campester.md

On the Reconstruction of Tribal Cults with Little Epigraphic Evidence: The Example of Mars Campester in Moesia Superior

In the recontruction of indigenous Celtic religions on a tribal or regional basis, indigenous theonyms can be fundamental. However, not all Celtic peoples left behind a wealth of epigraphic evidence for the names of their deities, and some, in fact, left behind virtually none. This roadblock, however, can potentially be circumvented through understanding of the syncretic phenomena that yield certain Latinate thonyms in predominately Celtic-speaking areas. This study will focus, namely, on the process of explicatio vel translatio Latina a lingua Celtica. Explicatio vel translatio Latina a lingua Celtica describes a process by which Latin dedicants in votive inscriptions likely applied Latin calques of Celtic theonyms as epithets to Mediterranean deities.¹

This calls to mind the case of the Scordisci. Although the Celtic Scordisci left behind a wealth of personal names, toponyms, and evidence of material culture in the Central Balkans, they left behind virtually no epigraphic evidence of their deities.² This does not, however, condemn one who would attempt a reconstruction of them. Take, for example, the case of the attested MARS CAMPESTER from the territory of the Scordisci. According to Gavrilović, it can neither be confirmed nor denied with present evidence (although it should certainly remain under suspicion in areas known to have been Celtic-speaking) whether or not the Moesian MARS CAMPESTER concealed an epichoric Celtic deity.³ However, as the saying goes, 'history gets a vote, not a veto'; progress can therefore proceed under the assumption that a certain degree of innovation is acceptable, expected, and often unavoidable in modern polytheist religions built with a reconstructionist methodology, and this short study can proceed with the assumption that the Moesian MARS CAMPESTER does, in fact, conceal an indigenous Celtic deity.

If this is the case, then it can be immediately recognized that the deity in question has undergone what de Bernardo Stempel calls explicatio vel translatio Latina a lingua Celtica. In fact, an exact parallel to the MARS CAMPESTER in question may be seen in the example that de Bernardo Stempel uses to demonstrate this process, the FATAE CAMPESTRES of the Italian peninsula. De Bernardo Stempel connects this theonym via semantics to the MATERES MAGEIAE attested in France, and derives MAGEIAE from *mages-ya- 'belonging to or related to a field'.⁴ From this, a reconstructed indigenous name for the Moesian MARS CAMPESTER can then be constructed as a masculine-singular theonym from the root *mages- and the masculine structural suffix *-yo-, yielding *Magesios or a later *Mageios. It is worth noting hereafter, though, that this reconstruction depends heavily on the accuracy of de Bernardo Stempel's etymology, as both Delamarre and Matasović produce different morphologies for the root in question.⁵

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1. For more detailed information on syncretic phenomena in Romano-Celtic religion, see de Bernardo Stempel & Hainzmann (2020) pp. 80-82

2. Gavrilović 2013 p. 175

3. Gavrilović 2010 pp. 273-276

4. De Bernardo Stempel 2013 p. 82

5. Delamarre 2003 p. 214 & Matasović 2009 p. 253

Bibliography:

de Bernardo Stempel (2013) Patrizia, Celtic and Other Indigenous Divine Names Found in the Italian Peninsula, in: A. Hofeneder & P. de Bernardo Stempel (ed.), Théonymie celtique, cultes, interpretatio / Keltische Theonymie, Kulte, interpretatio. X. Workshop F.E.R.C.AN., Verlag der Österrechischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2013, 73-96

de Bernardo Stempel Patrizia & Hainzmann Manfred (2020), Fontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum-- I. Provincia Noricum, Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2020

Delamarre (2003) Xavier, Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise, Errance 2003

Gavrilović (2013) Nadežda, Traces of Celtic PopulatFontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum-- I. Provincia Noricum, ion and Beliefs in the Roman Provinces of the Central Balkans, in: A. Hofeneder & P. de Bernardo Stempel (ed.), Théonymie celtique, cultes, interpretatio / Keltische Theonymie, Kulte, interpretatio. X. Workshop F.E.R.C.AN., Verlag der Österrechischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2013, 175-182

- (2010) The cult of Mars in Central Balkans: A Roman or Romano-Celtic deity?, in: J. Alberto Arenas-Esteban (ed.), Celtic Religion Across Space and Time: IX Workshop F.E.R.C.AN, Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha 2010, 266-278

Matasović (2009) Ranko, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Brill 2009