Visucius

{{Short description|Gallo Roman god identified with Mercury}}

Image:Visucius distribution.png

Visucius was a Gallo-Roman god, usually identified with Mercury. He was worshipped primarily in the east of Gaul, around Trier and on the Rhine; his name is recorded on about ten dedicatory inscriptions. One such inscription has also been found in Bordeaux. Visucius is, along with Gebrinius and Cissonius, among the most common indigenous epithets of the Gaulish Mercury.Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Paris: Editions Errance. {{ISBN|2-87772-200-7}}.

The name has sometimes been interpreted as meaning "of the ravens"Mary Jones. [http://www.maryjones.us/jce/uisucius.html "Uisucius"] Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia, 2004. or "knowledgeable";[http://www.bifrost.it/CELTI/2.Divinitagalliche/02-Mercurius.html#E25 MERCURIUS - L'inventore di tutte le arte] from Bifröst (in the original, Sapiente). cf. the Proto-Celtic roots *wesāko- 'raven, grebe' (cf. Old Irish disyllabic fiach, Welsh gwyach) and *witsu- 'knowing'.Matasovic, Ranko, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Brill, 2008, pp. 415-416[http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf Proto-Celtic—English lexicon] and [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/MoE-PCl.pdf English—Proto-Celtic lexicon]. University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. (See also [http://www.wales.ac.uk/newpages/EXTERNAL/E4504.asp this page] for background and disclaimers.)

The variant or mistaken spelling Visuclus is also attested.Table of results for [http://www.arbre-celtique.com/approfondissements/divinites/inventaire-div/div_liste.php?nomdiv=Visucius Visucius], [http://www.arbre-celtique.com/approfondissements/divinites/inventaire-div/div_liste.php?nomdiv=Visuclus Visuclus], and [http://www.arbre-celtique.com/approfondissements/divinites/inventaire-div/div_liste.php?nomdiv=Visugius Visugius] from L'Arbre Celtique.

In a Latin inscription from Rheinzabern, Germany (CIL 13, 5991) dedicated to Jupiter, Apollo, and Visucius, the name SOLI T[...] appears after Visucius, perhaps originally standing for Solitumarus, an epithet of Mercury's in an inscription (AE 2001, 1388; AE 2008, 901) found at Chateaubleau, France.

Another inscription is co-dedicated to Sancta Visucia, as well as to Mercurius Visucius.Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XIII:6404, transcribed on [http://www.bifrost.it/Antologia/Epigrafia.html#MercuriusVisucius Bifröst] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722024748/http://www.bifrost.it/Antologia/Epigrafia.html#MercuriusVisucius |date=2011-07-22 }}. This goddess, apparently a companion or analogue of Visucius, has sometimes been likened to Rosmerta or Maia, who also accompany Mercury on many Gaulish dedications.

One inscription dedicated to Visugius has also been found at Agoncillo in Spain; this may perhaps refer to the same deity.