Siehe diesen Text auf
The historical situation at the eve of the Roman conquest was characterised
by a strong wave of emigration of the Celtic population, coupled to a slow
infiltration by German groups. This took place during the mid to late Latène
period and should, as a consequence, have lead to a poor chance of continuity
of local cults into the Roman period. Only in the Alpine area, where a larger
substrate of indigenous population and culture can be postulated, are the chances
likely to have been higher, although the lack of archaeological data for the
area hampers attempts to verify this. On the other hand, the gods and religious
cults that we do encounter in the Roman period Alpine piedmont, appear largely
to reflect a mixed, Gallo-Roman culture and so the recognisable pre-Roman aspects
of religious practise are normally dominated by Gallo-Celtic elements. Thanks
to the lack of local written records, little is known about the religious ideas
of either the remaining Raetian population or the immigrants. Likewise, it
is often unclear which gods were venerated at particular sanctuaries or, indeed,
at the Raetian sacrificial pyre sites, which may derive from local Alpine traditions.
Our only remaining access to the religious ideas of the people living in pre-Roman west and central Europe (archaeological
remains apart) are thus the writings of Mediterranean authors, with their inherent
and extensive bias. Their not always successful attempts to explain foreign
gods by means of references to and identification with deities from the graeco-Roman
pantheon are usually called the Interpretatio Romana, in line with an expression of Tacitus' (Germania 43). Nowadays, we use the
same term to describe the tendency of many provincial dedications to link Roman
and pre-Roman deity names, as well as the many attempts made during the Imperial
period to illustrate the an-iconic Celtic and Germanic pantheon using religious
sculpture in the Mediterranean tradition. As the initial moves towards this
type of equation often originated within increasingly Romanised provincial
cult communities, the term Interpretatio Romana, with its associations with a Roman/Mediterranean outsider’s views, may not
be fully appropriate. The deities with conjoined names still carry with them
the essential characteristics of the deity from the non-Roman element. The
resulting shifts in a god's responsibility and character, away from its purely
Mediterranean appearance led in its final form to a panoply of local deities
specific to tribes or regions, which ‘traded’ under Roman names. Thus Jupiter,
the father and chief of the gods, and protector of Rome, appears in two regional
variations in the border districts of Raetia. Of these Jupiter Arubianus, who
is best known from the area around the Chiemsee (technically already in Noricum),
probably derives his name from a remaining Celtic group, who also revered the
local god Bedaius and the tribal deities: the Alounae. Jupiter Poeninus, on
the other hand, is known from the Valais in the Western Alps, which was only
detached from Raetia by Claudius (41-54 AD). This Jupiter was merged with a local mountain god, whose most important sanctuary (Summus Poeninus)
lay on the highest point (2469m ODD) of the Great St. Bernhard pass (Kt.Valais)
/ CH.
 |
 |
A further Raetian pass sanctuary, with what may be the remains of a Jupiter statue, has been found in the 2284m high Julian Pass (Kt. Graubünden) /CH. Apart from these two regionally limited Jupiter adaptations, there is also a terminal figure from a Jupiter and Giant column from Weißenburg in Bavaria (Kr. Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen; Bayern) / D, that shows a wheel and so demonstrates that the linkage between Jupiter Optimus Maximus and the chief Celtic sky god Taranis, known from elsewhere, was also current in parts of Raetia.
This tenacious relationship with Gallic ritual preferences is also noticeable in other contexts as, for example, in a strong preference for Mercury, who was already mentioned by Julius Caesar (De Bello Gallico VI 17) as the deity the Gauls venerated as creator of all arts, guide to all ways and expeditions, and a guarantor of trade, money making and wealth (and thus the recipient of most imagery). According to Tacitus (Germania 9) he was held in comparably highly regard by the Germans who, according to early Medieval sources, eventually equated him with their highest god: Wodanaz/Wotan. He is known from more than 60 sculptures and inscriptions in Raetia.
