Esus[a] is aCeltic god known from iconographic,epigraphic, and literary sources.
The 1st-century CE Roman poetLucan's epicPharsalia mentions Esus,Taranis, andTeutates as gods to whom theGauls sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Celtic gods under their native names in a Greco-Roman text has been the subject of much comment. Almost as often commented on arethe scholia to Lucan's poem (early medieval, but relying on earlier sources) which tell us the nature of these sacrifices: in particular, that Esus's victims were suspended from a tree and bloodily dismembered. The nature of this ritual is obscure, but it has been compared with a wide range of sources, includingWelsh andGermanic mythology, as well as with the violent end of theLindow Man.
Esus has been connected (through an inscription which identifies him and an allied character,Tarvos Trigaranos, by name) with a pictorial myth on thePillar of the Boatmen, aGallo-Roman column fromParis. This myth associates Esus, felling or pruning a tree, with a bull and threecranes. A similar monument to Esus and Tarvos Trigaranos fromTrier confirms this association. The nature of this myth is little understood; it at least confirms the scholia's association of Esus with trees.
Esus appears rarely in inscriptions, with only two certain attestations of his name in the epigraphic record. His name appears more commonlyas an element of personal names. While Lucan only attributes the worship of Esus to unspecified Gauls, inscriptions place the worship of Esus in Gaul,Noricum, and perhaps Roman North Africa; personal names may also place his worship in Britain. In inscriptions, Esus is attested as early as the 1st century BCE. In Latin literature, he may appear as late as the 5th century CE.
A large number of etymologies have been proposed for the name "Esus".[3]: 201 The nature of the god's name is not certain.Wolfgang Meid [de] has suggested it may be a euphemism, cover-name, or epithet of the god.[4]: 34–35 Claude Sterckx [fr] has even questioned whether "Esus" was a name given to only one deity (though his view is a minority one).[2]: 119
The most widely adopted etymology derives Esus's name from theproto-Indo-European verbal root*h₁eis- ("to be reverent, to worship"), cognate withItalicaisos ("god").[5]: 323 This etymology is supported by the fact that it makes the initial vowel of Esus's namelong, which agrees with both Lucan'spoetic stress and the variant spellings which use "ae" for this vowel.[4]: 35 However,D. Ellis Evans points out that the more common etymology for Italicaisos derives this word from an Etruscan word; since Etruscan is non-Indo-European and Celtic is Indo-European, this would rule out a relationship betweenEsus andaisos.[3]: 201
Joseph Vendryes linked the name with proto-Indo-European *esu- ("good").Jan de Vries is sceptical of this, pointing out that this is difficult to reconcile with the fearful god described in Lucan and the scholia.[6]: 98 Meid suggests the name would then be aeuphemism, comparing it with the Irish god-nameDagda ("the good god").[4]: 35 Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville linked it to proto-Indo-European *is- ("to wish").T. F. O'Rahilly linked it to proto-Indo-European *eis- ("vital force, life").[6]: 98 Félix Guirand suggested the name was cognate with Latinerus ("lord", "master"),[6]: 98 which Meid notes is a commonepiclesis given to deities (Freyr,Ba'al).[4]: 35 Other etymologies have variously connected the name with GermanEhre ("honour"), Ancient Greekαἰδέομαι (aidéomai, "to be ashamed"),Old Norseeir ("brass, copper"), andBretonheuzuz ("terrible")[3]: 201 [6]: 98
Lucan'sPharsalia orDe Bello Civili (On the Civil War) is an epic poem, begun about 61 CE, on the events ofCaesar's civil war (49–48 BCE). The passage relevant to Esus occurs in "Gallic excursus", anepic catalogue detailing the rejoicing of the various Gaulish peoples afterJulius Caesar removed his legions from Gaul (where they were intended to control the natives) to Italy. The passage thus brings out two themes of Lucan's work, the barbarity of the Gauls and the unpatriotism ofCaesar.[5]: 296
Tu quoque laetatus converti proelia, Trevir,
Et nunc tonse Ligur, quondam per colla decore
Crinibus effusis toti praelate Comatae;
Et quibus inmitis placatur sanguine diro
Teutates horrensque feris altaribus Esus
Et Taranis Scythicae non mitior ara Dianae.[7]
Transferral of the warfare pleased you too,Treviri,
and you,Ligures, now shorn of hair but once in all of Long-Haired
Gaul unrivalled for your tresses flowing gracefully over your necks;
and the people who with grim blood-offering placate
Teutates the merciless and Esus dread with savage altars
and the slab of Taranis, no kinder than Diana of the Scythians.[8]
