thumb|Bronze coin of Tasgetius {{Short description|Ruler of the Carnutes}} '''Tasgetius''', the Latinized form of Gaulish '''Tasgetios''' or '''Tasgiitios''' (d. 54 BC), was a ruler of the Carnutes, a Celtic polity whose territory corresponded roughly with the modern French departments of Eure-et-Loir, Loiret, and Loir-et-Cher. Julius Caesar says that as Roman proconsul he made Tasgetius king in reward for his support during the Gallic Wars.<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Bellum Gallicum'' 5.25.2. Although Tasgetius is conventionally called a "king," Caesar uses verbal phrases in reference to his rule rather than the noun ''rex'': his ancestors ''regnum obtinuerant'', "had held the kingship," and Tasgetius was in his third year of ruling at the time of his murder: ''tertium iam hunc annum regnantem''.</ref> His reign would have begun in late 57 BC, following Caesar's campaign against the Belgic ''civitates'' in northern Gaul that year; it ended with his assassination in 54 BC. The overthrow of a king appointed by Caesar was one of the precipitating events that led to the pan-Gallic rebellion of 52 BC under the Arvernian leader Vercingetorix.<ref>Stephen L. Dyson, "Native Revolts in the Roman Empire," ''Historia'' 20 (1971), p. 242.</ref>
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==Caesar's account== Caesar gives only a succinct account of Tasgetius's reign and death:
{{cquote|Tasgetius was born a man of highest rank among the Carnutes. His ancestors used to control the kingship in their country. Because of his quality as a person and his goodwill toward Caesar, and because in all his military campaigns Caesar had made use of his exceptional capability, Caesar had restored Tasgetius to his ancestral rank. In the third year of his reign, he was killed by his enemies.<ref>''Inimici'' rather than ''hostes''; that is, his personal enemies rather than opponents in war.</ref> Many men from his own country were among the instigators, without any pretense of secrecy. These events were reported to Caesar, who was concerned, since so much was at stake, that under the influence of these men the community as a whole would defect. He ordered Lucius Plancus to take a legion and advance rapidly from Belgian territory to the Carnutes. Plancus was to establish winter quarters there and investigate the actions of those who had killed Tasgetius. These men were to be arrested and sent to Caesar.<ref>Caesar, ''Bellum Gallicum'' 5.25: ''Erat in Carnutibus summo loco natus Tasgetius, cuius maiores in sua civitate regnum obtinuerant. Huic Caesar pro eius virtute atque in se benevolentia, quod in omnibus bellis singulari eius opera fuerat usus, maiorum locum restituerat. Tertium iam hunc annum regnantem inimici, multis palam ex civitate eius auctoribus, eum interfecerunt. Defertur ea res ad Caesarem. Ille veritus, quod ad plures pertinebat, ne civitas eorum impulsu deficeret, Lucium Plancum cum legione ex Belgio celeriter in Carnutes proficisci iubet ibique hiemare quorumque opera cognoverat Tasgetium interfectum, hos comprehensos ad se mittere.''</ref>}}
==Political background== [[File:Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png|thumb|300px|The Carnutes held territory in Celtica on both sides of the Loire River (Latin ''Liger'')]]
The land of the Carnutes was regarded as the sacred center of Gaul where each year the druidry held their pan-Gallic synod.<ref>Caesar, ''Bellum Gallicum'' 6.13.10. The late-19th-century historian of religion Alexandre Bertrand believed that the religious institution of the druids in Gaul, described most fully among the extant Greek and Latin sources by Caesar (''BG'' 6.13–14), had a direct influence on the reception of Christianity in Western Europe, particularly in regard to the organization of monastic communities; see ''La religion des Gaulois: Les druides et le druidisme'' (Paris, 1897), appendix 2, pp. 417–424 [https://books.google.com/books?id=OtBLAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Plus+nous+approfondissons+la+question+des+druides%22&pg=PA417 online.] Although Bertrand's highly conjectural argument was the object of immediate and vigorous attack — see review by Gaston Boissier, ''Journal des Savants'' (1898) 574–580, especially 578ff. [https://books.google.com/books?id=G0odAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22La+derni%C3%A8re+partie+du+livre+de+M.