Epona

 The worship of Epona, "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself",  was the patroness of cavalry and widespread in the Roman Empire between the first and third centuries CE.  This is unusual for a Celtic deity, most of whom were associated with specific localities.  Evidence of her worship was first found in the Danubian provinces and scholar Fernand Benoît asserted that she had been introduced in the limes of Gaul by horsemen from the east.  However, although the name is Gaulish, dedicatory inscriptions to Epona are in Latin or, rarely, Greek. They were made not only by Celts, but also by Germans, Romans, and other inhabitants of the Roman Empire. An inscription to Epona from Mainz, Germany, identifies the dedicator as Syrian.

Epona's feast day in the Roman calendar was given as December 18 on a rustic calendar from Guidizzolo, Italy. She was incorporated into the imperial cult by being invoked on behalf of the Emperor, as Epona Augusta or Epona Regina.

Perceptions of native Celtic goddesses changed under Roman hegemony. only the names remained the same. As Gaul was Romanized under the early Empire, Epona’s sovereign role evolved into a protector of cavalry. The cult of Epona was spread over much of the Roman Empire by the auxiliary cavalry, alae, especially the Imperial Horse Guard or equites singulares augustii recruited from Gaul, Lower Germany, and Pannonia. A series of their dedications to Epona and other Celtic, Roman and German deities was found in Rome, at the Lateran. Her cult is said to have been "widespread also in Carinthia and Styria."

Epona relief from the Limes fort Kapersburg, 2nd century CE, in the Wetterau Museum in Friedberg with the inscription: In h(onorem) d(omus) d(ivinae) de(ae) Epon(ae) Bilic[i]/us Gematus col(l)eg(ii)s su[i]/s de iu[s(su)] de(ae) I[mp(eratore) C]a[e]s(are) L(ucio) Sep[t(imio)] / [Severo] A[rabic]o Adia[b(enico)] / [Parth(ico) ma]xi[mo] co(n)s(ule) II[I]. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Haselburg-müller.

Copper alloy figure of the goddess Epona, seated between two ponies, Romano-British, at the British Museum.

Gallo-Roman bas-relief in Saint-Béat marble representing the Celtic goddess Epona courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Ecole d'Agassac (31).

The worship of Epona in Thessaloniki may have been introduced by Galerius, who was descended from a region along the Danube. This relief is the only evidence of Epona's cult in Macedonia. 4th c. CE now in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Greece, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Tilemahos.

Replica of the figure of the horse goddess Epona found in the former Roman vicus in Boppard, Germany courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Christian Kipping.

Silver dish in the shape of a shell, detail of the central medallion representing the goddess Epona surrounded by two foals. From the Rethel treasure, collected around 270 to 280 CE. courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zunkir

Sculpture of Épona, 2nd, 3rd-century, sandstone, found in Le Hérapel site (Cocheren, Moselle, France now in Metz Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Fab5669.

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Senhouse Roman Museum reopens!

Senhouse Roman Museum is built upon the site of Alauna, a castrum or fort in Roman Britannia just north of the town of Maryport in Cumbria. It was linked by a Roman road to the Roman fort and settlement at Derventio (Papcastle) to the southeast, and thence by another road northeast to the regional hub of Luguvalium (Carlisle). The fort was established around 122 CE as a command and supply base for the coastal defences of Hadrian's Wall at its western extremity. There are substantial remains of the Roman fort, which was one of a series along the Cumbrian coast intended to prevent Hadrian's Wall being outflanked by crossing the Solway Firth. 

Geo-magnetic surveys have revealed a large Roman town surrounding the fort. An archaeological dig discovered evidence of a second, earlier, larger fort next to, and partially under the present remains. The Roman fort site was owned from the 16th century by generations of the Senhouse family. The main building on the site was constructed as a naval artillery drill hall in 1885. It was converted into the Senhouse Roman Museum in 1990. The Senhouse family's collections contained numerous Roman artefacts including dedicated altars. Beginning in Tudor times, the site has yielded more altars than any other Roman site in Britain.  One of the best known, now in the British Museum, has an inscription dedicated by Gaius Cornelius Peregrinus, a decurion (town councilor) from Saldae (present-day Bejaia in Algeria), who was tribunus (military commander) of the auxiliary garrison. 

Another interesting artifact in the collections of the local museum is a column base bearing a relief of the Celtic horse goddess Epona, discovered in the 18th Century in the Headquarters Building within the fort. This is one of only two representations of Epona in Britain. Epona is depicted riding sideways on a prancing horse with a basket of fruit in her lap. She was the personification of the horse and protector of horses, particularly going into battle or breeding stock. Auxiliary cavalrymen brought the belief in Epona with them from their tribal territories. The Celtic goddess was also revered as the patroness for wagoners. She was popular among the military particularly in the provinces of Gaul and Germania.

http://www.senhousemuseum.co.uk/

A column base bearing a relief of the Celtic horse goddess Epona, discovered in the 18th century in the headquarters building within the fort. This is one of only two representations of Epona in Britain. 

Epona, Roman, Second or Third century CE, from Contern, Luxembourg at the Musée National d'Art et d'Histoire, Luxembourg City courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Owen Cook

Relief depicting the "Lady of Animals", Epona, sitting on a throne holding a fruit basket on her lap, 200 CE at the Kunst der Kelten, Historisches Museum Bern courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Rosemania

Epona relief, Gallo-roman, from Allerey, Dijon Archeological Museum, France courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Siannan

Epona relief, 70-100 CE, later incorporated into the city wall of Bregenz, revered as "Ehre-Guta" at the Vorarlberg Museum, Bregenz, Austria

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