Inancient Celtic religion,Sulevia was a goddess worshipped inGaul,Britain, andGallaecia,[1] very often in the plural formsSuleviae or (dative)Sule(v)is. Dedications to Sulevia(e) are attested in about forty inscriptions, distributed quite widely in the Celtic world, but with particular concentrations inNoricum, among theHelvetii, along theRhine, and also inRome. Jufer and Luginbühl distinguish the Suleviae from another group of pluralCeltic goddesses, theMatres, and interpret the name Suleviae as meaning "those who govern well".[2] In the same vein,Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel connects Suleviae withWelshhylyw 'leading (well)' andBretonhelevez 'good behaviour'.[3]
The Suleviae have been identified in one inscription with theJunones, but mostly with the Matres, for example on an inscription fromRoman Colchester, as well as on most of the inscriptions from Rome. The Colchester inscription reads:
MATRIBVS SVLEVIS SIMILIS ATTI F CI CANT VSLM
(Translated:To the Sulevi mothers, Similis the son of Attius, of theCivitas Cantiacorum, willingly and deservedly fulfills his vow.)[4]
In another inscription, the dative singularSuleviae Idennicae is attested in conjunction with Roman goddess Minerva.[5][6]
Van Andringa interprets the Suleviae as "native domestic divinities honoured at all social levels".[7] For the theory that the Suleviae were atriune version of Sulis Minerva, seeSulis. This theory is disputed by some researchers who find no direct links with Sulis, and suggest instead that the similarity in names is coincidental.[2] Another theory connects the Suleviae with theXulsigiae, known from a site atTrier;[8] but this suggestion has also been contested.
^abNicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001).Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Editions Errance, Paris. pp.15,64. In the original:"Celles qui gouvernent bien".
^Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia de; Hainzmann, Manfred, and Mathieu, Nicolas. “Celtic and Other Indigenous Divine Names Found in the Italian Peninsula.” In:Théonymie Celtique, Cultes, Interpretatio - Keltische Theonymie, Kulte, Interpretatio. Edited by Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel and Andreas Hofeneder, 1st ed. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2013. p. 88.http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv8mdn28.8.
^Allmer, Auguste. "Les dieux de la Gaule. I. - Dieux de la Gaule celtique (suite: Inscriptions 1254 à 1263)". In:Revue épigraphique du Midi de la France, tome 3, N°90, 1898. pp. 548-549. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3406/repig.1898.1357; www.persee.fr/doc/repig_1259-6736_1898_num_3_90_1357
^Lambert, Pierre-Yves. Hainzmann, Manfred, and Mathieu, Nicolas. “Le Statut Du Théonyme Gaulois.” In:Théonymie Celtique, Cultes, Interpretatio - Keltische Theonymie, Kulte, Interpretatio. Edited by Andreas Hofeneder and Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel, 1st ed. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2013. p. 118.http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv8mdn28.11.
^William van Andringa (2002).La religion en Gaule romaine: piété et politique (Ier-IIIe siècle apr. J.-C. Editions Errance, ParisISBN2877722287 p. 275. In the original:"divinités domestiques indigènes honorés dans tous les milieux sociaux".
^Edith Mary Wightman (1970).Roman Trier and the Treveri. Rupert Hart-Davis, London.
