Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T04:17:06.250Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mother and Sun in Romano-Celtic Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2011

Miranda J. Green
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This paper examines the two dominant cults of Sky and Fertility in the Romano-Celtic world. There are no literary allusions to a link between the two concepts, but a substantial body of archaeological data does exist which testifies to a close iconographic association between the images and symbolism reflecting beliefs in celestial and fertility powers. The most important material evidence consists of a group of small clay statuettes representing female figures decorated with what are probably solar symbols. Allied to this is evidence for an association between the Celtic Mother-Goddesses (the Deae Matres) and cosmic motifs, particularly the solar wheel. It is also possible to identify traces of a fertility aspect to the cult of a male solar divinity. Whilst the simplistic argument for a divine ‘marriage’ between sky-father and earth-mother (Hatt 1965) is not here advanced, there is, nevertheless, strong evidence from Gaul and Britain that the two major cults of the Romano-Celtic world were clearly intertwined. This association need not be such a paradox as it might seem; the sun, like the rain, was essential for crop-growth, and the iconography appears to demonstrate acknowledgement of, and gratitude for, this interaction between natural—or supernatural—phenomena.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , March 1984 , pp. 25 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altheim, F., 1938. A History of Roman Religion (London).Google Scholar
Bailey, C., 1932. Phases in the Religion of Ancient Rome (Oxford).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauchhenss, G., 1976. Jupitergigantensäulen (Stuttgart).Google Scholar
Bauchhenss, G., and Noelke, P., 1981. Die Jupitersäulen in den germanischen Provinzen (Cologne/Bonn).Google Scholar
Blanchet, A., 1890. ‘Éitude sur les figurinesen terre cuite de la Gaule romaine’, Mém. Soc. Antiq. de France, 6th ser. li, 65–224.Google Scholar
Chabouillet, A., 1880-1881. ‘Notice sur des inscriptions et des antiquités provenant de Bourbonne-les-Bains’, Rev. arch. xxxix, 18 ff.Google Scholar
Charlesworth, D., 1961. ‘Roman jewellery found in Northumberland and Durham’, Arch. Ael. 4th ser. xxxix, 1–37.Google Scholar
Cook, A. B., 1925. Zeus: a Study in Ancient Religion,II, 1 (Cambridge).Google Scholar
Courcelle-Seneuil, J. L., 1910. Les Dieux gaulois d'après les monuments figurés (Paris).Google Scholar
Dumézil, G., 1970. Archaic Roman Religion (Chicago and London).Google Scholar
Duval, P.-M., 1957. Les Dieux de la Gaule (Paris).Google Scholar
Espérandieu, E., 1907-1960. Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine (Paris).Google Scholar
Esperandieu, E., 1917. ‘Le dieu-cavalier de Luxeuil, Rev. arch. lxx, 72–86.Google Scholar
Ferguson, J., 1970. The Religions of the Roman Empire(London).Google Scholar
Gaidoz, H., 1884. ‘Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la roue’, Rev. arch. ii, 7–37.Google Scholar
Green, M. J., 1976. A Corpus of Religious Material from the Civilian Areas of Roman Britain, B.A.R. 24 (Oxford).Google Scholar
Green, M.J., 1979 ‘The worship of the Romano-Celtic wheel-god in Britain seen in relation to Gaulish evidence’, Coll. Latomus, xxxviii (fasc. 2), 345–68.Google Scholar
Green, M. J., 1981. ‘Model objects from military areas of Roman Britain’, Britannia, xii, 253–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, M. J., 1983a. ‘A Celtic god from Netherby, Cumbria’, Trans. Cumberland and Westmorland Antiq. and Arch. Soc. lxxxiii, 41–7.Google Scholar
Green, M. J., 1983b. The Gods of Roman Britain, Shire Archaeology, no. 34.Google Scholar
Green, M. J., 1984. The Wheel as a Cult Symbol in the Romano-Celtic World (Latomus, Brussels).Google Scholar
Hatt, J. J., 1965. ‘Essai sur l'évolution de la religion gauloise’, Rev. des études anciennes, lvii, 80–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haverfield, F., 1892. ‘The Mother-Goddesses’, Arch. Ael. 2nd ser. xv, 314–39.Google Scholar
Hobley, P., and Schofield, J., 1977. ‘Excavations in the City of London: first interim report, 1974-1975’, Antiq. J. lvii, 31–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, F., 1957. ‘The cult of the Dea Nutrix in Kent’, Arch. Cant. lxxi, 38–46.Google Scholar
Jenkins, F., 1958. ‘The Cult of the “Pseudo-Venus” in Kent’, Arch. Cant. lxxii, 60–76.Google Scholar
Johns, C., 1982. Sex or Symbol: Erotic Images of Greece and Rome (British Museum).Google Scholar
Lambrechts, P., 1942. Contributions à l'étude des divinités celtiques (Ghent).Google Scholar
Lambrechts, P., 1949 ‘La colonne du dieu-cavalier augéant et le culte des sources en Gaule’, Coll. Latomus, viii, 145–58.Google Scholar
Linckenheld, E., 1929. ‘Sucellus et Nantosuelta’, Rev. de l'histoire des religions, xcix, 40–92.Google Scholar
Nash-Williams, V. E., 1952-1954. ‘The Roman inscribed and sculptured stones found at Caerwent…’, Bull. Board Celt. Stud. xv, 18 ff.Google Scholar
Penn, W. S., 1959. ‘The Romano-British settlement atSpringhead, excavation of Temple I’, Arch. Cant. lxxiii, I ff.Google Scholar
Romilly-Allen, J., 1901. ‘Two Kelto-Roman finds in Wales’, Arch. Camb. 6th ser. i, 20–44.Google Scholar
Rouvier-Jeanlin, M., 1972. Les Figurines gallo-romaines en terre cuite au Musée des Anti quités Nationales (XXIVe supplément à Gallia).Google Scholar
Sautel, J., 1926. Vaison dans l'antiquité(Avignon).Google Scholar
Thevenot, E., 1951. ‘Le culte de déesses-mères à la station gallo-romaine des Bolards’, Rev. arch, de l'Est et du Centre-Est, ii, 1–26.Google Scholar
Tudot, E., 1860. Collections de figurines en argile, oeuvres premières de l'art gaulois (Paris).Google Scholar
Villefosse, H. de, 1881. ‘Note sur un bronze découvert à Landouzy-la-Ville (Aisne)’, Rev. arch. xli (fasc. I), 1–13.Google Scholar
Villefosse, H. de, 1888. ‘Figurine en terre blanche trouvée à Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf, Rev. arch. xi, 145–59.Google Scholar
Vries, J. de, 1963. La Religion des Celtes (Paris).Google Scholar
Wright, R. P. and Phillips, E. J., 1975. Roman Inscribed and Sculptured Stones in Carlisle Museum (Carlisle Museum).Google Scholar