The substance of the last few lines is this: unspecified Gauls, who made human sacrifices to their gods Teutates, Esus, and Taranis, were overjoyed by the exit of Caesar's troops from their territory.[5]: 298–299 The reference to "Diana of the Scythians" refers to the human sacrifices demanded byDiana at her temple in Scythian Taurica, well known in antiquity.[9]: 66–67 That Lucan says little about these gods is not surprising. Lucan's aims were poetic, and not historical or ethnographic. The poet never travelled to Gaul and relied on secondary sources for his knowledge of Gaulish religion. When he neglects to add more, this may well reflect the limits of his knowledge.[10]: 4 [5]: 296
We have no literary sources prior to Lucan which mention these deities, and the few which mention them after Lucan (in the case of Esus,Lactantius andPetronius) seem to borrow directly from this passage.[5]: 299 The secondary sources on Celtic religion which Lucan relied on in this passage (perhapsPosidonius) have not come down to us, so it is hard to date or contextualise his information.[5]: 297 This passage is one of the very few in classical literature in which Celtic gods are mentioned under their native names,[b] rather thanidentified with Greek or Roman gods. This departure from classical practice likely had poetic intent: emphasising the barbarity and exoticness the Gauls, whom Caesar had left to their own devices.[5]: 298
Some scholars, such as de Vries, have argued that the three gods mentioned together here (Esus, Teutates, and Taranis) formed a divine triad in ancient Gaulish religion. However, there is little other evidence associating these gods with each other. Other scholars, such asGraham Webster, emphasise that Lucan may as well have chosen these deity-names for their poetic stress and harsh sound.[5]: 299
Lucan'sPharsalia was a very popular school text in late antiquity and the medieval period. This created a demand for commentaries andscholia (explanatory notes) dealing with difficulties in the work, both in grammar and subject matter.[5]: 312 The earliest Lucan scholia that have come down to us are theCommenta Bernensia andAdnotationes Super Lucanum, both from manuscripts datable between the 9th and 11th centuries.[12]: 453 In spite of their late date, theCommenta andAdnotationes are thought to incorporate very ancient material, some of it now lost; both are known to contain material at least as old asServius the Grammarian (4th century CE).[12]: 453–454 Also interesting, though less credible, are comments from aCologne codex (theGlossen ad Lucan), dating to the 11th and 12th centuries.[5]: 312 Below are excerpts from these scholia relevant to Esus:
| Commentary | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| Commenta Bernensia ad Lucan, 1.445 | Hesus Mars sic placatur: homo in arbore suspenditur usque donec per cruorem membra digesserit. | HesusMars is appeased in this way: a man is suspended from a tree until his limbs are divided as a result of the bloodshed (?).[13] |
| Commenta Bernensia ad Lucan, 1.445 | item aliter exinde in aliis invenimus. [...] Hesum Mercurium credunt, si quidem a mercatoribus colitur | We also find it [depicted] differently by other [authors]. [...] They believe Hesus to beMercury, because he is worshipped by the merchants[13] |
| Adnotationes super Lucanum, 1.445. | Esus Mars sic dictus a Gallis, qui hominum cruore placatur. | Esus is the name given by the Gauls to Mars, who is appeased with human blood.[14] |
| Glossen ad Lucan, 1.445 | Esus id est Mars. | Esus, that is Mars.[15] |
The first excerpt, about the sacrifice to Esus, comes from a passage in theCommenta which details the human sacrifices offered to each of the three gods (persons were drowned in a barrel for Teutates, persons were burned in a wooden tub for Taranis). This passage, which is not paralleled anywhere else in classical literature, has been the subject of much commentary. It seems to have been preserved in theCommenta by virtue of its author's preference for factual (over grammatical) explanation.[5]: 318 TheAdnotationes, by comparison, tell us nothing about the sacrifices to Esus, Teutates, and Taranis beyond that they were each murderous.[5]: 332 The nature of the sacrifice to Esus described here is unclear; the Latin text is cramped and ambiguous. Early Celticists relied on drastic emendations to the text, which have not been sustained in later scholarship.[5]: 321 [c] To give a few difficulties:digesserit here could refer to a process of decomposition or a violent severing of the limbs;cruor means "blood" and "raw meat", but also metaphorically "murder";[5]: 322 andin arbore suspenditur, often read as suggesting that Esus's victims werehanged by the neck from a tree, is perhaps nearer in meaning to saying that his victims were "fixed to" or "suspended from a tree".[10]: 9–10