 |
 |
Two Mercury statuettes from Karres (Bez. Imst; Tirol) / A suggest that the god was not just venerated in what are architecturally clearly defined temples, but also apparently at open sacrificial pyre sites. His Latin name was assimilated with those of various local deities, and the special aspects and responsibilities of both could be subsumed into a specific appearance. Thus we find him in Augsburg / Augusta Vindelicum (Stadt Augsburg; Bayern) / D as Mercurius Matutinus, in Bregenz / Brigantium (Stadt Bregenz; Vorarlberg) / A as Mercurius (H)arcecius, in Ludenhausen near Epfach (Kr. Landsberg am Lech; Bayern) / D as Mercurius Cimiacinus and in Regensburg / Reginum (Stadt Regensburg; Bayern) / D as Mercurius Censualis. Furthermore, a Mercurius Cissonius Matutinus, or just Mercurius Cissonius, is known from inscriptions in Müraia / Murus and Castellmur im Bergell (Kt. Graubünden) / CH, and is also occasionally found in the Germanic provinces.
 |
 |
 |
One Raetian peculiarity is the association of Mercury with Minerva and Apollo to form a regular triad, and images of this group are occasional found on dedicatory reliefs or votive plaques. Whilst Minerva also occurs elsewhere, either by herself or the as part of the Capitoline triad (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva), Apollo is usually represented in Raetia in an assimilation with the Celtic god of healing and water sources: Grannus. The traditional Mediterranean title of Apollo Phoebus was probably the basis for the place name Phoebiana: modern Lauingen-Faimingen (Kr. Dillingen a.d. Donau; Bayern) / D and the local sanctuary of Apollo Grannus here, with its podium temple of Mediterranean type, underlines the vicus' importance as a supra-regional, if not the central cult centre of the god in Raetia.
Rare inscriptions naming Apollo Grannus in combination with Sirona, a Celtic deity of healing springs, again suggest cultic influences from northern Upper Germany or from eastern Gallia Belgica, where the habit of combining a male god with a Latin name with a stable local female cult companion has one of its local concentrations. In Raetia these ritual pairings are rather uncommon and must be differentiated from truly Mediterranean combinations, such as Mars and Victoria, whose combined cult is frequently encountered in military contexts.
 |
 |
Apart from frequent decorative occurrences on pieces of armour and small statuettes, two limestone sculptures of both gods are worth mentioning in Raetia, both slightly over half a meter high and found immediately to the south of a small chapel-like temple on the Weinberg near Eining (Kr. Kelheim; Bayern) / D. A possible watchtower and a small house offering accommodation, belonging to the same complex, suggest a military context. But both gods can also be found in public/civilian contexts, as is documented by an inscription recording the restoration of their joint temple by the citizens of Augsburg. Likewise, there is an alter to Mars and Victoria which shows that a group existed in the capital, which called itself "Contubernium marticultorum".
 |
 |
 |
A comparable religious association in Kempten, served Hercules and was known as the "Herculem colentes". This originally Greek demi-god enjoyed great popularity in Gaul and the Gallic provinces as a god of commerce, traffic and income, and also as a protector of house, home and property. It was probably to call on his protection that a 3rd century hoard, with writing implements and a large number of intact Samian vessels, was deposited in the villa of Marktoberdorf-Kohlhunden (Kr. Ostallgäu / Bayern) / D. For the inscriptions scratched into three of the beakers call, by name, on Cenabio, probably the local deity of the settlement, and Hercules, possibly with the epithet V(ictor). A similar aiding function is probably responsible for the occasional depiction of the god found on military equipment. Indeed, he is much better known in Raetia in such contexts, and from statuettes, than from epigraphy.
There are occasional mention of other gods from the Graeco-Roman pantheon, such as the underworld deities Pluto/Dis Pater and Proserpina; the goddess of good luck, Fortuna, and the originally Celtic goddess Epona, the lady of the horses/mules, who had been adopted by the Romans in Republican times. There must also have been a series of local deities, whose names reflected topographical features.
 |
 |
 |
The hunting goddess Diana, the forest god Silvanus and his companions the Silvanae, were all recorded in Raetia, but they lack there the regional epithets that they frequently acquired elsewhere. Amongst the few exceptions is Neptunus Danuvius (from the River Danube) who is known both from coins and inscriptions, and the river goddess Gontia (from the River Günz), who received an altar from Caius Iulius Faventianus, a centurion of Legio I Italica in Günzburg (Kr. Günzburg; Bayern) / D. There is, however, a striking lack of inscriptions to local fertility deities or mother goddesses, of the kind venerated in the Rhine provinces, southern Gaul and northern Italy.
