CHAPTER FOUR

MITHRAS AND THE GODS OF GAUL

It has long been recognised that the cult of Mithras assimilated a number of gods of the official pantheon and, in the early third century, enjoyed Imperial patronage, but less attention has been paid to its re­ lation with the local gods of the provinces. It is, therefore, the purpose of this chapter to devote particular attention to the impact of this un­ familiar and mysterious cult on the indigenous population of Gaul, and its relation with the local Celtic divinities. This said, one must be aware of the limitations imposed by the nature of the evidence. The available material, almost purely archaeological, cannot be pressed to yield any definitive judgment on the religious thinking or motivation of individual worshippers. This difficulty has been clearly highlighted by the lack of scholarly agreement on the functions of the Gallo-Roman gods, Mars and Mercury. When Caesar described the gods of Gaul, he merely ascribed to the local divinities the functions performed by the official gods of the Roman pantheon, his intention being to convince his audience that the Roman gods were universal : De[orJum maxime Mercurium colunt; huius sunt plurima simulacra, hunc omnium inventorem artiumferunt, hunc viarum atque itinerum ducem, hunc ad quaestus pecuniae mercaturasque habere vim maximam arbitrantur; post hunc Apollinem et Martem et Iovem et Minervam. De his eandem fere, quam reliquae gentes habent opinionem.1 This precise interpretation of the function of these Gallo-Roman gods has been strongly challenged by Benoit who, in his recent work on the gods of Gaul, stresses that the religion of the old Gallic sanctuaries, far from confirming the universal and precise functional character of the gods of Caesar, reveals the persistence of the physical and naturalistic associations of the numen, the divine being of the sanctuary, which may be manifested in a cave, spring, mountain top, rock, or forest. s In an

1 De Bello Gallico, VI, 17, 1-3. I F. Benoit, Art et dieux de la Gaule, Paris 1969, p. 55; Le symbolisme dans les sanctuaires de la Gaule, Bruxelles 1970, pp. 5 ff. MITHRAS AND THE GODS OF GAUL 43

earlier work he noted that the divinity of springs was a common feature of primitive religions, and that natural phenomena, such as springs or mountains, were often associated with territorial boundaries and were marked by an altar or frontier sanctuary.1 The protective divinity of the spring was often invoked by casting valuables into the water, and Strabo, in his Geography, draws attention to the riches found in the sacred lakes of . He explains that the Romans sold the lakes, to the profit of the public fisc, and that the buyers enriched themselves from the treasure found in the water.2 Against this background Roman gods were introduced. It is striking that, very often, Roman names were attached to local divinities, whose indigenous name was retained as an epithet, a process referred to by as interpretatio Romana. Moreover, the Roman gods seem to have been readily accepted in the old Gallic sanctuaries. Both Mars and Mercury were invoked as healing divinities. 3 They also became guardians of territory: Mercury acquired a number of local epithets, Arvernus, Dumias, and Canetonnensis, and dominated the sanctuary of Donon, strategically placed on a forested mountain top at the frontier between the , , and Triboci.4 Mars was the guardian of the sanctuary of Mars Lenus, situated on the left bank of the and, according to Gose, das Stammesheiligtum der Treverer. 5 , god of the sun and protector of health, was also readily assi­ milated with local gods, in particular with the divinities of healing springs. 6 The sanctuary at Essarois, which, from the number of ex votos of limbs found, seems to have been devoted to divinities of healing, has produced a number of dedications to Deo Apollini Vindonno, 7 and at

1 F. Benoit, Mars et Mercure, Aix·en-Provence 1959, pp. 183 fr. • L. Bonnard, La Gaule thermaJe, Paris 1908, p. 151; Strabo, Geography, IV, 1, 13. 8 The nymphaeum of Icovellauna near has produced a dedication, Deo Mer- curio pro salute, and at the sanctuary of Marberg, Moselle, Mars Lenus was invoked by a Greek Tychicius in thanks for his recovery from a long illness : A. Grenier, Manuel, IV (2), p. 896, n. 2; CIL, XIII, 7661. 4 A. Grenier, Manuel. IV (2), pp. 829-30. nn. 1-2. a E. Gose, Der Tempelbezirk des Lenus Mars in Trier, Berlin 1955. p. 11. e E. Thevenot, Divinites et sanctuaires de la Gaule, Paris 1968, pp. 97 fr. 7 G. Drioux, Cultes indigenes des Lingons, Paris 1934, pp. 20-4; L. Bonnard, La Gaule thermale, Paris 1908, p. 245; CIL, XIII, 5644; 5645. Note that the suffix onno