InCeltic polytheism,Sirona was agoddess worshipped predominantly in East CentralGaul and along the Danubianlimes. A healing deity, she was associated with healing springs; her attributes weresnakes andeggs. She was sometimes depicted with ApolloGrannus or ApolloBorvo. She was particularly worshipped by theTreveri in theMoselle Valley.
The name of the goddess was written in various ways:Sirona,Đirona,Ꟈirona,Thirona,[1] indicating some difficulty in capturing the initial sound in the Latin alphabet. The symbol Đ is used here to represent thetau gallicum, an additional letter used inGaulish representing the clusterts which was interchangeable withst- in word-initial position[2][3] and it is not a form of the letter "D".Theroot is a long vowelGaulish variant ofproto-Celtic*ster- (*h2ster) meaning ‘star’.[4] The same root is found inOld Irish asser,Welshseren,Middle Cornishsterenn andBretonsteren(n).[5]The nameĐirona consists of a long-vowel,o-grade stemtsīro- derived from the root*ster- and a-no- suffix formingadjectives indicating"a belonging" in many Indo-European languages.[6] Alternatively it may be an augmentative -on- suffix found in many Celtic divine names and epithets. To this is suffixed the Gaulish feminine singular-a, the usual feminine variant of o-stem adjectives and nouns.[7] So *Tsīrona would seem to have meant ‘stellar’ or ‘astral’.
The evidence for Sirona is both epigraphic (inscriptions) and representational (sculptures and statues). As the map shows, it is primarily concentrated in east-centralGaul, up to the Germanic lines, and along the Danubian limes as far east as Budapest. A few outliers are seen in Aquitaine, Brittany, and one in Italy. There are no Sirona finds inBritannia,Hispania, or in any of the otherRoman provinces.
Some inscriptions, such as those atBordeauxCILXIII, 00582,CorseulCILXIII, 03143, the three fromIhn inSaarland, GermanyAE1994, 1256,AE1994, 1257,AE1991, 1248,MainzCILXIII, 06753,Mühlburg inBaden-WürttembergCILXIII, 06327 andTrier (CIL 13, 03662) are to the goddess Sirona alone,deae Đironae.
More usually, Sirona is paired with Apollo, as in this inscription fromGrauxCILXIII, 04661 in theVosges mountains:
or this inscription fromLuxeuil-les-Bains inFranche-ComtéCILXIII, 05424:
When paired with Sirona, Apollo is often assimilated with aGaulish deity, such as ApolloBorvo or ApolloGrannus. An example fromSarmizegetusa inDaciaAE1983, 00828:
and another fromAugsburgAE1992, 01304 where Sirona is given the epithetsancta (holy) and is identified with Diana:
A dedication fromGroßbottwar inBaden-WürttembergCILXIII, 06458 can be precisely dated to the year 201 CE by mention of thetwo consuls, L. Annius Fabianus and M. Nonius Arrius Mucianus:
At the sulphur springs ofAlzey inRhineland-Palatinate, Germany, a stone bas-relief shows Sirona wearing a long gown and carrying apatera in her right hand and asceptre in her left. The identification as Sirona is assured by a dedication (AE1933, 00140) to Apollo and Sirona.
The richly furnished spring sanctuary ofHochscheid (Cueppers 1990; Weisgerber 1975) was decorated with statues of Sirona and Apollo, again confirmed by an inscriptionAE1941, 00089Deo Apolli/ni et sanc/t(a)e Siron(a)e ... (to Apollo and holy Sirona ...). The statue of Sirona shows her carrying a bowl of eggs (Green 1986 p. 162) and holding a long snake coiled around her lower arm (a link to the iconography of the Greek healing goddessHygeia, daughter ofAsklepios). She wears a long gown and has a star-shaped diadem on her head (a link with the meaning of the name Sirona).
A bronze statue fromMâlain in theCôte d'Or and dating to around 280 CE (Deyts & Roussel 1994; Deyts 1998) shows Sirona naked to the waist and holding a snake draped over her left arm, together with a very classical Apollo withlyre. The inscription ( ILingons-M, 00002) isThiron(a) et Apollo.
A stone with an engraved bust of Sirona fromSaint-Avold, now in the Musée de Metz, bears an inscription (CILXIII, 04498):
AtVienne-en-Val in theLoiret, a square stone pillar depicts Sirona, Apollo,Minerva andHercules (Debal 1973). Sirona wears a long dress and a diadem, from which falls a veil. Her left hand holds acornucopia and in her right is apatera which she is offering to a coiled snake. Again there is a similarity withHygeia, who also carries a snake. Indeed, when a statue has no inscription, it is not clear whether Sirona or Hygeia is depicted, a syncretism demonstrated by the inscription atWein (AE1957, 00114) which includes Sirona andAesculapius, the Roman form of Asklepios:
A different aspect of Sirona is shown at Sainte-Fontaine, where Sirona holds fruit and corn (Green 1986 p. 161).
Several temples to Sirona are known. Often these were of the Gallo-Romanfanum type, an inner [cella] with an outer walkway orpronaos, and were constructed around thermal springs or wells, as atAugst (Bakker 1990) andOppenheim-Nierstein (Cüppers 1990).
AtBudapest (in antiquity,Aquincum) a healing shrine at the spring which fed theaqueduct was dedicated to Apollo (presumably Grannus) and Sirona (AE1982, 0806)
It was established by the emperorCaracalla when he visitedPannonia, althoughDio Cassius says (Roman Histories, 78.15) that the emperor
Two inscriptions describe the establishment of temples to Sirona. FromIhn-Niedaltdorf an inscription (CILXIII, 04235) records the donation of a building and its furnishings at the dedicant's expense:
AtWiesbaden inHesse (in antiquity,Aquae Mattiacorum) an inscription (CILXIII, 07570) records the restoration of a temple by acurator at his own expense:
It seems possible that anotherWiesbaden inscription (CILXIII, 07565) that the wife of military commander Porcius Rufianus fromMainz dedicated to an otherwise unknown goddess ""Diana Mattiaca"" for the healing of her daughter Porcia Rufiana, also refers to Sirona:[8]
An elaborate shrine and temple complex at Hochscheid (Cüppers 1990) has already been mentioned. It was built in the second century CE around a spring, which filled a cistern in the temple. The remote location is thought to have been a pilgrimage site (Weisgerber 1975). It was destroyed in the third century, probably during the Germanic incursions of 250-270, and was never rebuilt.
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