The Celtic Goddess: Ancasta

[uwot]

...Rome was religiously liberal and allowed all cults to thrive, with the single proviso I mentioned that monotheists felt unable to comply with.

Well, the point I was making is that was not always the case, as the druids and bacchanals discovered. In my view, the motivation was political and military expedience rather than tolerance. I think the Romans learnt that getting into a fight over a difference of opinion was a drain on resources.

[attofishpi]

This is just a factor of your ignorance of history. There is nothing remarkable about this.

..and results in your condescending arrogance. What here is not remarkable to you?

eg you said; "I found some resources but nothing to account for a particular Roman associated by the name with anything related to England."
Ancient Rome was never, could never be associated with England, as there was no such place whilst Rome ruled in these Isles.

Your point being that England as a term for a landmass never existed?

Correct England was NEVER a landmass.

That does not mean searching for reference between England and this Geminus Maximus means im ignorant - modern English resources on the matter could have provided some results.

As for Geminus it was likely that he was a Briton, despite his Romanised name. If he was Roman by birth there is nothing odd about a dedication to a genius loci. What became known as "Paganism" was a fully polytheistic set of religions.

But since the example you give is the ONLY single example of "Ancasta" ever to be found in anywhere, there is not much you can say about her.
Her name could as easily be from Casto meaning pure. Or casta meaning Lineage. Or a thousand other words.

Ok thanks, the article suggested 'swift'.

And there is absolutely NO reason why she should be called Celtic.

Why - because of the roots of casto\casta? ANCASTAE was on the inscription.
Would some sort of radio-carbon dating provide an answer as to whether this is Celtic?

[attofishpi]

It may be possible that the name 'Ancasta' is related to Proto-Celtic *kasto- meaning 'swift'.

The prefix 'an' is frequently seen in place names and I understand it's one of the Celtic water or waterways prefixes. River names tend to be the oldest sort of place names. It would be interesting to know if either or the rivers which Attofishpi knows so intimately is at all swift.

Yes - they are swift. I used to swim in the River Test every summer and many a youth have drowned in it. In fact a bit of synchronicity - last night i had dinner with my old friend from Southampton - his uncle died in the river Test.

Southampton is on a piece of land in a V shape - the left side of the V is where the river Test enters and the right side is where the river Itchen enters. The Solent then makes its way around the North sides of the Isle of Wight.

..and of course the Titanic had its fateful journey - ultimately from the river Test - how ironic.

[attofishpi]

...I find it extremely intriguing if this is someone of importance within a Roman legion, its quite a submission isn't it?

Pretty much up until the time of Constantine, it was generally Roman practice to tolerate the local mythology. It was all part of the 'hearts and minds' strategy. The Romans had learnt the hard way that people are never so violent as when they are defending their cherished beliefs, which most of us on this forum have some experience of. So it would not be a surprise if it was someone of importance, leading by example and showing respect for the local custom. Much easier than beating it out of them.

Understood. I will now need to research more discovered inscriptions where someone of a Roman name, likely someone within the Roman legion, someone with authority practically kissed the arse of a foreign deity.

[Arising_uk]

...
The Roman empire was in a constant state of syncretism, adaptation, adoption and inclusion. ...

Well that and conquest.

[attofishpi]

Why did this thread get moved to the lounge from "Epistemology - Theory of Knowledge"??

- general chit chat area? Really!

- at least Philosophical Discussion would be appropriate.

[FlashDangerpants]

Understood. I will now need to research more discovered inscriptions where someone of a Roman name, likely someone within the Roman legion, someone with authority practically kissed the arse of a foreign deity.

You have to do research for that? You are way behind the historical studies curve I'm afraid, I can think of an obvious example off the top of my head

There was temple to the Cult of Isis in Londinium in the days when Isis was an Egyptian goddess and Londinium was the Roman name for London. It was a cult with lots of Roman members.

Hobbes is completely right, you have zero reason to assume that name is actually of a Roman, and even less to assume that he was a legionary given that your only reference was found at a port on the south coast far from the areas where the actual legions were stationed. Your dude is at least as likely to be a Romanised British tin merchant.

[attofishpi]

Understood. I will now need to research more discovered inscriptions where someone of a Roman name, likely someone within the Roman legion, someone with authority practically kissed the arse of a foreign deity.

