Remains of a Gallo-Roman sanctuary dedicated to Mercury (I century A.D.)
in the forest of Tannières, territory of Archettes municipality,
Lorraine, France. In this place were located two temples dedicated to
Mercury, outside inhabited settlements, and near the crossroad of two
important transit routes. Close to the sanctuary were several springs,
which were for the Celts particular objects of worship and were probably
at the origin of the holiness attributed to the place.
Since the documents about the religion of the continental Celts belong
for the most part to the Roman period, it is to be recognized that what
is known today on the religion of Gaul is mainly viewed through Roman
eyes and through an art which is inspired to Greco-Roman patterns. Regarding
the Gauls, Julius Caesar reported that: “Among the gods, they
most worship Mercury. There are numerous images of him; they declare
him the inventor of all arts, the guide for every road and journey,
and they deem him to have the greatest influence for all money-making
and traffic” (Gallic War, VI, 17). Numerous are the representations
of the god, who is shown mainly with the attributes of the Greco-Roman
divinity: the caduceus (a staff with interlaced snakes), the petasos
(a hat with broad brim), and some accompanying animals, among which
the most frequent is the cock. It has been hypothesized that the identity
of the Roman god had been superimposed on the Celtic god Teutates, a
divinity who protected the community, or on Esus, a god of the woodlands.
It is more likely that, consequently to Romanization, a certain number
of Celtic local divinities had been consolidated under the name and
the attributes of the god Mercury. However, the Celtic divinity who
gets closer to the Gallo-Roman Mercury is Lug, to whom was dedicated
the city of Lugdunum (“Fortress of Lug”, modern Lyon, France).
In the Irish tradition, Lugh appears as one of the most ancient figures
of epics. He fought with the Tuatha Dé Danann (“the People
of the goddess Dana”), among whom he was known as “Many
Skilled” (Samildánach), a title very similar to that of
“inventor of all arts” (omnium inventorem artium) which
Caesar attributed to the Gaulish Mercury. He represented above all the
valiancy of the warrior, and his skill in the fight earned him the epithet
of Lámfhoda (“of the long arm”), but also the magical
arts. Before a fight, he incited the warriors into battle: on one foot,
one eye closed and the other open, he went around the army uttering
enchantments (Agrati-Magini 1993, p. 63). The god was furthermore a
divine pattern of sacral kingship, and appears in the tale Baile in
Scáil (“The Phantom’s Vision”) as the king
of the Otherworld, seated on his throne and flanked by a woman, who
recalls the goddess Rosmerta, in whom the scholars have identified the
personification of the sovereignty over Ireland (Mac Cana 2005).
[Image: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/56403223]
