Celtic Gods: A Hypothetical Gaulish God, Rudiobus (The Red One)

Rudiobus
An Hypothetical Gaulish God: The Red One

Rudiobus is a hypothetical is a Gaulish God inferred from a single inscription found at Neuvy-en-Sulias, France. One interpretation of the inscription leads to the existence of Rudiobus, the other does not. If he did exist, he would have been a warrior aspect of Celtic 'Mars'.



Synonyms:
Gaul: The Red One

Rudiobus is a putative deity inferred from a single inscription found at Neuvy-en-Sulias, Loiret, France (CIL XIII 03071). The inscription itsself lies on the base of a rather spectacular bronze statue of a prancing horse found amongst a horde of bronze statues of horses and boars. The inscription has been read as AVG (usto) RVDIOBO SACRVM CVR[ia] CASSICIATE D[e] S[ua] P[ecunia] D[edict] SER[vius] ESVMAGIVS SACROVIR, SER[vius] IOMAGLIVS SEVERVS F[aciendum] C[uraverunt] (To Majestic Rudiobus, the curia of [Vicus] Cassiacius] made this offering from his own money. Servius Esumagius Sacrovir, Servius Iomaglius Serverus took care to conduct this work). This would suggest that the horse was made as an offering to Majestic Rudiobus. However, this presupposes that the inscription is in Latin. However, Jacques Pons has recently suggested that the inscription can be read as pidgin Gaulo-Latin (Gaulish words are underlined): AVG[ust is]RVDIOBO SACRVM CVR[has tor]CASSICI ATE D[e] S[ua] P[ecunia] D[edict] SER[vi] ESV MAG[n]VS SACROVIB[is] SER[vi] I[ovi] O[ptimo] MAGNI[n]VS SEVERVS F[aciendum] C[uraverunt] (To the majestic supreme gods, the administrator of cultural spaces made this offering in the service of Great Esus Sacrovibis and the service of Jupiter Optimus Magnus. Severus took care to conduct this work). Thus, instead of an inscription to Rudiobus we have instead an inscription to the Gaulish deity Esus and the Roman Jupiter.

More work will be required to clarify the position regarding this inscription. For the moment, however, it is not possible to completely exclude the existence of a deity known as Rudiobus who is associated in some way with horses. Rudiobus' name can be derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic element *roudo- (red) or *rud- (redden) and can be interpreted as 'The Red One'. As such he may represent an aspect of Celtic Mars, in the same way as the other deities with red in their names, Rudianus and Cocidius do.



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