The Pillar of the Boatmen
Most interpretations of the Pillar of the Boatmen focus around the idea that every god on it must be relevant to the lives of the sailors who dedicated it. I propose a different idea: that the Pillar of the Boatmen represents a sort of core pantheon for the tribe who dedicated it and therefore encompasses a wider variety of deities. I believe it also was meant to be read as a sort of story-board, making it invaluable to the study of Gallo-Roman religion. Each layer and each column seems to have a theme, which I will try to go through layer by layer. Given that clockwise circumnambulation is important both in Celtic folklore and in Indo-European contexts in general, the column was probably meant to be circled in this direction, and therefore read in this direction.
Side 1
[C]ernunnos
Iouis Tib(erio) Caesare Aug(usto) Iovi Optum[o] Maxsumo nautae Parisiaci publice posierunt Fort[una with Iuno?] |
Side 2
[Pollux]
Volcanus Senan[t] U[s]e[t]lo[n][--] [three robed male and female figures] [Mercurius with Rosmerta?] |
Side 3
Castor
Taruos Trigaranus Eurises [three armed bearded men] [--]V[--] [Mars with consort (Venus?)] |
Side 4
Smer[trios]
Esus [three armed beardless men] [two goddesses] |
We ought to begin at the side of the main dedication, since that was probably the focal point of the pillar. Starting at the top, we have the famous depiction of and inscription to Cernunnos, then below it an inscription to Iuppiter, below which is the main dedication to Iuppiter Optimus Maximus and Caesar Augustus, and finally beneath that the goddess Fortuna with a goddess who is possibly Iuno. To understand this, we must rely on the interpretation romana. While the inscriptions could be to Roman gods, it seems more likely that they are the Gaulish gods subsumed into the Roman pantheon. Therefore Iuppiter becomes Taranis, Iuno becomes Epona, and Fortuna—by merit of her assimilation with Nehalennia and Nehalennia’s almost identical imagery with the Matres—becomes the tutelary goddess of the river Seine, most likely Sequana. The theme of this column seems to be that of sovereignty. We have a chthonic deity on the top dripping with torcs, symbols of sovereignty; below whom we see the king of the Roman gods, inscriptions to mortal and immortal rulers, and goddesses associated with the main river of the land and with sovereignty itself.
Going on to the second column (moving clockwise) we find Pollux at the top, Vulcan in the second row, three robed figures labeled “Senant Useton” on the third, and Mercury and a goddess possibly identified as Rosmerta on the final row. Pollux is an interesting addition in that he is almost always paired with his twin Castor, who in fact appears on the next column over. Pollux is the immortal half of the brothers, so we may view this god as an unidentified Immortal Twin. Vulcan as the god of smiths could be Gobannos, but more likely is Sucellos, a god depicted with both a hammer and brewing supplies in line with other Celtic smith gods, in charge of the feasting halls of the underworld. The three robed figures by virtue of their label “Senant” are possibly elder ancestors (compare with Gaulish senones meaning “old ones”). Mercury and his consort may be interpretated as Lugus and Rosmerta, the most commonly identifiable pair with Mercury and his consort in Roman Gaul. We begin to see a pattern: while the first row remains obscure, the second row of the pillar seems to be father or tribal deities, the third row human members of the tribe, and the final row aligned with goddesses.
In the third column, we finally find Castor, Pollux’s twin on the top row. Beneath him stands the famous Taruos Trigaranus, the great bull with three cranes who stands in front of an unidentified tree (commonly identified as the willow, but frankly this tree looks nothing like a willow tree, so I wonder at the identification). The third column has three armed, bearded men labeled as the Eurises, beneath whom in the final row we find Mars with a consort, possibly Venus. Castor is the mortal twin of the pair, so this spot may be reserved for a Mortal Twin, whose identity again remains obscure. Taruos Trigaranus is an interesting figure, whom I have already written about in a previous blog post—his role may be cosmogenic or seasonal, possibly a deity associated with fertility or the sun. The Eurises may represent warrior ancestors, and bear some similarity to a rather phallic depiction of the genii cucullatii, linking them perhaps with fertility. Mars and his consort pose an interesting problem. In Gaulish contexts, Mars rarely appears with a deity identified with Venus; rather he more commonly appears with Victory. Therefore this god is Gaulish Mars—possibly the famous Toutatis—and Gaulish Victory, who may be Nemetona or Cathubodua, a cognate to Irish Badb. Assuming all these assimilations are correct, this column may be viewed as a column connected to mortality and fertility.
The final column both completes the myth-cycle of the walk-around and opens the cycle for another circumnambulation. On the top columm we find Smertrios, a sort of Gaulish Hercules, beating a snake. This figure may be identical to Ogmios or the other Hercules-assimilated Gaulish deity Magusanos. He seems to be triumphing over a chthonic force of some kind. Beneath him, we find Esus, the “woodcutter god,” whose similarities to First Functional gods has been discussed elsewhere. In the third row stand three beardless, armed figures who are unlabeled. They may possibly be youths or a reference to a warrior band. Without a label, their purpose remains obscure. Finally, two goddesses stand, one with bared breasts and the other with large earrings. While the goddesses are unlabeled, the bared breasts leads me to identify them as Dawn and her Indo-European counterpart, the Stars. These goddesses would most likely be Brigandu and Sirona, respectively. When we look across Indo-European mythologies, we find that these goddesses stood at the gates of the underworld and let loose the sun from beneath the earth. Ogmios may be a psychopomp figure as well, and Esus’s comparisons to Odin make him also a deity capable of crossing boundaries. This column therefore represents a liminal category.
