Hercules Magusanus is a Romano-Germanic deity or hero worshipped during the early first millennium AD in the

Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); ...

region among the Batavi, Marsaci, Ubii,

Cugerni The Cugerni (or Cuberni or Guberni) were a Germanic tribal grouping with a particular territory within the Roman province of Germania Inferior, which later became Germania Secunda. More precisely they lived near modern Xanten, and the old Castra ...

Baetasii The Baetasii (or Betasii) were a Germanic tribal grouping within the Roman province of Germania Inferior, which later became Germania Secunda. Their exact location is still unknown, although two proposals are, first, that it might be the source of ...

, and probably among the

Tungri The Tungri (or Tongri, or Tungrians) were a tribe, or group of tribes, who lived in the Belgic part of Gaul, during the times of the Roman Empire. Within the Roman Empire, their territory was called the ''Civitas Tungrorum''. They were described b ...

Name

Attestations

The name is attested on votive stones, coins and arm rings principally found in Lower Germania, but also in Rome, Britain, and Dacia. It appears as ''Magusen s' in a inscription dated ca. 100 AD, found near the village of

Empel Empel is a village and former municipality, which is now a quarter of 's-Hertogenbosch in the Dutch province of North Brabant. History Archaeological evidence shows Celtic and Roman traces in the area. The site of a Roman temple was of special ...

. An altar from Ruimel (mid-1st c. AD), the earliest known which is devoted to Hercules Magusanus, shows the name in reverse order: '' gusa Herculi''. Additionally, two Roman coins of the Roman Emperor Postumus minted in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

in 261 AD, as well as four arm rings from

Tongeren Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the ...

Neuss Neuss (; spelled ''Neuß'' until 1968; li, Nüss ; la, Novaesium) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and Cologne also bear his name.

Etymology

The name ''Hercules Magusanus'' is a

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

between the Graeco-Roman divine hero ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

'' and the local deity or hero ''Magusanus''. The etymology of the name remains debated. According to Norbert Wagner, it may stem from the

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...

name ''*Magus-naz'' ('the one with strength, the powerful one'; cf. Goth. ''mahts'', German ''Macht'').

Rudolf Much Rudolf Much (7 September 1862 – 8 March 1936) was an Austrian philologist and historian who specialized in Germanic studies. Much was Professor and Chair of Germanic Linguistic History and Germanic Antiquity at the University of Vienna, du ...

has also proposed to compare it with ''Novio-magus'' (now Nijmegen), the main settlement of the Batavi, in which the centre of Magusanus' local cult seems to have been located. In 2022 a new site was discovered in nearby Herwen-Hemeling. It is a sanctuary with a Gallo-Roman temple where most altars were dedicated to Hercules Magusanus. In 1984,

Léon Fleuriot Léon Fleuriot (5 April 1923 – 15 March 1987) was a French linguist and Celtic scholar, specializing in Celtic languages and the history of Gallo-Roman and Early Medieval Brittany. Biography Born in Morlaix, Brittany, in a family originat ...

proposed an alternative connection with the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

personal name ''Mavohe os' ('Old Lad', or 'old neof the servant''), ultimately from

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celt ...

''*magusenos'' (''magus'' 'young lad; servant' + ''senos'' 'old'). Lauran Toorians notes that, in this view, both Celtic and Germanic etymologies are possible, with the Germanic ''*magus'' ('boy, servant') attached to the root ''*sen-'' ('old').

Origin

Magusanus

According to Lauran Toorians, it is probable that the Batavi, who entered the Rhine-Meuse delta from the east after the defeat of the Eburones, were "linguistically mixed, which might mean that they had shifted from Celtic-speaking to Germanic-speaking in recent times." Their elite language was likely Germanic, which led them to Germanicize the names of the region they took over. In this view, the Germanic name ''Magusanus'' may have arisen from the original Celtic *''Magusenus'' suggested by Fleuriot. The earliest dedications to Magusanus are found on Batavian territory and are not attested in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

region before the 2nd century AD, which may suggest a progressive diffusion of the cult from the Batavi to their neighbours in the east. Since the Roman Hercules was generally equated with the Germanic Donar/Thor via '' interpretatio romana'',

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author o ...

has suggested that Magusanus was originally an epithet attached to the

deity *''Þunraz''.

Syncretism with Hercules

Several reasons have been proposed to explain the popularity of the Roman hero among Germanic peoples of the

and his

with the local god Magunasus. A reasonable explanation is that the military and sporting attributes traditionally associated with Hercules, including masculine power and courage, possibly matched those associated with the native Magunasus. This view is supported by the number of votive inscriptions to the god that were dedicated by soldiers, the practice of dropping off weapons in the sanctuary of Hercules Magusanus at

, and his role as the patron-deity of the Batavian young warrior bands. A second reason for his success could have been Hercules' role as the keeper of cattle, particularly adapted to the pastoral values of a Lower Rhine society essentially relying on cattle and horse raising. A third argument may be the perception of Hercules as a bridge between the Germanic and Roman cultures, Hercules being seen as the mythical forebear of "barbarian" peoples and the first explorer of the Germanic frontier.

Cult

Batavi

As evidenced by the number of votive inscriptions and a cult associated with the monumental temple complex of

, Hercules Magusanus was probably the main deity of the Batavian ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

'' during the

Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

. He may also have played a role as a patron and protector of the Batavian ''iuventus'' ( koryos), the young male warriors involved as a class age in a public initiation ritual into adulthood. Nico Roymans argues that the cult of Herculus Magusanus played in a prominent role in the

ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introd ...

of the Batavi during the second part of the first century BC.

Other Lower Rhine tribes

The cult of Hercules Magusanus must have been marginalized as a principal deity in the public cult among the Ubii and the

following the foundation of the

Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and ...

and

Colonia Ulpia Traiana Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the w ...

in 50–60 AD, when his role was likely taken over by the Roman god

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

Outside the Lower Rhine

Dedications to Hercules Magusanus are also known from Rome, Britain or

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

. In all instances, they are related to

Germani The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

from the Lower Rhine area, most of them serving in the Roman army or to its influence. An altar to Hercules Magusanus was found near the site of a Roman fort at Mumrills ( Stirlingshire), dedicated by Valerius Nigrinus, an officer in the

an cavalry regiment.

Depiction

Although no myth associated with Hercules Magusanus has been preserved, the iconography is rather close to the Latin imagery surrounding Hercules. For instance, several Germanic figurines and statues depict him bearing a club and a lion’s skin over his shoulders, once with three-headed dog Cerberus, echoing foreign myths involving the Roman hero.

References

Bibliography

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