Gallo-Roman religion Gallo-Roman religion is a fusion of the traditional religious practices of the Gauls, who were originally Celtic speakers, and the Roman and Hellenistic religions introduced to the region under Roman Imperial rule. It was the result of selective ...

, Rosmerta was a goddess of fertility and abundance, her attributes being those of plenty such as the cornucopia. Rosmerta is attested by statues and by inscriptions. In Gaul she was often depicted with the Roman god

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

as her consort, but is sometimes found independently.

Etymology

The name ''Rosmerta'' is Gaulish, and is analysed as ''ro-smert-a''. ''Smert'' means "provider" or "carer" and is also found in other Gaulish names such as Ad-smerio, Smertu-litani, Smerius (Σμερο), Smertae, Smertus, and others. ''Ro-'' is a modifier meaning "very", "great", or "most" as found in Ro-bili ("most-good") or Ro-cabalus ("great horse"). The ''-a'' ending is the typical Gaulish feminine singular

nominative In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...

. The meaning is thus "the Great Provider".

Iconography

A relief from Autun (ancient ''Augustodunum'', the ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

'' capital of the Celtic Aedui), shows Rosmerta and Mercury seated together as a divine couple. She holds a cornucopia, with Mercury holding a patera at her left side. Mercurius Rosmerta HistMusPfalz 3513

A bas-relief from Eisenberg shows the couple in the same relative positions, with Rosmerta securely identified by the inscription. Rosmerta holds a purse in her right hand and a patera in her left. In a pair of statues from Paris depicting the couple, Rosmerta holds a cornucopia and a basket of fruits. Rosmerta is shown by herself on a bronze statue from Fins d'Annency ( Haute-Savoie), where she sits on a rock holding a purse and, unusually, also bears the wings of Mercury on her head. A stone bas-relief from

Escolives-Sainte-Camille Escolives-Sainte-Camille () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yonne department The following is a list of the 423 communes of the Yonne Yonne () is a depart ...

shows her holding both a patera and a cornucopia.

Inscriptions

Twenty-seven inscriptions to Rosmerta are listed by Jufer and Luginbühl, distributed in France, Germany and Luxembourg, corresponding mainly to the Roman provinces of Gallia Belgica and

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesontio' ...

. An additional two inscriptions are known, one from

Roman Dacia Roman Dacia ( ; also known as Dacia Traiana, ; or Dacia Felix, 'Fertile/Happy Dacia') was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today ...

. An inscription from Metz is a dedication ''( votum)'' to Mercury and Rosmerta jointly. Another from Eisenberg was made by a decurion in fulfillment of a vow to the couple jointly. In two inscriptions both from Gallia Belgica, Rosmerta is given the epithet '' sacra'', sacred. A lengthier inscription from

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in Gallia Belgica associates the divine couple with the dedication of a shrine ''( aedes)'', with "hospitable" rites to be celebrated.''Deo Mercurio

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Notes

References

* ''Année Epigraphique'' volumes 1967, 1987, 1998 * ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'' (CIL), volume 13, ''Tres Galliae'' ("The Three Gauls") * * * {{Authority control Gaulish goddesses Fertility goddesses Abundance goddesses Mercurian deities