So far it seems we have identified the first column as Sovereignty, the third column as Mortality/Fertility, and the fourth column as Liminality. The second column has less of a clear function, but perhaps one can be found: Vulcan is a craftsman god, as is Mercury in Gaul as the “inventor of all arts” and his consort Rosmerta as a harvest goddess. The Senantes may be ancestor deities, imparting wisdom, and the immortal Pollux may represent a sort of longevity or perhaps even the immortality of the soul. I am tempted to link this column to harvest and wisdom, in contrast to the fertility and short-lived physicality of the third column. For now I will ignore a label. It is tempting to see these four columns as representing four directions or four classes of society. Perhaps they even represent four seasons of the year. Perhaps they mean nothing at all. However, if the columns have themes, might the rows also have traits linking them together?
Going on to the second column (moving clockwise) we find Pollux at the top, Vulcan in the second row, three robed figures labeled “Senant Useton” on the third, and Mercury and a goddess possibly identified as Rosmerta on the final row. Pollux is an interesting addition in that he is almost always paired with his twin Castor, who in fact appears on the next column over. Pollux is the immortal half of the brothers, so we may view this god as an unidentified Immortal Twin. Vulcan as the god of smiths could be Gobannos, but more likely is Sucellos, a god depicted with both a hammer and brewing supplies in line with other Celtic smith gods, in charge of the feasting halls of the underworld. The three robed figures by virtue of their label “Senant” are possibly elder ancestors (compare with Gaulish senones meaning “old ones”). Mercury and his consort may be interpretated as Lugus and Rosmerta, the most commonly identifiable pair with Mercury and his consort in Roman Gaul. We begin to see a pattern: while the first row remains obscure, the second row of the pillar seems to be father or tribal deities, the third row human members of the tribe, and the final row aligned with goddesses.
In the third column, we finally find Castor, Pollux’s twin on the top row. Beneath him stands the famous Taruos Trigaranus, the great bull with three cranes who stands in front of an unidentified tree (commonly identified as the willow, but frankly this tree looks nothing like a willow tree, so I wonder at the identification). The third column has three armed, bearded men labeled as the Eurises, beneath whom in the final row we find Mars with a consort, possibly Venus. Castor is the mortal twin of the pair, so this spot may be reserved for a Mortal Twin, whose identity again remains obscure. Taruos Trigaranus is an interesting figure, whom I have already written about in a previous blog post—his role may be cosmogenic or seasonal, possibly a deity associated with fertility or the sun. The Eurises may represent warrior ancestors, and bear some similarity to a rather phallic depiction of the genii cucullatii, linking them perhaps with fertility. Mars and his consort pose an interesting problem. In Gaulish contexts, Mars rarely appears with a deity identified with Venus; rather he more commonly appears with Victory. Therefore this god is Gaulish Mars—possibly the famous Toutatis—and Gaulish Victory, who may be Nemetona or Cathubodua, a cognate to Irish Badb. Assuming all these assimilations are correct, this column may be viewed as a column connected to mortality and fertility.
The final column both completes the myth-cycle of the walk-around and opens the cycle for another circumnambulation. On the top columm we find Smertrios, a sort of Gaulish Hercules, beating a snake. This figure may be identical to Ogmios or the other Hercules-assimilated Gaulish deity Magusanos. He seems to be triumphing over a chthonic force of some kind. Beneath him, we find Esus, the “woodcutter god,” whose similarities to First Functional gods has been discussed elsewhere. In the third row stand three beardless, armed figures who are unlabeled. They may possibly be youths or a reference to a warrior band. Without a label, their purpose remains obscure. Finally, two goddesses stand, one with bared breasts and the other with large earrings. While the goddesses are unlabeled, the bared breasts leads me to identify them as Dawn and her Indo-European counterpart, the Stars. These goddesses would most likely be Brigandu and Sirona, respectively. When we look across Indo-European mythologies, we find that these goddesses stood at the gates of the underworld and let loose the sun from beneath the earth. Ogmios may be a psychopomp figure as well, and Esus’s comparisons to Odin make him also a deity capable of crossing boundaries. This column therefore represents a liminal category.
So far it seems we have identified the first column as Sovereignty, the third column as Mortality/Fertility, and the fourth column as Liminality. The second column has less of a clear function, but perhaps one can be found: Vulcan is a craftsman god, as is Mercury in Gaul as the “inventor of all arts” and his consort Rosmerta as a harvest goddess. The Senantes may be ancestor deities, imparting wisdom, and the immortal Pollux may represent a sort of longevity or perhaps even the immortality of the soul. I am tempted to link this column to harvest and wisdom, in contrast to the fertility and short-lived physicality of the third column. For now I will ignore a label. It is tempting to see these four columns as representing four directions or four classes of society. Perhaps they even represent four seasons of the year. Perhaps they mean nothing at all. However, if the columns have themes, might the rows also have traits linking them together?
