A pair of statues from an extra-urban (or rural) ROSMERTA-MERCURY SANCTUARY which seems to have been located around 18km north-west of Borbetomagos/Worms (between Westhofen and Hessloch) in the territory of the civitas near the road from Borbetomagos to Bingen (see CSIR-D II.10, 29-30).
Rosmerta is a Celtic name: smerta meaning 'provider' and ro- a prefix meaning 'very, great'. In other words, 'The Great Provider'. Unfortunately her sculpture is very damaged; perhaps someone will one day discover some more fragments in the vinyards... Mercury and Rosmerta can also be found 20km west of the civitas capital Borbetomagos, at the vicus Eisenberg (on the road to Metz): there, Rosmerta is represented with a purse in her right hand, a common attribute of the Gallo-Roman Mercury (as god of 'commerce'); otherwise a cornucopia and fruits are common attributes of Rosmerta, simiar to mother goddesses, making her perhaps a fertility goddess and also a goddess of abundance/plenty. Mercury and Rosmerta are typical for the north-eastern regions of Gaul, roughly between Autun/Augustodunum and the Rhine Limes. If we follow Caesar, Mercury is the most popular god in Gaul, whose original Celtic name escapes us (perhaps Toutatis or Esus... - here perhaps Toutatis as god of the 'touta', i.e. populus... [click here for more info]) |
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