+Alexandre+Bertrand+est+consacr%C3%A9e+aux+Druides%22&pg=PA578 online] — the 20th-century art historian Walter Horn drew on scientific methodologies to trace pre-Christian influences on medieval architecture in the regions formerly inhabited by Celts; see "On the Origins of the Medieval Cloister," ''Gesta'' 12 (1973) 13–52, and for discussion and major works, Academic career and scholarship. At any rate, the organization of the druids, with their oversight of religious matters, had existed in Gaul, and the medieval dioceses to which modern French departments more or less correspond were formed along pre-Roman political boundaries (see also Diocese: History) — boundary disputes (''de finibus controversia'') being one of the juridical functions of the druids, according to Caesar (''BG'' 6.13.5).</ref> Like several other of the larger polities in Gaul,<ref>Elections held by the Aedui are a major part of Caesar's narrative in Book 7; see 7.32–33 in particular. The last king of the Sequani was Catamantaloedes, whose son Casticus was accused of attempting to restore the monarchy (1.3.3). The kingship of the Arverni had evidently given way to oligarchy or a proto-republic after their defeat by the Romans in the 120s BC; in ''BG'' 7.4.1, Caesar says that Celtillus, the father of Vercingetorix, had been put to death by his people for his imperial ambitions (see also Bituitos, the last known Arvernian king).</ref> the Carnutes had once been ruled by kings, but seem to have adopted an oligarchic or proto-republican form of government. Rome often found it more convenient to deal with client states through centralizing power in a king rather than a fractious council or "senate," as Caesar often refers to such bodies on analogy with the Roman Senate.<ref>Sean B. Dunham, "Caesar's Perception of Gallic Social Structures," in ''Celtic Chiefdom, Celtic State: The Evolution of Complex Social Systems in Prehistoric Europe'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 110–115; David C. Braund, ''Rome and the Friendly King: The Character of the Client Kingship'' (Croom Helm, 1984) ''passim''.</ref> The ancestors of Tasgetius had held supreme power, and his ascent was presented as a restoration. The Carnutes had perhaps preferred not to live under a monarchy again, since Caesar's royal appointment was assassinated by his fellow citizens. Caesar attributes opposition to Tasgetius to an anti-Roman faction among the Carnutes, but it has been argued<ref>Serge Lewuillon, "Histoire, société et lutte des classes en Gaule: Une féodalité à la fin de la république et au début de l'empire. Tasgétios et César," ''Aufstieg under Niedergang der römische Welt'' (1975), pp. 463–465 [https://books.google.com/books?id=JUBkfuu5lpcC&dq=%22Tasg%C3%A9tios+et+C%C3%A9sar%22&pg=PA463 online.]</ref> that the normal internal politics of Gaul were at play, which Caesar chose to exploit for his own purposes and propagandize as symptoms of a brewing rebellion.
Caesar says<ref>Caesar, ''Bellum Gallicum'' 6.4.</ref> that the Carnutes were assigned to the Remi, Rome's most loyal Belgic ally, as a client state; George Long thought this was probably a consequence of Tasgetius's murder. These formal relations existed usually among contiguous polities, but the territory of the Remi (roughly modern-day Champagne) was at some remove from that of the Carnutes.<ref>George Long, ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'', edited by William Smith (London, 1872), vol. 1, p. 523 [https://books.google.com/books?id=kIsUAAAAYAAJ&dq=Tasgetius+OR+Tasgetios&pg=PA523 online.]</ref>
==Personal characteristics== Caesar acknowledged the loss of Tasgetius by taking note of the goodwill (''benevolentia'') he had shown the proconsul. The word ''benevolentia'' appears only twice in the ''Bellum Gallicum''; in Book 7, Caesar insists on his own goodwill toward the Aedui, despite their having joined the opposition to Rome.<ref>''BG'' 7.43.4.</ref> In Latin usage contemporary with Caesar, the word is common in the letters and philosophical works of Cicero, who prefers it to the ''benignitas'' ("kindness") more likely to be encountered in other sources. ''Beneficia'' are kindnesses or good deeds, favors or good works; ''benevolentia'' is a cast of mind, a voluntary state of inclination that makes friendship possible. Writing about ten years after the death of Tasgetius, Cicero defines friendship as "a relationship based on agreement about all human and divine matters, together with goodwill (''benevolentia'') and affection."<ref>Cicero, ''De amicitia'' 6.20: ''Omnium divinarum humanarumque rerum cum benevolentia et caritate consensio''.</ref> But ''benevolentia'', as a predisposition to form social relationships, also has an inherently utilitarian side, and after noting the ''benevolentia'' of Tasgetius, Caesar immediately remarks on his usefulness (''usus'').