You have to do research for that? You are way behind the historical studies curve I'm afraid, I can think of an obvious example off the top of my head

There was temple to the Cult of Isis in Londinium in the days when Isis was an Egyptian goddess and Londinium was the Roman name for London. It was a cult with lots of Roman members.

Hobbes is completely right, you have zero reason to assume that name is actually of a Roman, and even less to assume that he was a legionary given that your only reference was found at a port on the south coast far from the areas where the actual legions were stationed. Your dude is at least as likely to be a Romanised British tin merchant.

Yes i am fully aware that some locals took Roman names. I understand reasoning for Rome to 'accept' or pay tribute to local deities. You have only semi-understood my point.
Cite me an example of a Roman settlement where someone - who we must agree would have been of some stature, at least within the Roman legion - has as i stated - practically kissed the arse of a local deity. Much appreciated.

[uwot]

There was temple to the Cult of Isis in Londinium in the days when Isis was an Egyptian goddess and Londinium was the Roman name for London. It was a cult with lots of Roman members.

Yeah, but don't forget that in the late Empire particularly, Rome employed whole bands of mercenaries. Political and military history aren't really my thing, so I have no idea whether Londinium was the place to be for any Egyptian legionaries.

Hobbes is completely right, you have zero reason to assume that name is actually of a Roman, and even less to assume that he was a legionary given that your only reference was found at a port on the south coast far from the areas where the actual legions were stationed. Your dude is at least as likely to be a Romanised British tin merchant.

Who knows? That's why you do research.

[FlashDangerpants]

Cite me an example of a Roman settlement where someone - who we must agree would have been of some stature, at least within the Roman legion - has as i stated - practically kissed the arse of a local deity. Much appreciated.

Would an emperor be good enough for you?
Google Caracalla.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Cite me an example of a Roman settlement where someone - who we must agree would have been of some stature, at least within the Roman legion - has as i stated - practically kissed the arse of a local deity. Much appreciated.

How about Mark Antony honouring Cleopatra's gods? would that do for starters?

I could give more examples but it wouldn't mean anything to you.
Rome was like a magpie of different religions. The cult of Isis, astrology, were big on Caesar's time for example.
History is a foreign country - they do things differently there.

Read 12.4.2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_ ... n_of_cults

[Hobbes' Choice]

After Hadrian proved that a "local" could rise to become emperor of Rome (he was Spanish) there were several "local" emperors that brought their local deities right into the heart of Roman politics, some Germans, others Gauls, even a Briton.
Rome went on for a long time and had many changes too numerous to mention.

As for Ancasta being "celtic" there is not a single reason she should be. It was the practice though most of Rome's history to station troops that were decidedly NOT "local" for good reasons.

[attofishpi]

Cite me an example of a Roman settlement where someone - who we must agree would have been of some stature, at least within the Roman legion - has as i stated - practically kissed the arse of a local deity. Much appreciated.

How about Mark Antony honouring Cleopatra's gods? would that do for starters?

I could give more examples but it wouldn't mean anything to you.
Rome was like a magpie of different religions. The cult of Isis, astrology, were big on Caesar's time for example.
History is a foreign country - they do things differently there.

Read 12.4.2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_ ... n_of_cults

I'm sure historians would consider "Ancasta" local to the historical region of Southampton. Where is this citation you can offer of a person of importance within Roman occupation cowering to such depths of respect for a local deity?

I WANT AN EXAMPLE INSCRIPTION that has been found...anywhere on the British Isles.

[Belinda]

Hobbes Choice wrote:

History is a foreign country - they do things differently there.

I like this

Nevertheless I myself do like gods of place and have felt their presences in several places no matter what they have been variously named.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Hobbes Choice wrote:

History is a foreign country - they do things differently there.

I like this

Nevertheless I myself do like gods of place and have felt their presences in several places no matter what they have been variously named.

You can invent as many as you like. Romans, Celts and others did too. If you are interested then look up Genius loci.

However in this instance there is no reason to suppose Ancasta is such a deity any more than another type of deity.

The evidence for Ancasta is ONE single inscription. That is it. The inscription is dedicated by an unknown person, of unknown ethnicity. All we know is that he has a Latin or Latinised name.