An online magazine about current archaeology and classical research into the lives of inhabitants of the Roman Empire and Byzantium and the civilizations around them.
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.
If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!
Finished watching the new German Netflix original series "Barbarian" last night and I give it a big two thumbs up! Excellent acting, stayed pretty close to historical events, and I was awestruck by scenes of how large a Roman encampment of three legions was (especially in comparison to the small local villages which I think was the point) and how fearsome the legions marching in formation must have appeared to the local tribesmen who referred to them as columns of steel.
I'm currently listening to book 4 of S.J.A. Turney's Marius' Mules series of novels about Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul and at this point in the war (55 BCE) Caesar had eight legions with him not just the three Varus commanded, which still looked quite formidable in the German film. Caesar's encampment must have truly appeared as a metropolitan city in the middle of a near wilderness.
I also enjoyed watching the legions on the march realistically packing all of their kit on their backs with their centurions striding along in the front line and the tribunes and legates riding along beside each legion. It really made the images of Legate Fronto and his tenth legion described in Turney's novels come alive for me!
I'm also grateful supernatural elements, did not dominate the film as they did in "Britannia."
Just one historical note - Arminius was a hostage raised in Rome, but not by Publius Quinctilius Varus as depicted in the film. I can understand how this fictional relationship served a dramatic purpose, though, to emphasize Arminius' conflicted nature about betraying the people who had raised him from a child. He was drafted into the Roman military at an early age, during which he was granted Roman citizenship and became a Roman knight as accurately depicted in the film. After serving with distinction in the Great Illyrian Revolt, he was sent to Germania to aid the local governor, Varus, in completing the Roman conquest of the Germanic tribes. In the aftermath of the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Arminius fought retaliatory invasions by the Roman general Germanicus in the battles of Pontes Longi, Idistaviso, and the Angrivarian Wall, and deposed a rival, the Marcomanni king Maroboduus before eventually being assassinated by his own people in 21 BCE. I assume these battles will be the focus of future seasons of the series.
If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!
