Veteris (commonly spelled ''Vitiris, Vheteris, Huetiris'', and ''Hueteris'') was a

Celtic god The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names. The ancient Celts appear to have had a pantheon ...

attested from many inscriptions in

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

. The dedicants were usually private individuals and were exclusively male. During the 3rd Century AD the cult was particularly popular among the ranks of the

Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...

. Veteris' name was never linked with that of any of the Classical gods, but he was invoked with another local god, Mogons, at Netherby.

Centres of worship

Veteris was worshipped in

and altar-stones raised to him have been recovered in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

,The Gods of Roman Britain
from roman-britain.org such as those excavated at: *Netherby (971 ogont Vitire 973 uetiri *Carrawburgh (1548 eteri 1549 uiteribus *

Housesteads Housesteads Roman Fort is the remains of an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, at Housesteads, Northumberland, England, south of Broomlee Lough. The fort was built in stone around AD 124, soon after the construction of the wall began in AD 1 ...

(1602 ueteri 1603 uitri 1604-7 eteribus *

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

(2068 eteri 2096 uiteribus * Catterick (727) *

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea ...

(1046 itiri 1047 itiribus 1048 itbus *

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

(1070c nsu Vitiri * Lanchester (1087, 1088) *

Ebchester Ebchester is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the north of Consett and to the south east of Whittonstall. The village sits at the intersection of the A694, which runs from Consett to Swalwell, and the B6309, which connects ...

(1103 & 1104 itiri *

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was kno ...

(1139 eteri 1140 itiri 1141 it *

Benwell Benwell is an area in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The place-name 'Benwell' is first attested in the '' Historia de Sancto Cuthberto'' circa 1050 AD, where it appears as ''Bynnewalle'', from the Old English ''bionna ...

(1335

etri The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute () is a Korean government-funded research institution in Daedeok Science Town in Daejeon, Republic of Korea. Overview Established in 1976, ETRI is a non-profit government-funded research ...

1336 itirbus * Chesters (1455 itiri 1456 eteribus 1457 itirbus 1458 otris? *

Great Chesters Aesica (with the modern name of Great Chesters) was a Roman fort, one and a half miles north of the small town of Haltwhistle in Northumberland, England. It was the ninth fort on Hadrian's Wall, between Vercovicium (Housesteads) to the east and ...

(1728 etiri 1729 & 1730 eteribus *

Chesterholm Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (''castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it originally pre-dated.British windo- 'fair, white, blessed', landa 'enclosure/meadow/prairie/grassy plain' (the modern Welsh word wou ...

(1697 eteri 1698 eteri 1699 eteribus 1722e & 1722f eteribus *

Carvoran Magnis or Magna was a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain. Its ruins are now known as and are located near Carvoran, Northumberland, in northern England. It is thought to have been sited with reference to the Stanegate Roman road, ...

(1793-5 eteri 1796 etiri 1797 etiriu 1798 iterino 1799-1801 itiri 1802/3 eteribus 1804 iteribus 1805 itiribus Forty altars to this god are recorded altogether, some alluding to Veteris as a single entity, others to a multiple version, perhaps a triad. Little is known about the specific function or character of the god. Occasionally, there is iconography associated with Veteris: for example, an altar from

is decorated with images of a boar and snake, the boar indicative of hunting or war and the snake healing or death.

Sources

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. *Lancaster museum, Lancaster,

. *Newcastle Museum of Antiquities,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. *Penrith Museum, Penrith,

. *Verovicium Roman Museum, Housesteads Fort,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

. *

York Castle York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruined ...

Museum,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. *Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Miranda J. Green, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1997 Gods of the ancient Britons {{Celt-myth-stub