As a result of this ambiguity, a very large number of interpretations of the sacrificial ritual to Esus have been given.[5]: 322 It has been pointed out that hanging by the neck does not result in loss of blood; and that neither of these lead to a dislocation of the limbs. Suggestions include that the victim was tied to the tree in order to be dismembered; or dismembered by means of tree branches; or injured and then suspended from the tree, by their armpits or limbs.[10]: 10–11 This ritual has been compared with various legendary demises: the human sacrifices toOdin,[17]: 16 [d] the death of the mythological Welsh heroLleu Llaw Gyffes,[20]: 395 and the martyrdom of StMarcel de Chalon.[10]: 12 [e] The violent end of thebog body known as theLindow Man—throat slashed, strangled, bludgeoned, and drowned—has even been connected with this sacrificial ritual.[21][22]
All three commentaries offer aninterpretatio romana (i.e., the identification of a foreign god with a Roman god) which identifies Esus asMars (Roman god of war). The scholiast of theCommenta, however, notes that other sources give aninterpretatio of Esus asMercury,[f] for which they offer a rationale: Esus, like Mercury, was worshipped by merchants.[5]: 321 It is not possible to demonstrate the authenticity of either of these equations, as we have no source outside these commentaries which pairs the name of Esus with that of a Roman god.[10]: 13 The evident confusion of the sources the scholiast had available to him has been taken to count against the evidentiary value of either of theseinterpretatios.[23]: 27 [19]: 56 Max Ihm [de] regards the equation of Esus with Mercury as unlikely, because the Trier monument depicts Esus and Mercury next to each other, as separate divinities.[24] On the other hand, a Mercury statue from Lezoux is sometimes believed to have a dedicatory inscription to Esus on its rear, which may count in favour of the existence of such aninterpretatio.[4]: 35
The Pillar of the Boatmen is a Roman column erected inLutetia (Roman Paris) in the time ofTiberius (i.e., 14–37 CE) by a company of sailors. It contains a number of depictions of Roman and Gaulish gods with legends identifying them. On one block of this pillar is an image identified as Esus (alongside Tarvos Trigaranus, and the Roman godsJupiter andVulcan). The image is of a bearded man in a tunic with abillhook in his left hand; he is aiming at a tree which he grasps with his right hand. The panel carrying the legend "Tarvos Trigaranus" (literally, "Bull with three cranes") has foliage which continues over from Esus's panel; it depicts a bull with two birds on its back and one between its horns.[25][10]: 5–6
A monument from Trier shows an arrangement very similar to the Paris monument. This monument, dedicated to Mercury by one Indus of theMediomatrici,[g] is a four-sided block with depictions of gods, much like the Paris monument. On one side is a depiction of Mercury andRosmerta. On another side, a beardless man in a tunic strikes at a tree; within the tree's foliage, a bull's head and three birds are visible. The similarity of iconography allow the beardless man to be identified with Esus. The monument has been dated to the earlyimperial period.[5]: 322 [20]: 394
These two monuments reveal a pictorial myth about Esus, involving a tree, a bull, and three cranes. The nature of this myth is unknown,[26] but has given rise to much "imaginative speculation".[21] It is not clear whether Esus is engaged in felling or pruning the tree.[6]: 98–99 The cultic significance which the Gauls attached to bulls is well attested,[27]: 26 andAnne Ross has argued that there was such a significance associated with cranes as well.[28] De Vries conjectured that the panels represented a sacred enthronement ritual, with the felling of a sacred tree and slaughter of a bull.[29]: 20 Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville connected these scenes with events in the mythology of the Irish warrior heroCú Chulainn,[30] howeverJames MacKillop cautions that this suggestion "now seems ill-founded".[21]
Esus's iconography confirms the importance of trees to his cult, otherwise suggested by the Lucan scholia.[5]: 322 Émile Thévenot [fr] suggested that the tree Esus chops down on these monuments is the sacrificial tree.[10]: 9 Françoise Le Roux [fr] suggested that thedendolatry (tree worship) of Esus's cult may reflect the influence ofGermanic religion (specifically the cult ofOdin).[19]: 54
Jean-Jacques Hatt [fr] has identified eight other images as of Esus.Marcel Le Glay (writing for theLexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae) dismisses these identifications as "uncertain" and "very random".[27]
Lucan is not clear about which Gauls worshipped Esus, Taranis, and Teutates. Early Celticists, forced to conjecture about the geographic extent of their worship, gave hypotheses ranging from pan-Celtic (Camille Jullian) to "between theSeine and theLoire" (Salomon Reinach).[5]: 299 The epigraphic evidence places Esus in Gaul andNoricum, and perhaps also Roman North Africa.[5]: 322–323 Evidence for the worship of Esus in Britain may be provided by a small number of proper names, which perhaps incorporate the god's name (such as the place-name Aesica).[31]: 133
