#antenociticus

[thesilicontribesman]

Roman Stone Head of the Native God, Antenociticus from the Roman Temple at Benwell, The Great North Museum, Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne.

[honorthegods]

Temple of Antenociticus, Benwell (Condercum) Roman Fort, Hadrian’s Wall. Broomridge Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne.

This is the only temple found so far that was dedicated to Antenociticus, a native British deity or, perhaps, a syncretized Romano-British deity.* The temple site was professionally excavated by G. W. Rendell in 1862. The two altars shown to the right of the temple enclosure are replicas of those dedicated to Antenociticus by Roman officers. The original altars are now located in the Great North Museum:Hancock, at Newcastle upon Tyne, along with the head, forearm, and lower leg of the life-size cult statue of Antenociticus that was excavated here. The statue, probably carved locally, wears a Celtic torque.

Condercum Fort was built between 122-180 CE. The temple was located to the east of the fort, between the ramparts and vallum (rear ditch of Hadrian’s Wall). The vallum and causeway can be viewed at another small heritage site two streets to the west, on Dennhill Park. The fort was destroyed by fire in 196 CE. The northern third of Condercum fort was submerged in 1863-64 after the construction of a reservoir. The surrounding houses were built on the remains of the fort in the 1930s.

A carved stone head, which resembles the head of Antenociticus found on this site, was discovered during the summer of 2013 at Binchester (Vinovium) Roman Fort, near Bishop Auckland, in County Durham, which is 55km/33 miles south of Benwell.

The Benwell Roman Temple site is open daily, 9-5.

If I lived near a place like this, I would stop by several times a week. I think it gives some food for thought to modern pagans and polytheists wishing to create a modern temple for public worship. The acquisition of a small plot of land, with a cement altar or two, purchased and dedicated by supporters of the project, wouldn’t be especially attractive to vandals, and could provide rental income (from weddings and other pagan events) to help support the eventual construction of a more ambitious temple. 

*Although the hairstyle of the statue resembles that of the Hellenistic god Antinous, there has been no academic support for the recent theory that “Antenociticus” is sycretization of Antinous with a local British god called Citicus, nor has any reference to a Celtic god called Citicus yet been reported.

[monohedron]