The Roman Gods of Hadrian’s Wall

 The Roman Gods of Hadrian’s Wall

 I recently visited Hadrians wall at Housestead and was fascinated by the statues of the Roman Gods on display. Displayed amongst the artifacts are statues of three Roman Gods.

1)      Mercury the God of trade and commerce. This was found in the fort Vicus. This carving shows Mercury in a classical pose, naked except for a cloak over his arm. He has a winged hat (Petasus) on his head and a staff (caduceus) in his left hand. His right hand holds a money bag.

2)      Diana, the goddess of the moon and the hunt. In this carving she looks out from her shrine with her hinting dog at her side. A stag watches warily as Diana poises her bow and reaches for an arrow from her quiver.

3)      Mars, the god of war and god of the legions. “to the God Mars Victory and deities of the Emperor”. Mars was the binding force of the Roman Empire. This carving shows Mars as a soldier wearing body armor, a pleated skirt, a crested helmet and leg protection (greaves). He has a spear in his raised right arm and his left hand rests on his shield. A goose stands in the foreground facing away from the god.

This fourth Roman God was also pictured at Housestead but for the life of me I cannot remember who the god is - I did not seem to note down the caption.   Oh God - I will just have to go back to find out !! Unless anyone else can enlighten me!!

These gods demonstrates how the ancient Roman civilization revered their gods and relied on them to bring them good luck.