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Roquetius
A Gaulish God: He who is Most Youthful
Roquetis is a Gaulish God known from three altarstone inscriptions found at Cabasse, France. He may be a youthful hunter deity of the Maponos type, but this is speculation, at best. |
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Gaul: He who is Most Youthful
Roquetius is a god known from three altarstone inscriptions found at Cabasse in the Var region of France. The first of these reads: IULIA LAETA ROQUETIO [...]. Assming the dedication to finish with the formula VSLM the inscription can be translated as: 'To Roquetius, Julia Laeta willingly and deservedly fulfilled her vow'. The next inscription reads: OPTA[tus] V[otum] ROQVETI[l]O S[olvit] L[ibens] M[erito] (Optatus willingly and deservedly acquits himself of his wish to Roquetius'). The final inscription is badly damaged but also seems to contain the deific name ROQU[eti]O.
No images accompany the inscription and thus interpretation of the god's attributes are difficult, if not imposssible. He would seem to be a purely local deity and thus far his name (as well as other names beginning Roc/Rokw have defied translation. However, it is possible that these names are related to the modern Cymric root rhoc- [Old Cymric roc-] (youth) which can have either masculine or feminine endings. The -eti- component of the name is probably derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic root *eti- (beyond, also) and the masculine ending -us; giving us: 'He who is most youthful'. Though this etymology, if correct, leaves us with more questions than answers but it does suggest that Roquetius might be a youthful hunter deity of the same type as Maponos.
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