Camulus
{{Short description|Celtic deity}}
{{Redirect|Camulos|the populated place in Ventura County, California|Rancho Camulos}}
{{For|the character in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1|Goa'uld characters in Stargate#Camulus}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Camulus or Camulos is a Celtic deity who was identified with Mars via interpretatio romana.{{cite book |entry=Camulus |title=A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |orig-year=1998 |publication-date=2004}} Camulus was an important god of Roman Britain and Gaul, especially among the Belgae and the Remi, Gaulish tribes that originate from the areas of modern day Belgium, Luxembourg, Northern France and parts of Germany and the Netherlands.
Name
The etymology of the name is uncertain. It has been compared with the Old Irish {{lang|sga|cumall}}, meaning 'champion'.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=101}}
Attestations
Evidence of Camulus' popularity can be seen in several place-names, notably Camulodunum.
Camulus is named in combination with Mars in inscriptions coming from Reims,ILTG 351; AE 1935, 00064 [In] honor[em d(omus) d(ivinae)] / [3] Martis Cam[uli 3] / [Iucundiniu[s 3] / [Laurenti]um Lavinat[ium Arlon,CIL 13 3980 : Marti / Camulo / Lellius / Settus / v(otum) [s(olvit)] l(ibens) m(erito) Kruishoutem,AE 1992, 01244 : Deo Marti Camulo / Verecundus Fructi / v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito) Rindern,CIL 13 8701 : Marti Camulo / sacrum pro / salute [Neronis]
The town Camulodunum (now Colchester) in Essex may have been named after him (and is the conjectured basis for the legendary city of Camelot).{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Mythology: Classical, Celtic, Norse |author= Arthur Cotterell |year=1997 |publisher=Anness Publishing Ltd}} Camulodunum is a Latinised form of the Brittonic Camulodūnon from Camulos plus dūnon "(hill)fort, stronghold", a reference to the town's extensive Iron Age earthwork defences.{{cite book |author=Crummy, Philip |year=1997 |title=City of Victory: The story of Colchester - Britain's first Roman town |publisher=Colchester Archaeological Trust |isbn=1 897719 04 3 }}
Theories
Attempts from the 20th century and earlier to link the name Camulus with the nursery rhyme character Old King Cole, and with Irish mythological Cumhall, the hero Fionn's father, have been rejected by contemporary scholars.
References
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|year=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=9782877723695|author-link=Xavier Delamarre}}
{{refend}}
Further reading
- {{cite journal |last=Lindsay |first=Jack |title=Camulos and Belenos |journal=Latomus |volume=20 |issue=4 |date=1961 |pages=731–43 |jstor=41522086}}.
{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}
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