THE MANY GODS OF MERCURY

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 Mercury (Mercurius) was not originally a Roman God. However, He was assimilated so early that He became one of the Di Consentes (The Twelve Great Gods). Mercury came to Rome via the grain trade with Sicily, which was then a part of the Magna Graecae (Greater Greece). The Romans first considered Hermes, the Greek God, to be the God of the Grain Trade. Later as Mercurius, He became the God of Trade and Merchants. However, Cicero wrote that one of Hermes’ aspects – the Messenger of the Gods – was carried over from the Greeks.

 

In 495 BCE, Mercury’s temple was built outside the Pomerium (Sacred Boundary of Rome). The Mercuralia, his major festival, held on the Ides of May, the day when his temple was dedicated. Since his temple is located halfway between the temples of the Capitoline Triad of the patricians and the Aventine Triad of the plebeians, Mercury also became the Mediator Between Social Classes.

 

Mercury was often syncretized with the local Gods of various Celtic and Germanic tribes. (Note 1.) Julius Caesar said that Mercury was the most popular God in Britain and Gaul. Meanwhile, Romans in these areas often regarded the Germanic and Celtic Gods to be aspects of their Roman ones (“interpretatio Romana” (Note 2.)). The Gauls and Germans identified Mercury as their Inventor of the Arts. To them, Mercury was also the God of Magic, Good-Luck and Fertility. For this attribute, the Gauls displayed Mercury with either three heads or faces or phalli. (Note 3.)

 

The syncretic forms of Mercury would appear in different ways. One is the Latin name with a Celtic place name. These are local Gods who were incorporated with Mercury to become a major God of the tribe. Another form is the hybrid (Note 4.) who becomes a unique God – neither Celtic or Roman, but both. A common form is Mercury with epithets that reflected an attribute of his. These epithets are based on the perceptions of the Gauls and Germans.

 

As a God, Mercury is extremely “fluid.” He has no final definition such being only the God of Merchants. Since They draw on many cultures (such as Carthage), the many Gods of Mercury are ambiguous. From each culture, Mercury gains different attributes.

 

Mercury in some of his many forms: (Note 5.)

 

Mercurius Artaios, the God of Hunting. Protector of Bears and Bear Hunting.

Mercurius Arvernus, the Main God of the Arverni tribe.

Mercurius Cimbrianus, a hybrid of Mercury with a God of the Cimbri. (He was sometimes thought to be Woden in another form.)

Mercurius Cissonius, the God of the Chariots.

Mercurius Esibraeus, a hybrid of the Iberian Esibraeus with the Roman Mercury.

Mercurius Gebrinius, a hybrid of Mercury with Gebrinius.

Mercurius Moccus, the Protector of Boars and Boar Hunters.

Mercurius Visucius, a hybrid of the Celtic Visucius with the Roman Mercury. (Worshipped in the frontier areas of the Roman empire in Gaul and Germany.)

 

Notes:

Note 1. Apollo and Mars were also popular among the Gauls and Germans.

 

Note 2. “Interpretatio Romana” is from Tacitus’ Germania – “according to the Roman interpretation.” In the Roman sense, these Gods were aspects of the original Roman Ones.

 

Note 3. The phalli were a good luck charm.

 

Note 4. Syncretism can be the fusing of two or more Gods. It may create a new entity who exists with the Original Gods.

 

Note 5. The Gods found with the most inscriptions in Gaul and Germany was Cissonius, Gebrinius, and Visucius.