Lenus ( grc, Ληνός) was a Celtic healing god worshipped mainly in eastern
Gaul, where he was almost always identified with the
Roman god
Mars.
Name
The
theonym ''Lenos'' may derive from a stem ''lēno''-, which could mean 'wood, bocage' (cf. Welsh ''llwyn'' 'bush, grave, shrub').
Cult
He was an important god of the
Treveri tribe, who had large sanctuaries at medicinal springs at
Trier and the
Martberg by
Pommern
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
in what is now
Germany. Two dedications to him are also known from southwestern
Britain (
Chedworth and
Caerwent). Edith Wightman characterizes him as “one of the best examples of a
Teutates, or god of the people, equated with Mars—protector of the tribe in battle, but also
..bestower of health and general good fortune” (p. 211).
[Edith Mary Wightman (1970). ''Roman Trier and the Treveri.'' Rupert Hart-Davis, London.] His sanctuary ‘Am Irminenwingert’ at Trier had a large temple, baths, smaller shrines and a theatre; that on the Martberg also included a large variety of buildings, probably including rooms for health-seeking pilgrims to stay. Despite his associations with healing, Lenus Mars is depicted classically as a warrior with Corinthian helmet in a bronze statuette from the Martberg.
His name most often appears in inscriptions as ‘Lenus Mars’, rather than ‘Mars Lenus’ as would be expected from other most
syncretized
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
names. At Trier, Lenus Mars's divine partners were the Celtic goddess
Ancamna and the Roman
Victoria, as well as the
Xulsigiae, who are perhaps water nymphs.
An inscription from Kaul in
Luxembourg appears to invoke Lenus Mars ‘
Veraudunus’ along with the Celtic goddess
Inciona.
[Musée d'histoire et d'art, Luxembourg. 1974. ''Pierres sculptées et inscriptions de l'époque romaine'', catalogued by Eugénie Wilhelm, p.71.]
Lenus was not the only Celtic god identified with Mars by the Treveri; others, such as
Iovantucarus (apparently a protector of youth),
Intarabus
Intarabus was a Gaulish god in the pantheon of the Treveri and some neighbouring peoples. His name is known from nine inscriptions from a relatively compact area in what are now Belgium, Luxembourg, western Germany and eastern France.Nicole Jufer ...
,
Camulos, and
Loucetios were identified with Mars and perhaps, by extension, with Lenus. His name occasionally appears as ‘Mars Laenus’; the more usual form ‘Lenus Mars’ is accompanied by the epithets ''Arterancus'' and ''Exsobinus'' on one inscription each.
In Britain, Mars Lenus may have been identified with
Ocelus Vellaunus, on the evidence of this inscription on the base of a statue:
[B. Collingwood and R.P. Wright. ''The Roman Inscriptions of Britain.'' Oxford. RIB 309. Quoted a]
Roman-Britain.org
:
DEO MARTI LENO SIVE OCELO VELLAVN ET NVM AVG M NONIVS ROMANVS OB IMMVNITAT COLLEGNI D D S D GLABRIONE ET HOMVLO COS X K SEPT
:''To the god Mars Lenus or Ocelus Vellaunus and to the
Numen of the
Augustus, Marcus Nonius Romanus dedicated this from the privilege of the college during the consulship of Glabrio and Homulus ten days before the Calends of September.''
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Photograph of the Treveran Mars, by Paul Garland
{{Celtic mythology (ancient)
Gaulish gods
Health gods
Martian deities