<ref>Wilkie Collins, ''The Brothers of Romulus: Fraternal'' pietas ''in Roman Law, Literature, and Society'' (Princeton University Press, 1997), pp. 67–69 [https://books.google.com/books?id=5dATKuJXUDwC&dq=benevolentia&pg=PA67 online]; Gloria Vivenza, "Classical Roots of Benevolence in Economic Thought," in ''Ancient Economic Thought'' (Routledge, 1997), pp. 198–199, 204–208 [https://books.google.com/books?id=OKxA6ibIQcYC&dq=benevolentia&pg=PA205 online]; Cicero's influence on patristic views, Carolinne White, ''Christian Friendship in the Fourth Century'' (Cambridge University Press, 1992, 2002), pp. 16–17 [https://books.google.com/books?id=cqv_UlNH-qIC&dq=benevolentia&pg=RA1-PA16 online], 32, and 255, note 13. It is equivalent to Greek ''eunoia.''</ref>
Tasgetius is one of only six individuals<ref>Three of the possessors of ''virtus'' are the Roman officers Gaius Volusenus (''BG'' 3.5.2), Quintus Cicero (5.48.6), and Titus Labienus (7.59.6); a fourth is the Romanized Celt Valerius Troucillus, who held Roman citizenship and acted as diplomatic envoy and interpreter for Caesar. See Myles Anthony McDonnell, ''Roman Manliness:'' virtus ''and the Roman Republic'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 308 [https://books.google.com/books?id=v2vefi2_ojYC&dq=Volusenus+CIcero&pg=RA11-PA308 online.] The centurions Vorenus and Pullo dispute each other's claim to ''virtus'' at 5.44.</ref> that Caesar praises in his Gallic war commentaries for ''virtus'', the quality of true manhood (Latin ''vir'', "man"), usually translated as "virtue" or "valor." The only other man from independent Gaul said to possess ''virtus'' is Commius of the Atrebates, whom Caesar also installed as king but who chose during the Gallic uprising to assert the sovereignty of his people.<ref>Commios's ''virtus'' at ''Bellum Gallicum'' 4.21.7, the only instance of the word in Book 4. Caesar uses the word frequently in other books, most often to describe Roman soldiers collectively (for instance, in Book 1 at 40.4, 51.1, 40.15) or Celtic polities as a whole (again taking Book 1 as an example, the Helvetii at 1.4, 2.2, 13.4 thrice; Boii,1.28.4; Aedui, 1.31.7). The German king Ariovistus claims ''virtus'' for himself and his ''Germani'' at 1.36.7 and 1.44.1. See further discussion at Valerius Troucillus: Humanitas, virtus and becoming Roman.</ref> Although ''virtus'' is an active and potentially aggressive quality, ''benevolentia'' belongs to a class of Roman virtues characteristic of those who are kind, generous, and humane.<ref>Edwin S. Ramage, "Aspects of Propaganda in the De bello gallico: Caesar’s Virtues and Attributes," ''Athenaeum'' 91 (2003) 331–372.</ref>
==Name and Celtic badger lore== The name ''Tasgetius'' derives from Gaulish ''tasgos'', also ''tascos'' or ''taxos'', "badger,"<ref>''Taisson'' is a French dialectal variant for "badger," usually ''blaireau''; see also Italian ''tasso'' and Spanish ''tejon''. These are often derived from late Latin ''taxus'', but the usual word for badger in Latin is ''meles'', ''maeles'' or ''melo, melonis'' (''mil, millonis'' in the Gallic medical writer Marcellus Empiricus, ''De medicamentis'' 33.7), and ''taxus'' is likely a borrowing from Gaulish. The word has also been related to Basque ''azkoin'' or ''asku'', "badger," with loss of the initial ''t'' from a reconstructed "pre-Basque" form ''*(t)askone''. The Gaulish is sometimes thought to have been borrowed from Germanic (modern German ''Dachs''), but the borrowing is more likely to have gone the other way. See discussion by Victor Hehn, ''The Wanderings of Plants and Animals from Their First Home'' (John Benjamins, 1976), pp. 493–494 [https://books.google.com/books?id=PhFNw2TOi_4C&dq=%22Here+we+follow+the+common+opinion%2C+namely%2C+that+tasso%2C+taxo%2C+taxus%22&pg=PA493 online.]</ref> an element found in many other Celtic personal names from inscriptions, such as ''Tascos'', ''Tasgillus'', ''Tassca'', and ''Tasciovanus'' ("Badger Killer"), as well as in place names.<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance, 2003), pp. 292–293.</ref> Moritasgus ("Great Badger" or "Sea Badger"<ref>If Moritasgus is construed as "Sea Badger," it may be a name for another animal (cf. "sea lion" in English) such as a seal or sea otter; see John T. Koch, ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 231 [https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&dq=%22is+a+Celtic+animal+name%2C+literally+signifying+%27sea-badger%27%2C%22&pg=PA231 online.]</ref>) was the name of a ruler of the Senones contemporary with Tasgetius,<ref>Caesar, ''Bellum Gallicum'' 5.54.</ref> and was also the name of a Celtic healing deity in territory within the Aeduan sphere of influence (see Moritasgus). Another Celtic word for "badger," ''broccos'', also yields a number of personal and place names.<ref>Delmarre, ''Dictionnaire'' pp. 90–91.</ref>
