Medocius

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Medocius is the name of a war and battle deity in Celtic mythology who was worshiped in Britain .

mythology

Only one dedicatory inscription was found by Medocius in 1891 near Colchester (County Essex , England ), the former Camulodunum . The inscription reads:

Deo Marti Medocio Camp-
e (n) sium et Victori (a) e Alexan-
dri Pii Felicis Augusti nos (tr) i
donum Lossio Veda de suo
posuit nepos Vepogeni Caledo
("Donated to the god of the battlefields Mars Medocius and the victory of [Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus ] Alexander Pius Felix Augustus of Lossius Veda, the grandson of Vepogenus Caledos, from his own [funds]")

According to the Interpretatio Romana , he is equated with Mars . Since Libyan troops were garrisoned in Camulodunum , he is also presumed to be a Libyan deity, although this has not yet been proven beyond doubt.

His name is derived from the reconstructed protoceltic root * medwo-oci ("the drunk one") and the lexeme * okitā ("harrows that lead the harrow") and could mean "mead-egger who harrows for the mead". A connection with the Celtic custom, handed down by ancient chroniclers, of holding a drink before the battle is suspected.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AE 1892, 89 .
  2. Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 1090.