CHAPTER FOUR CELTIC HEALER AND WARRIOR MAIDEN Celtic gods served the tribe in matters of war and peace, justice and fertility, salvation and healing. As fully-fledged tribal deities, they did not entirely engage the interests of the soldier on the Roman fron­ tier, but some divine aspects were relevant and desirable. \Ve have already seen the Celtic god as horned warrior. It remains to con­ sider native gods and goddesses as healers. The ill relied as much on the supernatural as on empirical medicine, inextricably linked with religion. 1 Consequently, physicians and priests were on staff together at most healing shrines, Graeco-Roman as well as Celtic (i.e., 614). 2 Most healer gods are associated with water and curative springs; as will be seen, some have connections with curses and ret­ ribution (Sulis at Bath, Mercury at Uley). Warrior God and Healer Under numerous epithets, Mars was thoroughly assimilated into Celtic cults known both on the continent and in Britain alone: Camulus (467), Lenus (468, 469), Loucetius (470), Toutates (474). Celtic gods equated with Mars in Britain emphasize the god's regal and mili­ tary character: 1 Alator, the huntsman (603-604), Belatucadrus (Fair Shining One: 554, 55 7, 558, 562, 567),4 Rigisamus (most kingly: 472), Segomo (Victor),5 Toutates (Ruler of the people: 473, 474), Barrex (Supreme). 6 Occasionally his role as healer surfaces, especially 1 Allason-Jones, Women, 156. 2 For example, Asclepius' incubation shrines at Cos and Epidaurus. For Celtic examples, priests and physicians attended the sick at the Fontes Sequana, where the water spirit who personified the river Seine dwelled (Deyts, Sanctuaire) and at Bath where Sulis Minerva presided over a healing sanctuary (Cunlifle, Sacred Spring, 359 62). 3 Ross, Celtic Britain, l 83. 4 Tolkien in Collingwood, Roman Britain, 262; K.H . .Jackson, Language and History, 431. Ross, Celtic Britain, I 72. " Ross, Celtic Britain, 182. CELTIC HEALER AND WARRIOR MAIDEN 143 at Bath (Loucetius; 4 70), Caerwent (Lenus and Ocelus; 469), and Lydney (Nodens: 611). Condatis (606-608), associated with springs, may have been honored with a healing cult in county Durham. His votives were private, and one (607) was dedicated ex iussu-Condatis may have healed Attonius Quintianus in a dream or vision. An altar to lalonus Contrebis (459), found near a spring probably sacred to the god, might suggest a healing role. Furthermore, Lenus' associa­ tion with dogs links him to the Greek healer Asclepius to whom the dog was also sacred. 7 Even though Roman medicine was relatively advanced, the soldier, whom Tacitus characterized as superstitious (e.g., Annals 1.25), may have preferred not to trust his medical health entirely to the camp physicians. Some soldiers clearly took comfort in calling upon local healer deities to supplement available medical treatment. Mars Nodens The remains of the temple of the healer god Mars Nodens lay on high ground overlooking the river Severn at Lydney, where inscribed altars attest him (611-614). A second cult center may have stood at Cockersand Moss, where another two inscriptions (615-616) have surfaced. Finds from the site suggest a third century date, though the mosaic floors (not part of the original decor) belonging to the entrance-lobby of the "Abaton" can be dated to the fourth century on stylistic grounds. 8 E. Birley preferred an earlier date (AD 150-300) because of the good quality construction of the precinct buildings.9 The superior workmanship does not necessarily preclude the tradi­ tional date, and the temple may have been restored in response to Julian's edicts of religious tolerance (AD 361-3). The temple contained three small shrines at its north-western end. w Two small niches formed small chapels in each side-aisle. Near the temple, other fourth-century buildings included a square courtyard house, a bath-suite (AD 354-6), and a narrow building with numer­ ous cubicles. The third building is probably the Abaton, where Nodens, 7 G. Webster, "vVhat the Britons required," 58, 61. 8 Grew, "Roman Britain in 1980," 35 7. Coins, dating predominantly to the third and fourth centuries, but into the fifth century as well, e.g. Honorius and Theodosius, were buried through a floor and do not necessarily provide evidence for a later phase of the temple. 9 E. Birley, "Deities," 90. 10 The rectangular temple, 18.3 x 24.4m, faced southeast. .