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Rigæ
A Brythonic God: King
Rigæ (Rigae, Riga, Rige) is a Brythonic God known from a single inscription found at Brigantium, England where he is associated with Roman Mars. He seems to be a martial deity possibly worshiped as an aspect of a multiple-god. |
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Bryth: King
Rigæ is an epithet applied to Mars in an inscription from the fort of Derventio (Brigantium), Malton, North Yorkshire [RIB 711] which reads DEO MARTI RIGAE SCIRVS DI[?E]C SAC VSLM (To the god Mars the King, Scirus the Decurion willingly and deservedly fulfils his sacred vow).
The epithet Rigæ is fairly obviously derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic root *rĩg- (king) with what seems to be the plural Latin ending -æ. The interesting thing here is the mix of Brythonic and Latin. This would indicate that Rigæ was used as an epithet for Roman Mars, that Rigæ could in fact represent a native warrior deity syncretized with Mars. It could also be that the native epithet was applied to Roman Mars to indicate the deity's importance. Distinguishing between these two possibilities will require further inscirptional evidence.
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