Visucius was a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

god, usually

identified ''Identified'' is the second studio album by Vanessa Hudgens, released on July 1, 2008 in the U.S. June 24, 2008 in Japan, February 13, 2009 in most European countries and February 16, 2009 in the United Kingdom. The album r ...

with Mercury. He was worshipped primarily in the east of

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...

, around

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

and on the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

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

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

. Visucius is, along with Gebrinius 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 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 ...

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 (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') 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 � ...

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 largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

, 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.''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions thr ...

'' XIII:6404, transcribed o
Bifröst
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, ; la, Maia), 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 daugh ...

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

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

; this may perhaps refer to the same deity.

References

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