The dedication to the Suleviae from the vicus of Nassenfels (Kr. Eichstätt; Bayern) / D, thus remains an exception in Raetia, despite the many mentions of these Celtic mother/fertility goddess in the Germanic provinces. The same holds true for Sedatus, a provincial-Roman god, who is known from a dedication from Pfünz (Kr. Eichstätt; Bayern) / D, but otherwise only from three other inscriptions from the Danube provinces (Pannonia Superior, Pannonia Inferior and Moesia Superior) and an altar in the abbey of St. Maurice (Kt. Wallis) / CH in the province of Alpes Poeninae. The fact that the Pfünz inscription was dedicated by the Coh I Breucorum, the unit in garrison, raises the possibility that Sedatus may have been brought to Raetia from the homelands of the Illyrian Breuci, i.e. Pannonia Inferior.
 |
 |
Such a find, tied to immigrants, may also explain a Suleviae dedication in Nassenfels. Likewise, one of the most impressive finds that might fall into this context is a Terra Nigra bowl from Heidenheim a.d. Brenz (Kr. Heidenheim; Baden-Württemberg) / D which, according to the inscription, was dedicated by a certain Amaranthus to Venus Erycina because of the happy outcome to a shipwreck, although the word naufragium can be translated either literally as 'shipwreck', or with the connotation of ‘personal disaster’. The Venus Erycina mentioned had her cult centre on the slopes of Mons Eryx on the west coast of Sicily and was particularly venerated on the island and in southern Italy. To judge from his Mediterranean name the dedicant may have been a trader and so again a foreigner, who remembered his local patron deity after a crisis during a voyage in a alien place.
In all, only a few indigenous and possibly traditional cult practices are known from Raetia. With the exceptions of the sacrificial pyre sites and the triad of Apollo, Minerva and Mercury, there are usually just things whose lack or scarcity sets Raetia apart from the neighbouring provinces. Here we can cite the Jupiter columns, veneration of the Matres- and Matrones, the depiction of cult pairs or the names of local deities. Roman gods dominated, either with their Mediterranean names along with names (or, more occasionally epithets) from Gallo-Celtic areas and only rarely with possible local ones. One is thus left with the general impression that the Roman cults were predominately imported into Raetia from outside, without encountering there much in the way of an indigenous religious culture with its own regional characteristics.
Christian Miks
Bakker 1985a L. Bakker, Götterstatuetten aus Tempeln und Hausheiligtümern in Augusta Vindelicum. In: Katalog Augsburg 1985, 110ff.
Bakker 1985b L. Bakker, Die Verehrung des Merkur in Augusta Vindelicum. In: Katalog Augsburg 1985, 110ff.
Bakker 1990 L. Bakker, Apollo Grannus und Weintransport: Zwei neue Steindenkmäler aus Augusta Vindelicum. Arch. Jahr Bayern 1990, 107ff.
Bauchhenß 1976 G. Bauchhenß, Jupitergigantensäulen. Kleine Schriften zur Kenntnis der römischen Besetzungsgeschichte Südwestdeutschlands 14 (Stuttgart-Aalen 1976).
Bauchhenß u.a. 1981 G. Bauchhenß / P. Noelke, Die Iupitersäulen in den germanischen Provinzen. Bonner Jahrb. Beih. 41 (Köln-Bonn 1981).
Czysz 1995 Das zivile Leben in der Provinz – Religion und Kult. In: W. Czysz / K. Dietz / Th. Fischer / H.-J. Kellner, Die Römer in Bayern (Stuttgart 1995) 270ff.