The epigraphic evidence for Esus is very limited. There are only two certain attestations of his name in epigraphy and a handful of conjectured ones.[5]: 322 Philippe Leveau and Bernard Remy have suggested that this paucity of evidence may be explained by a Roman suppression of the cult of Esus, on the basis of its purported sacrificial practices.[32]: 89
The first of the two certain inscriptions to Esus is on the Pillar of the Boatmen, below the image of the god. The second was found in 1987 by ametal detectorist, inscribed on a bronze statuette base[h] (the statuette missing). The base was found inGurina (part of RomanNoricum, nowAustria), where there was once a Gallo-Roman religious centre. It is avotive offering to Esus (spelled Aeso,dative of Aesos) made by an individual with a Celtic name. It dates to the end of the 1st century BCE, which makes it the earliest attestation of the god Esus.[33][5]: 322–323
An inscription on a fragment of a stele[i] from the necropolis ofCaesarea in Mauretania, a Roman city inAlgeria, appears to record a votive inscription to Esus from one Peregrinus. The intervention of a Gaulish god in Africa is surprising, and the incomplete preservation of the inscription frustrates interpretation.[32] Andreas Hofeneder withholds judgement as to whether it is an attestation of the Gaulish god.[5]: 323 Leveau and Remy dedicate a study to this inscription, in which they date it to the first half of the 1st century CE and consider the possibility that Peregrinus was a Gaulish soldier in North Africa.[32]
TwoGaulish language inscriptions have been conjectured to mention Esus. The well-known statue of Mercury fromLezoux has a badly weathered inscription on its rear.[j] The text has received several different readings.Michel Lejeune will only allowa[...] / ie[...] / eso[...] to be read.[34]John Rhŷs proposed to read GaulishApronios / ieuru sosi / Esu ("Apronios dedicated this object to Esus").[6]: 394 This reading has been the subject of repeated doubt and was later abandoned by Rhŷs himself.[20]: 394 [34] Another Gaulish inscription, on aterrine found near Lezoux,[k] has an unclear initial word whichOswald Szemerényi proposed to readEsus.Pierre-Yves Lambert and Lejeune prefereso ("this").[5]: 323
Esus's name features as an element of some Celtic personal names (indeed, it is more common in personal names than in inscriptions).[4]: 35 Karl Horst Schmidt [de] lists Esugenus[l] ("Fathered by Esus"), Esumagius[m] ("Powerful through Esus"), Esumopas[n] ("Slave to Esus"), and Esunertus[o] ("Having the power of Esus").[35]: 211 Other personal names connected with Esus include Aesugesli,[p] Esullus,[q] and (on a British coin) Æsus.[5]: 323 [6]: 98 Bernhard Maier is sceptical that the god's name is part of the etymologies of all of these names.[36]: 92
Other Celtic names perhaps incorporating Esus include the tribe-nameEsuvii (perhaps "sons of Esus", fromSées);[37]: 172 the river-nameEsino (in Italy);[2]: 120 and the place-namesAesica (inNorthumberland),[1]: 510 Aeso (inHispania Tarraconensis),[2]: 119 andEssé (inBrittany).[21]
The Roman authorPetronius names a minor character "Hesus" in hispicaresque Latin novelSatyricon (c. 54–68 CE). There is nothing in what we know of Petronius that suggests he could have known about Gaulish religion first-hand. If this is a reference to the god Esus, it is probably (as Jean Gricourt suggests) Petronius using Lucan's text to make an obscure joke about the nature of this character.[38][5]: 345–346
Lactantius's ChristianapologiaThe Divine Institutes (c. 303-311 CE), in discussing human sacrifice among the pagans, very briefly mentions Esus and Teutates as pagan gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. It is almost universally agreed that Lactantius borrows from Lucan here. He is known to have read Lucan's poem, and Lactantius's testimony does not go beyond Lucan's.[1]: 231–232
The Gaulish medical writerMarcellus of Bordeaux may offer a textual reference to Esus not dependent on Lucan in hisDe medicamentis, a compendium of pharmacological preparations written in Latin in the early 5th century which is the sole source for several Celtic words. The work contains a magico-medical charm, whichGustav Must [et] andLéon Fleuriot proposed was aGaulish language invocation of the aid of Esus (spelled Aisus) in curing throat trouble.[39] The text, however, is quite corrupt and the number of possible interpretations of it have led Alderik H. Blom and Andreas Hofeneder to doubt that the god Esus is referenced here.[1]: 370–372
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