Fitz Jenő (szerk.): Religions and Cults in Pannonia. Exhibiton an Székesfehérvár, Csók István Gallery 15 May - 30 September 1996 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: A. sorozat 33. (1998)

inscriptions came to light, published by J. Sasel (1975, 133-148, PL 27-32). They were all reused as building material and must have originally come from an as yet unidentified Roman settlement below the hill. A few more but poorly legible inscriptions have been discovered during the recent excavations of the National Museum of Slovenia, one of which is a very damaged altar with a barely visible dedicaton to Vibes (Vib(ebos?) posu(erunt) \ Serenu(s) \ et Маги \ v(otum) s(olverunt).4 The Vibes are Celtic Norican epichoric divinities; their assumed Venetic origin seems to be less likely, although Venetic influences may not be entirely excluded (cf. dative case Vibebos) (VETTERS 1950, 140-145.). Their worship is attested in the area of Santicum (Warmbad Villach), but also at Flavia Solva, and at Lauriacum (SCHERRER 1984, 448-450; see also VETTERS 1950; ALFÖLDY 1974, 241; NOLL, 1976, 23-35). Whether their worship should be connected with the thermal springs near Santicum, or whether their cult should be interpreted as that of a typically Celtic Maires type, remains uncertain. Maru, so far unattested, may either be a masculine name: Maru(s), or a feminine Norican name ending in -u, of the type Cattu (FALKNER 1948, 39-54), in any case the worshippers of the Vibes were members of an epichoric family. The nature of the cult of Sedatus, venerated at Neviodunum, where he had a sanctuary (CIL III 3922: Sedato \ Aug(usto) sac(rum) \ P. Paconius \ edem (I) \ et aram d(edit) d(edicat), but also at Celeia (ILJug 387, where his cultores are mentioned), is not entirely clear, but as dedications were erected to him by the collegia fabrum and centonariorum (see CIL III 8086 and 10335) he may well have been close to the Roman Vulcan. He must have been mainly a Pannonian god, which may be assumed on the basis of a dedication set up to him by the cohors I Breucorum (CIL, III 5918=11929), as well as by the fact that his cult is also attested in the Pannonian mining area between the rivers Sana and Una at Stari Majdan (PASKVALIN 1970, 1928), which would not be in contradiction with postulated interpretation of the cult of Sedatus. luppiter Culminalis was worshipped at Atrans (CIL III 11673), in the village of Sava near Litija in the Emona territory (AU 20) - where the dominant rocky elevation above the site of discovery, with an excellent view of the Sava valley, may have been the venerated culmen - and at Poetovio and its ager. At Poetovio, for example, a dedication to the god was erected by Aurelius Maximinus, a decurio of the colony and sacerdos of Upper Pannónia who had also been awarded the honour of the duumvir quinquennalis, for the welfare of himself, his wife and all his family (AIJ 449:1(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) Culm(inali) Aure[l(ius)] \ Maximinus de[c(urio)] \ col(oniae) Poet(ovionensis) ho[n]\ore Ilvir(i) q(uin)[q(uennalis)] \ [e]x curat(ore), sace[r\\[d\os provinc[i]\[a]e Pannóniáé Superi(oris) \ pro salute sua et \ Aurel(iae) Marcell[i]\nae coniugis, su\orumque omnium v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)). The cult of Iupiter Culminalis was local, limited mainly to the southern Norican and Pannonian regions, and it may thus be considered that a native god is concealed under the Roman name, not unlike the case of luppiter Depulsor (LATTE, 1960, 80 n.l; SASEL KOS 1993, 227; 231-232). The worship of luppiter Depulsor was locally important in Noricum and at Pannonian Poetovio, formerly belonging to the Norican kingdom. Undoubtedly a Roman interpretation of a local Celtic god is in question. The god is depicted on a votive marble plaque from Colatio, Noricum (present-day Stari trg near Slovenj Gradée), now in the Landesmuseum Joanneum at Graz (EGGER 1914, Bbl. 65-68; PAHIC 1965, 24).). However, he was also known in other provinces of the Roman Empire and is documented on some forty dedications. H.-G. Pflaum analyzed all the extant dedications to luppiter Depulsor and concluded that his worship was chronologically limited to the second half of the 2nd and first half ot the 3rd centuries A.D. He connected the sudden flourishing of this cult to the frequent incursions of barbarians across the Danube in this period (PFLAUM, 1953, 445-460). I. Kolendo saw in the worship of luppiter Depulsor a reaction specifically to the Marcomannic Wars and their percursors, and is less inclined to explain him as an epichoric deity (KOLENDO 1989, 1062-1076). It should be noted, however, that the established chronological limits correspond well to the period of the revival of local cults, and should thus be considered as a general phenomenon in any autochthonous worship (ALFÖLDY 1989, 81-82 and n. 88 = 1989, 370-371 and n. 88; SASEL KOS 1993). As a certain number of the dedications to luppiter Depulsor were set up pro salute, he should not be regarded as a "military" divinity, rather he should be explained as an averter of evil in general, be it diseases and epidemics, failures of any kind, dangers, as well as hostile attacks, which became a reality at the outbreak of the Marcomannic Wars, and were increasingly threatening from the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. (SASEL KOS 1996b, forthcoming.). Booth luppiter Culminalis and luppiter Depulsor were among important epichoric gods venerated under Latin names at Poetovio, but also elsewhere. However, the most popular autochthonous cult in the city was undoubtedly that of the Nutrices (these goddesses, too, known solely under their Latin name), abundantly documented exclusively at Poetovio, apart from one dedication, now lost, found not far away in Maribor, already within the borders of the province of Noricum (CIL III 5314=11713). The Nutrices are also very well represented in reliefs and may have had several sanctuaries in the city. Although goddesses with the same name are also known from northern Africa, they are not related to the Nutrices of Poetovio. There is no doubt that they should be interpreted as some kind of birth goddesses, nourishers and identified as such by ALFÖLDY, in: SASEL KOS 1996, no. 115, in print. 20