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In Romano-British worship, the local god Antenociticus, also recorded as "Anociticus" at the same temple site in Benwell, was possibly worshipped as source of inspiration and intercession in military affairs.
Antenociticus appears at only one site in Britain, the fort of Condercum, on Hadrian's Wall, where three altars to the god were found within the ruins of a small temple. This god is not mentioned on any known Roman altar stones from the continent, and is therefore thought to be a native British deity. The fact that the god is revered at Benwell (1327 [et Num Aug], 1328, 1329 [c.AD175-7]) by a legionary legate, the tribune of an auxiliary infantry cohort and the prefect [ broken anchor ] of an auxiliary cavalry ala, lends credence to this assumption, and perhaps proves that the god was not transferred here as the patron deity of an auxiliary regiment. [1]
The sandstone head of the statue of Antenociticus was discovered in 1862 at the temple in Benwell. A torc can be seen around the neck, and the hair on the head curls forward so as to resemble two horns. Parts of the lower leg and forearm of the statue were also found, indicating that a life-sized statue of the god once stood in the temple.
The small temple of Antenociticus stands in the vicus (civilian settlement) outside Benwell (Condercum) Fort, one of 13 permanent forts added to the line of Hadrian's Wall during its construction. The temple was built in about AD 178-80, probably to mark the promotion of the Roman cavalry prefect who dedicated one of three altars in the temple to Antenociticus. It is thought Antenociticus was possibly worshipped as a source of inspiration and intercession in military matters. Antenociticus is not mentioned at any other Romano-British site or on any inscriptions from the Continent, hence his identification as a local deity. [2]
The head of Antenociticus and the temple altars, formerly displayed at the Museum of Antiquities at Newcastle University, can now be seen at the Great North Museum in the same city of Newcastle. [3]
Archaeologists have speculated that a similar sandstone head, unearthed at Binchester Roman Fort near Bishop Auckland in 2013, may also be of Antenociticus. [4] [5]
Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castrum) just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, a set of wooden leaf-tablets that were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.
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Coventina was a Romano-British goddess of wells and springs. She is known from multiple inscriptions at one site in Northumberland, England, an area surrounding a wellspring near Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall. It is possible that other inscriptions, two from Hispania and one from Narbonensis, refer to Coventina, but this is disputed.
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Gallo-Roman religion is a fusion of the traditional religious practices of the Gauls, who were originally Celtic speakers, and the Roman and Hellenistic religions introduced to the region under Roman Imperial rule. It was the result of selective acculturation.
Benwell is an area in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Until 1974 it was in Northumberland.
Porolissum was an ancient Roman city in Dacia. Established as a military fort in 106 during Trajan's Dacian Wars, the city quickly grew through trade with the native Dacians and became the capital of the province Dacia Porolissensis in 124. The site is one of the largest and best-preserved archaeological sites in modern-day Romania. It is 8 km away from the modern city of Zalău, in Moigrad-Porolissum village, Mirsid Commune, Sălaj County.
Pons Aelius, or Newcastle Roman Fort, was an auxiliary castra and small Roman settlement on Hadrian's Wall in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, situated on the north bank of the River Tyne close to the centre of present-day Newcastle upon Tyne, and occupied between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD.
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Condercum was a Roman fort on the site of the modern-day Condercum Estate in Benwell, a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was the third fort on Hadrian's Wall, about 6.8 miles east of Rudchester fort and only 2.4 miles west of Pons Aelius fort (Newcastle), and was situated on a hilltop 2 miles (3 km) to the west of the city.
Vindobala was a Roman fort with the modern name, and in the hamlet of, Rudchester, Northumberland. It was the fourth fort on Hadrian's Wall, and situated about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) to the west of Condercum (Benwell) fort and 7.5 miles east of Halton Chesters fort. The site of the fort is bisected by the B6318 Military Road, which runs along the route of the wall at that point.
Rudchester Mithraeum is a Roman temple to the Roman god Mithras at Rudchester (Vindobala), an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, the northern frontier of Roman Britain. The temple was located 137m to the west of the castra. It is not currently visible to visitors to the site.
The Apollo of Cyrene is a colossal Roman statue of Apollo found at the ancient city of Cyrene, Libya. It was unearthed at the site along with a large number of other ancient sculptures and inscriptions which were presented to the British Museum in 1861.