Let’s look at the first tier. Here we find Cernunnos in the first column, a decidedly chthonic deity with torcs in his antlers. While there is certainly much debate over his qualities, his typical imagery of wealth and maturity paired with a Romanian inscription to Jupiter Cernenus by a funerary college leads me to see him as either the king of the underworld or a sort of divine ancestor. In the next square we find the immortal Pollux, followed by the mortal Castor, and finally Smertrios with his club and serpent. The theme of this row may therefore seem to be death, mortality, immortality, and the triumph of a psychopomp over underworld forces.
The second tier begins with Iuppiter, king of the Roman gods. His Gaulish counterpart Taranis served most likely a similar function, serving as a king of the heavens. If Vulcan’s identification with Sucellos is correct, we find yet another tribal father, popular among the Aedui especially, but associated with the earth rather than the skies. Taruos Trigaranus seems at first to break this theme, as he is a bull and not a god, but keep in mind that in Indo-European contexts the bull is often associated with the god of the skies, as well as a foremost sacrificial animal. The link with sacrifice keeps him in the Dumezilian first functional position. Finally, Esus appears, chopping at a tree which we have seen elsewhere is linked to the bull and the cranes—another first-functional deity, interacting with that symbol of first-function sacrifice, the tree. The theme of this tier then seems to be gods who are the masters of their elements, and father gods in their own manners. They are the foundational deities of the tribe.
Beneath this, in the third tier, we find a shift from divine forces to more human ones. The invocation of Caesar reminds that the emperor was, in a way, a sort of incarnate divinity. He traced his ancestry from the god and therefore brought the gods down to earth. It is no mistake that he begins this row. Going around the column, we find elders, warriors, and warrior youths, perhaps representing the three major elements of society—priests, warriors, and the younger generation. The function of this row is then, rather simply, to represent society and the ancestors.
Finally, we come to the row of goddesses. The theme here is rather obvious, fortunately: it is the only tier with female divinities. These represent the goddesses of the tribe, who are linked with male gods or stand on their own terms. We may even link them to multiple functions: we have a goddess of the earth and harvest, a goddess of victory and war, goddesses associated with healing and rebirth, and two goddesses associated with tribal territory and sovereignty. We may then put the figures into a table:
The second tier begins with Iuppiter, king of the Roman gods. His Gaulish counterpart Taranis served most likely a similar function, serving as a king of the heavens. If Vulcan’s identification with Sucellos is correct, we find yet another tribal father, popular among the Aedui especially, but associated with the earth rather than the skies. Taruos Trigaranus seems at first to break this theme, as he is a bull and not a god, but keep in mind that in Indo-European contexts the bull is often associated with the god of the skies, as well as a foremost sacrificial animal. The link with sacrifice keeps him in the Dumezilian first functional position. Finally, Esus appears, chopping at a tree which we have seen elsewhere is linked to the bull and the cranes—another first-functional deity, interacting with that symbol of first-function sacrifice, the tree. The theme of this tier then seems to be gods who are the masters of their elements, and father gods in their own manners. They are the foundational deities of the tribe.
Beneath this, in the third tier, we find a shift from divine forces to more human ones. The invocation of Caesar reminds that the emperor was, in a way, a sort of incarnate divinity. He traced his ancestry from the god and therefore brought the gods down to earth. It is no mistake that he begins this row. Going around the column, we find elders, warriors, and warrior youths, perhaps representing the three major elements of society—priests, warriors, and the younger generation. The function of this row is then, rather simply, to represent society and the ancestors.
Finally, we come to the row of goddesses. The theme here is rather obvious, fortunately: it is the only tier with female divinities. These represent the goddesses of the tribe, who are linked with male gods or stand on their own terms. We may even link them to multiple functions: we have a goddess of the earth and harvest, a goddess of victory and war, goddesses associated with healing and rebirth, and two goddesses associated with tribal territory and sovereignty. We may then put the figures into a table:
Death/Life Father Gods Tribe Goddesses |
Sovereignty
Cernunnos Taranis Mortal King and Immortal King Sequana and Epona |
Wisdom?
Immortal Twin Sucellos Elder Ancestors Lugus and Rosmerta |
Mortality/Fertility
Mortal Twin Taruos Trigaranus Mature/Warrior Ancestors Toutatis and Nemetona |
Liminality
Smertrios Esus Youths Brigandu and Sirona |
The list is by no means complete, and there are deities and deity types not pictured on the pillar. For example, where is Nantosuelta, or a goddess like her? The youthful god Maponos? Most glaringly obvious is the lack of an Apollo-type on the pillar. Still, I think the pillar does represent, in some way, a more or less complete cosmos. It is at the very least more complicated than it first seems.