The Cult of the Healer Deities Apollo Grannus and Sirona in the Roman Empire Cover Image

Cultul divinităţilor tămăduitoare Apollo grannus şi Sirona în Imperiul Roman
The Cult of the Healer Deities Apollo Grannus and Sirona in the Roman Empire

Author(s): Adrian Husar
Subject(s): Archaeology
Published by: Institutul de Cercetări Socio-Umane Gheorghe Şincai al Academiei Române
Keywords: epigraphy; iconography; Romano-Celtic period; gods of the Celts; the Roman pantheon; Dacia

Summary/Abstract: A glance at the epigraphic record of the Romano - Celtic period reveals about 400 god-names, over 300 of which one only occurs. The influence of Roman religious stimuli on the Celtic world was manifested on the form both of physical expression, iconography and epigraphy. The interaction between the multi-functional and more localized gods of the Celts and the more formal Roman pantheon produced a hybrid religious culture which is as fascinating as it is full of problems of interpretation. Among the ethnical and cultural (religious) elements coming from the Occident, those coming from the territories of Celtic and Celto-Germanic substratum constitute a considerable group, having an important weight in the spreading of the Roman provincial civilization in Dacia. Apollo Grannus and Sirona are Celtic divinities widely spread in Gallia and on the Upper Danube. The couple Apollo Grannus-Sirona one of the very frequently mixed couples met in the "Gallo-Roman" religion had been assimilated in the Roman pantheon as protectors of health. In virtue of its quality to protect the human being-governing the destiny and the wealth- each Celtic divinity might be considered, last of all, as healthful. We can notice the fact that among the believers of the couple Apollo Grannus - Sirona, well known throughout the Empire, we seldom meet characters of higher rank as the dedicants from Sarmizegetusa. Thus, presently in Dacia are attested 16 Celtic and Celto-Germanic deities on the basis of 38 monuments (28 epigraphic and 10 figurative). With one single exception (the un-epigraphic altar from Sucidava) all these monuments were found in the Carpathian Dacia. Although there aren't in Dacia too numerous evidences of the Celto-Germanic beliefs, the different position of Trajan’s province, placed at the cross-roads of the spiritual influences coming both from the Occident and the Orient, is reflected by some of the particularities of these cults in Carpathian Dacia.

  • Issue Year: 1998
  • Issue No: 01
  • Page Range: 207-216
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Romanian