Celtic Gods: The Gaulish and Celtiberian God, Visucius (The Good One)

Visucius
A Gaulish god: The Good One

Visucius is a Gaulish god known from ten inscriptions found in Germany, France and Spain. In many og these inscriptions he is associated with Roman Mercury indicating him to be a deity of trade and commerce.



Synonyms:
Gaul, Celtib: The Good One

Visucius is a god known from ten separate inscirptions; seven from Germany, two from France and one from Spain. Three of the Greman inscriptions ([CIL XIII 06404]: Heidelberg, [CIL XIII 05991]: Esthal and [CIL XIII 04478]: Herapel) invoke the god alone, though all the other inscriptions invoke the deity as Mercurio Visucio (Mercury Visucius); thus the deity is linked with Mercury by Interpretato Romana. In the inscription from Pfalzburg, Bas-Rhin, France [CIL XIII 06118] Visucius is invoked as Mercurio Visuc(io) Solitumarus and is invoked along with Jupiter Optimus Maximus and Apollo. The inscription from Köningen, Germany invokes Visucius along with a female deity, Visucia who (etymologically at least) would seem to be the feminine equivalent of Visucius. The remaining inscriptions to this deity come from Gironde, Bordeaux, France [CIL XIII 00577]; Hockenheim, Germany [CIL XIII 06347]; Trier, Germany [CIL XIII 03660]; Varuswald, Germany [CIL XIII 04257] and Agoncillo in Spain [AE 1976, 327].

Unfortunately, depite the relatively large number of inscriptions no representations of this god have have been recovered, however her name can be interpreted on the basis of the reconstructed proto-Celtic as being composed of the elements: *wesu-/*wīsu-? (good), *ki- (demonstrative particle [this]), along with the Latinized masculine ending -us. Thus Visucius is 'The Good One'. The association of Visucius with Roman Mercury is also interesting; Mercury being the god of trade and profit, which would indicate that Visucius might also be a deity of trade (possibly trade in corn, which was Mercury's original function).



Couldn't find what you were looking for? Search the web:



stefan and zogo small One Million People Campaign
If you can spare $1 then help support this site and change someone's life forever? Learn how and why on the One Million People campaign page. Or donate $10 and get my Guide to Spices or The Recipes of Africa eBooks as a gift for your donation!