Vesunna is a

Celtic goddess 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 ...

worshipped in

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century B ...

. She was likely considered a giver of prosperity, abundance and good fortune, as evidenced by the

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

she is depicted carrying in her images. Vesunna was also once the name of a town just south of the modern French city of

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...

, where the goddess had a temple in ancient times; she was certainly the patron goddess of this city and its people and thus a protector. Inscription_construction_temple_Tutela_Vesunna

Inscription_construction_temple_Tutela_Vesunna

In inscriptions found in Périgueux, Vesunna is identified with the Roman guardian goddess

Tutela ''Tutela'' was the ancient Roman concept of "guardianship", conceived of as a goddess in the Imperial period, and from the earliest period as a functional role that various tutelary deities might play, particularly Juno. ''Tutela'' had particu ...

. Vesunna received votive and dedicatory offerings from her worshippers; otherwise little is known of the specifics of her cult. She had a temple in the city that bore her name. Vesunna was worshipped especially by the Gaulish Celtic tribe known as the

Petrocorii The Petrocorii were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the present-day Périgord region, between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Etymology They are mentioned as ''Petrocoriis'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''P ...

, whose name survives in that of the modern French city of Périgueux, located just north of her great temple.

Etymology

Vesunna's name is likely to derive from the Proto-Celtic *''wesu'', meaning ‘good’, 'worthy'. Alternatively, related to the name of the Greek goddess

Hestia In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hestia (; ) is the virgin goddess of the hearth and the home. In myth, she is the firstborn child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and one of the Twelve Olympians. In Greek mythology, newborn Hestia, alo ...

, whose name means "hearth, fireplace, altar", This stems from the

PIE A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

root ''*wes'', "burn" (ult. from '' *h₂wes-'' "dwell, pass the night, stay"). And so likely also related to the name of the Latin goddess of the hearth, Vesta, though this connection is questioned by Beekes. Probably related to

Umbrian Umbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. Within the Italic languages it is closely related to the Oscan group and is therefore associated with it in the group of Osco-Umbr ...

Vesune which should be a dative singular of a *Vesuna, presumed to be a name of a goddess. Perhaps also related to the name of

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ) is a Somma volcano, somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuv ...

. The theonym is the direct heir to another goddess of the same city of Sianna, and derives from ''vesannus, -a, -um'' - ‘cruel, furious, excited, unstoppable’ for Sianna as a definition relative to the mistress of wildlife and as a goddess of the hunt. Vesunna is also called Tutela, indicating her role as a patron and defender of the city.

Similar theonymes

There is one inscription from

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

with the invocation of goddess Visuna, probably an inscriptive variant of goddess Vesunna from Périgueux. On the altar stone are clearly visible the objects for libation. CIL 13, 11714 = Wagner-01, p 20 = AE 1907, 00110 dating: 101 to 250 EDCS-ID: EDCS-12600015 province: Germania superior place: Baden-Baden / Aquae Visunae / Salvius / Similis / Similis / /

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Celtic goddesses Fortune goddesses Abundance goddesses Gaulish goddesses