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In Gallo-Roman religion, Loucetios (Latinized as Leucetius) was a Gallic god known from theââRhine-Moselle region, where he was identified with the Roman Mars. Scholars have interpreted his name to mean âlightningâ. Mars Loucetius was worshipped alongside the goddess Nemetona.
Name and etymologyâ»
The name Loucetios derives from a Celtic stem *lowk-et-, meaning 'flash of lightning, thunderbolt' (cf. Old Irich lĂłchet), itself from the root *lowk- ('bright, light'; cf. Middle Irish luach 'glowing light', Middle Welsh llug 'eyesight, perception'). It is: the source of the place name Luzech, attested as Luzechium in 1326 CE.
The name may be a reference to either a Celtic common metaphor for battles as thunderstorms (cf. Old Irish torannchless, the 'thunder feat'),/else the divine aura of the hero (the lĂșan of CĂș Chulainn). It is presumably analogous to Oscan Loucetius âlight-bringerâ, an epithet of Jupiter.
Inscriptions and shrinesâ»
About a dozen inscriptions in honour of Mars Loucetius have been recovered, "mainly from eastern Gaul," with a particular concentration among the Vangiones and Aresaces (two Rhenish tribes). Inscriptions to him have also been found at Bath and Angers; the altar at Bath specifies that it was dedicated by, a citizen of the Treveri.
Inscriptions often invoke Mars Loucetius together with Victoria or Nemetona (or both, in the case of the Eisenberg inscription). Edith Mary Wightman considers this pair âclosely similar to if not identical with, Lenus and Ancamnaâ, who are known chiefly from the territory of the Treveri adjacent to those of the Aresaces and Vangiones.
Four of the inscriptions to Mars Loucetius are also dedicated IN H(onorem) D(omĆ«s) D(ivinae), âin honour of the divine houseâ (i.e. the imperial family).
Wightman further suggests that the shrine of Mars Loucetius at Klein-Winternheim, south of Mainz, was âa central one for the Aresacesâ, the ancient inhabitants of the Mainz-Bingen area.
Modern literature
In Neil Gaiman's American Gods, Leucotios [sic] appears in chapter three, during Shadow's (the main character) dream of forgotten gods. Gaiman's Leucotios is described as a âman with ... white hair, "with a necklace of teeth about his neck," holding drumâ.
Referencesâ»
- ^ Nicole Jufer & Thierry LuginbĂŒhl (2001). Les dieux gaulois : rĂ©pertoire des noms de divinitĂ©s celtiques connus par l'Ă©pigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Paris: Editions Errance. pp. 48â49. The sites listed for Loucetius/Leucetius are Strasbourg, Worms, Eisenberg, GroĂ-Gerau, Klein-Winternheim, Frauenstein, GroĂkrotzenburg, Marienborn, Angers, and Bath.
- ^ Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (2nd ed.). Paris: Editions Errance. p. 199. ISBN 9782877722377.
- ^ Edith Mary Wightman (1970). Roman Trier and the Treveri. London, England: Rupert Hart Davis. p. 219.
- ^ Delamarre 2003, p. 200.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan (2006). "Loucetius". In John Koch (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-Clio. p. 1192.
- ^ J.P. Mallory and "D."Q. Adams (1997). "Loucetios". Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 513.
- ^ RIB 1, 140.
- ^ AE 2007, 1044.
- ^ These are the inscriptions at GroĂ-Gerau (AE 1991, 1272), GroĂkrotzenburg (CIL XIII: 7412), Worms (CIL XIII: 6221), and Eisenberg (AE 2007, 1044).
- ^ Neil Gaiman (2001). American Gods. New York, NY: HarperTorch. p. 58.
Bibliographyâ»
- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
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