ABSTRACT
Pairing of deities was a concept especially dear to the Celtic heart. The classical gods sometimes had consorts-Jupiter and Juno for instance-but couples were much more prevalent in Celtic iconography. Here, divinities of GraecoRoman origins, such as Mercury and Apollo, acquired female counterparts for the first time, these being of indigenous stock. This coupling of male and female deities, which is observable iconographically, is reflected also in epigraphy, where on occasions a god with a Roman name is linked to a native wife, or both deities may have indigenous Celtic names. What is interesting here is that whilst Roman male name and Celtic female name are frequently linked, the reverse is never true; the goddess is always a native divinity. The pairing of names may take one of three forms: the god may have an entirely Roman name (Mercury and Rosmerta for instance); he may have a Roman first name and a Celtic surname (for example Apollo Grannus and Sirona); or both may have entirely Celtic names (Sucellus and Nantosuelta, to name but one such pair). Two other points concerning the epigraphic evidence should be noted: first partner-swapping, polygamy and polyandry may sometimes be observed-Apollo may appear with, for example, Sirona or Damona, and Damona herself may be married to either Apollo Moritasgus or to a related Celtic god, Bormo; second, many pairs occurring in the epigraphy are not clearly attested in the iconography. Many of these couples occur perhaps only once or twice: Veraudinus and Inciona appear only at Widdenberg in Luxembourg;1 Luxovius and Bricta at Luxeuil;2 Ucuetis and Bergusia only at Alesia, where they may have been craft-gods.3 Mars Loucetius and Nemetona, on the other hand, appear more frequently, at Bath and elsewhere.4
