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 selectiv ...

, Sucellus or Sucellos () was a

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

shown carrying a large mallet (or hammer) and an ''

olla An olla is a ceramic jar, often unglazed, used for cooking stews or soups, for the storage of water or dry foods, or for other purposes like the irrigation of olive trees. ''Ollas'' have short wide necks and wider bellies, resembling beanpots or ...

'' (or barrel). Originally a Celtic god, his cult flourished not only among Gallo-Romans, but also to some extent among the neighbouring peoples of

Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...

and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. He has been associated with agriculture and wine, particularly in the territory of the Aedui.

Sculptures

He is usually portrayed as a middle-aged bearded man wearing a wolf-skin, with a long-handled

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

, or perhaps a beer

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

suspended from a pole. His companion Nantosuelta is sometimes depicted alongside him. When together, they are accompanied by symbols associated with prosperity and domesticity. In a well-known relief from Sarrebourg, near

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, Nantosuelta, wearing a long gown, is standing to the left. In her left hand she holds a small house-shaped object with two circular holes and a peaked roof – perhaps a dovecote – on a long pole. Her right hand holds a

patera In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''patera'' () or ''phiale'' ( ) is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation ('' omphalos'', "belly button") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, ...

which she is tipping onto a cylindrical altar. To the right Sucellus stands, bearded, in a tunic with a cloak over his right shoulder. He holds his mallet in his right hand and an ''

'' in his left. Above the figures is a dedicatory inscription and below them in very low relief is a raven. This sculpture was dated by Reinach, from the form of the letters, to the end of the first century or start of the second century.

Inscriptions

At least eleven inscriptions to Sucellus are known, mostly from

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. One (''RIB'' II, 3/2422.21) is from Eboracum (modern

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

) in

. In an inscription from Augusta Rauricorum (modern Augst), Sucellus is identified with Silvanus: :''In honor(em) / '' :''d(omus) d(ivinae) deo Su/'' :''cello Silv(ano) / '' :''Spart(us) l(ocus) d(atus) d(ecreto) d(ecurionum)'' The

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...

of Sucellus with Silvanus can also be seen in artwork from Narbonensis.

Roles and Duties

In Italy, Silvanus was said to protect forests and fields. He presided over the boundaries of properties, together with a host of local silvani, three for each property. These were the silvanus of the home, the silvanus of the fields, and the silvanus of the boundaries. Silvanus also takes care of flocks, guaranteeing their fertility and protecting them from wolves, which is why he often wears the skin of a wolf. When moving north into Gaul, Silvanus was syncretically merged with Sucellus to form the conflated Sucellus-Silvanus. It was Sucellus who carried the mallet and bowl. It has been suggested that the mallet was for construction and the erection of fence-posts (establishing boundaries), but this is far from certain. Green claims that Sucellus may also relate to a

chthonic In Greek mythology, deities referred to as chthonic () or chthonian () were gods or spirits who inhabited the underworld or existed in or under the earth, and were typically associated with death or fertility. The terms "chthonic" and "chthonian" ...

deity, especially in maintain boundaries between the living and dead. Sucellus has been frequently identified as a candidate for Gaulish Dis Pater, the Gaulish god of the underworld and progenitor of the Gauls described by Caesar.

Etymology

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

, the root ''cellos'' can be interpreted as 'striker', derived from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

''*-kel-do-s'' whence also come Latin ''per-cellere'' ('striker'), Greek ''klao'' ('to break') and Lithuanian ''kálti'' ('to hammer, to forge'). The prefix ''su-'' means 'good' or 'well' and is found in many Gaulish personal names. ''Sucellus'' is therefore commonly translated as 'the good striker.' An alternate etymology is offered by Celticist Blanca María Prósper, who posits a derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root ''*kel-'' ‘to protect’, i.e. ''*su-kel-mó(n)'' "having a good protection" or ''*su-kel-mṇ-'', an agentive formation meaning "protecting well, providing good protection", with a thematic derivative built on the oblique stem, ''*su-kel-mn-o-'' (and subsequent simplification and assimilation of the sonorant cluster and a secondary full grade of the root). Prósper suggests the name would then be comparable to the Indic personal name ''Suśarman-'', found in

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

References

Bibliography

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