Anextlomarus or Anextiomarus (Gaulish: Anextlomāros, 'Great Protector') is an ancient Celtic deity. On an inscription from Arbeia (modern South Shields, England), he appears as epithet of the Roman god Apollo. A feminine form of the name, Anextlomara, is attested in a Gallo-Roman dedication from Aventicum (now Avenches, Switzerland). He probably also appears in incomplete form in a fragmentary dedication found near Le Mans, France.

Name

The Gaulish theonym Anextlomāros has been interpreted as 'great protector', 'of great protection', or '(he who is) great in protection'. It is a compound formed with the noun anextlo- ('protection'; cf. Old Irish anacul '[act of] protecting) attached to māros ('great'). The feminine form Anextlomarā, attested in Aventicum (modern Avenches), is translated as 'Great Protectress'.

Anextlomarus is also attested as a personal name at Langres.

Attestations

South Shields

The god is equated with Apollo on an inscription on a bronze bowl from Arbeia (modern South Shields). According to Helmut Birkhan, the reading Anextiomarus may be incorrect and amended to Anextlomarus.

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|Apollini Anextiomaro M(arcus) A(...) Sab(inus[?])

|To Apollo Anextiomarus, Marcus A(…) Sab(inus?) (dedicated this)

|RIB 2415.55.

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Le Mans

His name is thought to survive in incomplete form in an inscription found near Le Mans, in the territory of the Aulerci Cenomani.

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|[—] I. ANEX / [—] EIVS DEI / [— ornam] ENTIS. D

|CIL XIII 3190

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Avanches

The feminine form Anextlomara occurs in an inscription from Aventicum (now Avenches in Switzerland), dated to the 1st–3rd centuries AD.

The name of the man who commissioned this dedication, Publicius, makes it possible to determine his social status as a freed public slave serving Roman municipalities and colonies. His cognomen, Aunus, indicates a Celtic origin. Augustus is to be understood here as the generic title of the reigning emperor. This double dedication suggests an intention to associate the imperial cult with a local, indigenous religious tradition. The spelling of the divine name (AneXtlomara), with an oversized X corresponding to the Greek letter chi, reflects indigenous epigraphic practices predating Roman conquest.

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!Inscription

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|AneXtlomarae / et Aug(usto) / Public(ius) Aunus

|To Anextlomara and to the Emperor. Publicius Aunus (erected this monument)

|H. Finke, Nachtrag zu CIL XIII, in B.R.G.K., 17, 1927, n. 94

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References

; Bibliography

  • Romano-British gods
  • Avenches museum