Visucius was a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

god, usually identified with Mercury. He was worshipped primarily in the east of

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

, around

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

and on the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

; his name is recorded on about ten dedicatory inscriptions. One such inscription has also been found in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Visucius is, along with

Gebrinius Gebrinius is a local Celtic version of the god Mercury. In the 2nd century AD, an altar was set up at Bonn to honour him. The stone depicts the god in full Roman aspect, but is, nevertheless, dedicated to "Mercury Gebrinius", perhaps of the name ...

and Cissonius, among the most common indigenous epithets of the Gaulish Mercury. The name has sometimes been interpreted as meaning "of the ravens" or "knowledgeable"; cf. the

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical 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 Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...

roots *''wesāko-'' 'raven, grebe' (cf. Old Irish disyllabic ''fiach'', Welsh ''gwyach'') and *''witsu-'' 'knowing'.Proto-Celtic—English lexicon
an
English—Proto-Celtic lexicon

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. (See als
this page
for background and disclaimers.) The variant or mistaken spelling ''Visuclus'' is also attested.Table of results fo
VisuciusVisuclus
an
Visugius
from L'Arbre Celtique. In a Latin inscription from

Rheinzabern Rheinzabern is a small town in the south-east of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany near the Rhine river. Currently, Rheinzabern, that belongs to the District of Germersheim has approx. 5000 inhabitants living on an area of 12,75 square kilometres. ...

, Germany (''CIL'' 13, 5991) dedicated to

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, and Visucius, the name ''SOLI T ..' appears after Visucius, perhaps originally standing for ''Solitumarus'', an epithet of Mercury's in an inscription (AE 2001, 1388; AE 2008, 901) found at Chateaubleau, France. Another inscription is co-dedicated to Sancta Visucia, as well as to Mercurius Visucius. This goddess, apparently a companion or analogue of Visucius, has sometimes been likened to

Rosmerta In Gallo-Roman religion, Rosmerta was a goddess of fertility and abundance, her attributes being those of plenty such as the cornucopia. Rosmerta is attested by statues and by inscriptions. In Gaul she was often depicted with the Roman god Merc ...

Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; ), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daughter of A ...

, who also accompany Mercury on many Gaulish dedications. One inscription dedicated to Visugius has also been found at Agoncillo in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

; this may perhaps refer to the same deity.

Comparisons

A place known as

Hill of Uisneach The Hill of Uisneach or Ushnagh ( or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial site in the barony of Rathconrath in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is a protected national monument. It consists of numerous monuments and earthworks—prehistoric and medi ...

in Ireland was said to be a very sacred place to the Dagda, and was home to one of Ireland's most important sacred trees, the Tree of Uisneach. Schot, Roseanne (2006). "Uisneach Midi a medón Érenn: a prehistoric cult centre and royal site in Co. Westmeath". Journal of Irish Archaeology, issue 15. pp.39-46 The name means "Place of the Ash," from Uiseann, a common term for the Ash tree. Coincidentally, it's possible Dagda is the same figure as a very uncommonly referenced figure in Irish mythology known as Esarg, which may mean that Dagda, Esarg, Visucius and Esus are all the same deity.

References

{{Celtic mythology (ancient) Gaulish gods Mercurian deities Mercury (mythology) Raven deities