Czysz u.a. 2002 W. Czysz / M. Scholz, Götterspeise – Ein Opferdepot am Rande der Römervilla von Kohlhunden (Stadt Marktoberndorf, Landkreis Ostallgäu, Schwaben). Arch. Jahr Bayern 2002, 74ff..
Dietz u.a. 1985 K. Dietz / G. Weber, Diis Deabusque omnibus – allen Göttern und Göttinnen. In: Katalog Augsburg 1985, 213ff.
Dietz u.a. 1996 K. Dietz / Th. Fischer, Die Römer in Regensburg (Regensburg 1996) 144ff.
Eschbaumer 1986 P. Eschbaumer, Nassenfels in römischer Zeit. In: Nassenfels. Beiträge zur Natur- und Kulturgeschichte des mittleren Schuttertales (Kipfenberg 1986) 107ff.
Gschlössl 2006 R. Gschlössl, Im Schmelztiegel der Religionen. Göttertausch bei Kelten, Römern und Germanen. Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie (Mainz 2006).
Höck 2002 A. Höck, Merkurstatuetten von einem spätlatène- bis römerzeitlichen Opferplatz bei Karres. In: L. Zemmer-Plank (Hrsg.), Kult der Vorzeit in den Alpen. Opfergaben – Opferplätze – Opferbrauchtum (Bolzano-Bozen 2002) 1239ff.
Katalog Augsburg 1985 Die Römer in Schwaben. Jubiläumsausstellung 2000 Jahre Augsburg. Arbeitshefte des Bayerischen Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege 27 (München 1985).
Kellner u.a. 1993 H.-J. Kellner / G. Zahlhaas, Der römische Tempelschatz von Weissenburg i. Bay. (Mainz 1993).
Pauli 1986 L. Pauli, Einheimische Götter und Opferbräuche im Alpenraum. In: W. Haase (Hrsg.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II 18,1 (Berlin-New York 1986) 816ff.
Reuter u.a 2004 M. Reuter / M. Scholz, Geritzt und entziffert. Schriftzeugnisse der römischen Informationsgesellschaft. Schriften des Limesmuseums Aalen 57 (Esslingen 2004).
Spickermann 1997 W. Spickermann, Aspekte einer "neuen" regionalen Religion und der Prozeß der "interpretatio" im römischen Germanien, Rätien und Noricum. In: H. Cancik / J. Rüpke (Hrsg.), Römische Rechsreligion und Provinzialreligion (Tübingen 1997) 145ff.
Spickermann 2005 W. Spickermann (Hrsg.), Keltische Götter im Römischen Reich. Akten des 4. Internationalen Workshops "Fontes Epigraphici Religionis Celticae Antiquae" vom 4.-6.10.2002 an der Universität Osnabrück. Osnabrücker Forschungen zu Altertum und Antike-Rezeption 9 (Bramsche 2005).
Vollmer 1915 F. Volmer, Inscriptiones Baivariae Romanae sive inscriptiones provinciae Raetiae adiectis aliquot Noricis Italicisque (München 1915).
Wagner 1956-1957 F. Wagner, Neue Inschriften aus Ratien. Bericht RGK 37-38, 1956-1957, 215ff.
Wagner u.a. 1973 F. Wagner / G. Gamer / A. Rüsch, Corpus signorum imperii Romani: Deutschland I,1 – Raetia (Bayern südlich des Limes) und Noricum (Chiemseegebiet) (Bonn 1973).
Walser 1980 G. Walser, Römische Inschriften in der Schweiz. III. Wallis, Tessin, Graubünden, Meilensteine aus der ganzen Schweiz (Bern 1980).
Walser 1984 G. Walser, Summus Poeninus. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Grossen St. Bernhard-Passes in römischer Zeit. Historia Einzelschriften 46 (Wiesbaden 1984).
Wamser 2000 L. Wamser (Hrsg.), Die Römer zwischen Alpen und Nordmeer. Zivilisatorisches Erbe einer europäischen Militärmacht. Ausstellungskatalog Rosenheim. Schriftenreihe der Archäologischen Staatssammlung 1 (Mainz 2000).