Baco (also Bacon) is a Gaulish

Celtic god The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names. The ancient Celts appear to have had a pantheon ...

, known from Gallo-Roman inscriptions found in the areas of

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; h ...

and

Eauze Eauze (; Gascon: ''Eusa'') is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. History Located in the heart of south-west France, 130 kilometers from the Spanish border, Eauze is originally a proto-Basque city that became Roman. It wa ...

. The inscription at Chalon-sur-Saône, dated to 69 to 96 CE, was dedicated by a decurion in the Roman cavalry.

Origin

The god's name (also Gallicized as Bacon) indicates that he was probably a boar-god, of whom many are recorded in the Celtic world. An account of Baco is also preserved in the hagiography of a St ,

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

ed in 177 or 179 CE. According to L. Armand-Calliat, the cult of this Baco was inherited by St

Anthony the Great Anthony the Great ( grc-gre, Ἀντώνιος ''Antṓnios''; ar, القديس أنطونيوس الكبير; la, Antonius; ; c. 12 January 251 – 17 January 356), was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is d ...

, venerated in the Haute-Bourgogne region on 17 January.

References

External links

* {{celtic mythology (ancient) Gaulish gods Animal gods