple-horned bull is not associated with any particular anthropomorphic god, but the snake
Figure 25.9 Stone statuette of Epona; from the Romano-Gaulish town of Alesia, Burgundy. First-second century AD. (Illustrator: Paul Jenkins.)
Frequently accompanies the antlered god, and is also sometimes linked with Celtic versions of Mars and Mercury. Both images occur mainly in north-east Gaul, although outliers occur as far west as Britain (Colombet and Lebel 1953: 112; Boucher 1976: i/off.; Thevenot 1968: 72-89, 154-6; Green 1992a: 53-4, 195-6; 1992b: 196-238; Bober 1951: 13-51; Drioux 1934: 67-72). Both these creatures are endowed with extra features in order to increase their potency: horns are symbols of power and fertility. Possibly linked with the triple-horned bull in some manner is Tarvostrigaranus, the ‘Bull with Three Cranes’, who is named and depicted on a first-century AD stone from Paris {CIL XIII: 3026; Duval 1961: 197-9, 264).
The sanctity of animals is seen at its least equivocal in the iconography of deities whose images, although essentially anthropomorphic, nevertheless incorporate animal features. Of these, the most important are the horned or antlered gods. Images with bull - or goat-horns appear all over the Romano-Celtic world. A particular group occurs in North Britain, among the Brigantes (Ross 1961: 59ff.), where local deities were depicted as naked warriors, often ithyphallic, with bull-horns (Figure 25.10). A god invoked especially in north-east Gaul is portrayed with antlers, and other recurrent features may also be discerned on these images; these include a cross-legged seating position; the possession of two torques (one worn, one carried); accompaniment by a ram-horned snake and/or stag; the possession of attributes of plenty, such as money, corn or fruit. As discussed above, a god with torques and antlers was invoked as Cernunnos on a Parisian monument, but all other images of
Figure 25.10 Bronze head of a bull-horned god; Lezoux, France. First century AD.
(Illustrator: Paul Jenkins.)
An antlered god are without dedications. This image is particularly interesting because, unlike most Romano-Celtic iconography, there are examples which pre-date the Roman period: one of the iron age rock carvings at Val Camonica in north Italy, dating to the fourth century BC, depicts a standing figure with antlers, torques and a horned serpent (Anati 1965); and the same god appears on the Gundestrup Cauldron, as we have seen. The presence of semi-zoomorphic images serves to emphasize the lack of rigid boundaries between animal and human which is central to early Celtic religious perceptions (Green 1992b). Beasts were revered for their specific qualities (speed, virility, aggression or beauty) and these qualities were woven into the Celtic expression of the supernatural.
World History
