Avenches – Roman Museum – Permanent Exhibition

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First Floor Religion The Local Gods Mythology and Heroes (Display case 22) Hercules (display case 22, nos. 1-3) is the equivalent of the Celtic god Ogmios. His attributes – a lion skin and a club – were identical to those of Hercules, but he was depicted as an older man. The Dioscuri (Display case 22, no. 4), as the twins Castor and Pollux are also called, were particularly venerated in Gaul as astral gods and the protectors of navigators and horsemen. Display case 22 1. Head of Hercules, limestone. 2. Hercules, with a lion skin draped over his arm. Bronze statuette (1). 3. Gilt bronze lion skin, belonging to a statue of Hercules. Late 2nd / early 3rd century AD. 4. Dioscurus. Bronze piece of chariot. 2nd century AD. The Local Gods (Display cases 23-24) Celtic religion, like Roman religion, was polytheistic. Due to the lack of written sources, our knowledge of this religion is based mainly on a text by Julius Caesar (Gallic Wars Book VI, 17) listing and briefly describing the five great gods of the Gauls. However, Caesar gave them the names of those Roman gods who had the most similar attributes, so he mentioned Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Minerva. There were numerous other Gaulish deities, who survived Romanisation. In some cases we do not know their names or functions (display case 23, no. 3). Some were known everywhere in the Romanised Celtic world like Sucellus (display case 23, no. 16), Epona (display case 23, nos. 8-9) or Lug (catalogue of inscriptions: no. 2); others seem to have been more local gods such as Anextlomara (display case 23, no. 1) or Aventia who gave her name to Aventicum (display case 2, no. 1). Anextlomara (display case 23, no. 1) means “the great protectress”. She was associated with the deities of prosperity (display case 23, nos. 10-11 and 13-14). The Hooded Genius (genius cucullatus) (display case 23, no. 2) was dressed in traditional Gaulish garments. Fertility and healing were his specialities; he also accompanied the dead to the hereafter. Epona (display case 23, nos. 8-9), the equestrian goddess, was extremely popular with horsemen and, in particular, with soldiers. She was not associated with any other Roman deity. Epona is always represented as an Amazon sitting on her horse. Female deities of prosperity and fertility. They are represented in various ways, either as naked young women, whose iconography resembles that of Venus (display case 23, nos. 10-11), as more mature women holding a cornucopia, which corresponds with the attributes of Fortuna (display case 23, no. 13), or as mothers or 1 41 First Floor 22 23 24
First Floor Religion The Local Gods wet-nurses feeding a child (display case 23, no. 14). The three-horned bull (display case 23, no. 12) was widely known in Gaul; the third horn symbolises the power of reproduction. Sucellus (display case 23, no. 16) whose name means ”he who hits hard“ is holding a mallet in one hand and a vessel in the other; a dog is at his side. Certain depictions also show him with a barrel or an amphora. Sucellus was the forest god. In certain regions he was associated with Silvanus. He also seems to have been the patron of craftsmen. Display case 23 1. Inscription dedicated to Anextlomara, Celtic deity (1). The use of the Greek letter X illustrates the Celtic origin of this name. Anextlomarae / et Aug(usto) / Public(ius) Aunus « To Anextlomara and the emperor. Publicius Aunus (erected this monument) » Limestone. 1st – 3rd centuries AD. Catalogue of inscriptions: no. 25. 2. Limestone head of a genius cucullatus (hooded genius). 3. Bronze bust of a local deity (2). 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. 4-5. Iron miniature votive axes (3). 6. Iron miniature votive axe with an engraved X. 7. Bronze miniature votive axe, engraved with Δ. 8. Bronze horse wearing a charm around its neck, probably linked to the goddess Epona. 9. Double-faced terra cotta statuette representing the goddess Epona on her horse (4). 10-11. Female deities linked to Venus. White earthenware statuettes. 12. Three-horned bull in bronze. 1st – 2nd centuries AD. 13. Deity of prosperity, linked to the goddess Fortuna. Bronze statuette. 14. Mother goddess. White earthenware statuette. 15. Bull and genius, limestone. 16. Libation scene probably dedicated to the god Sucellus. The upright figure is holding a bowl; he is wearing a torque, a typical Celtic piece of jewellery around his neck. A second, kneeling, figure is holding a barrel and a pail closely to his chest. A dog is lying at their feet. Limestone. Display case 24 17. Votive deposit consisting of approximately 120 ceramic artefacts (jugs, drinking cups, stands, lamps) and a limestone altar bearing an inscription dedicated to Mercury Cissonius. Deo Mercur(io) Cisso(nio) L(ucius) C. Patern(us) ex voto « To Mercury Cissonius. Lucius C. Paternus, (erected this monument) after a vow » Catalogue of inscriptions: no. 26. 1 2 4 3 42 First Floor 23 24
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Page 21 and 22: Ground Floor Miscellaneous 31. Lime
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