[[File:Badger-badger.jpg|thumb|left|The European badger, in Gaulish ''tasgos'': source for the pharmacological ingredient ''taxea'']]
The substance ''taxea''<ref>Isidore of Seville, ''Etymologiae'' 20.2.24.</ref> or ''adeps taxonina'',<ref>Marcellus, ''De medicamentis'' 36.5, in a multi-ingredient preparation for ''podagram'', "gout," to be compounded for greatest efficacy in the month of August.</ref> "badger fat," was regarded as medically potent and traded by Germanic and Celtic peoples to the Greeks and Romans.<ref>Joshua T. Katz, "Hittite ''tašku-'' and the Indo-European Word for ‘Badger’," ''Historische Sprachforschung'' 111 (1998) 61–82.</ref> The 4th-century medical writer Marcellus, who was from Bordeaux and whose book ''De medicamentis'' is a unique source for Gallic herbology and lore, includes badger fat as an ingredient in his pharmacological recipes.<ref>Marcellus, ''De med.'' 33.7, 36.5.</ref> A short 5th-century treatise ''De taxone'' deals with the magico-medical properties of the badger, and prescribes the correct incantations to utter when dissecting the animal.<ref>The ''Epistula de taxone'' (also ''Epistola'' or ''Liber'') is framed as a letter from a fictional Egyptian ruler named Idpartus (or Hidpartus) to the emperor Octavianus Augustus. See Maria Amalia D'Aronco, "Gardens on Vellum: Plants and Herbs in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts," in ''Health and Healing from the Medieval Garden'' (Boydell, 2008), p. 122 [https://books.google.com/books?id=O4W5OxcFXt0C&dq=%22Liber+de+taxone%2C+traditionally%22&pg=PA122 online]; H.J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Latin Literature from the Earliest Times to the Death of St. Augustine'' (Routledge, 1936, 1996), p. 429 [https://books.google.com/books?id=7rot7D20cRsC&dq=%22De+taxone%22&pg=PA429 online]; sample passages in Alf Önnerfors, "Magische Formeln im Dienste römischer Medizin," ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' 2.37.1 (1993), p. 212 [https://books.google.com/books?id=4iduFyo3Y0EC&dq=%22De+taxone%22&pg=PA212 online.] It is part of the 5th-century compilation ''Medicina de Quadrupedibus'' attributed to Sextus Placitus, and also exists in an Old English translation in an 11th-century manuscript; see R.D. Fulk and Christopher M. Cain, ''A History of Old English Literature'' (Blackwell, 2003), p. 157 [https://books.google.com/books?id=CZozco9nwJ4C&dq=%22Preserved+along+with+the+Herbarium%22&pg=PA157 online.] Constantinus Africanus summarizes the contents in ''Medici de animalibus liber'', "De taxione," p. 115 (ed. Ackermann) [https://books.google.com/books?id=R8U9AAAAcAAJ&dq=constantine+OR+constantinus+OR+constantini+OR+constantino+inauthor%3Aackermann&pg=RA1-PA115 online.] Among the collections of the Science Museum (London) is a 16th-century Italian jar used to store badger fat, which may be viewed [http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=4074 online.]</ref> It is perhaps a reference to the badger's medicinal or mythic properties that the Irish saint Molaise descended to hell dressed in badger skins to rescue a leper.<ref>John B. Cunningham, "Tracking down St. Molaise," ''The Fermanagh Miscellany'' 2 (Enniskillen, 2008), p. 18 [https://books.google.com/books?id=XJfVAYZQX0sC&dq=%22arrived+in+hell+dressed+in+badger+skins%22&pg=PA18 online.]</ref>
Although Isidore of Seville understands the word as equivalent to Latin ''lardum'', "bacon, lard,"<ref>Isidore, ''Etymologiae'' 20.2.24: ''taxea lardum est Gallice dictum'', "'taxea' is what lard is called in Gaulish."</ref> ''taxea'' is a secretion of the badger's subcaudal glands comparable in its medicinal use to the better-known ''castoreum'', an ingredient from the scent sacs of the beaver. Only the European species of badger possesses these subcaudal glands, which produce a pale-yellow fatty substance with a gentle musky scent.<ref>The anal glands, which the European badger shares with other badger species, secrete a rank and overpowering musk; see Julie Bonner Bellquist, "'Badger' in Indo-European," ''Journal of Indo-European Studies'' 21 (1992) 331–346.</ref> Like the beaver, the badger was regarded in the classical tradition as one of the hermaphroditic animals.<ref>Luc Brisson, ''Sexual Ambivalence: Androgyny and Hermaphroditism in Graeco-Roman Antiquity'' (University of California Press, 2002), pp. 136–137 [https://books.google.com/books?id=svKPuOVXvdQC&dq=%22Trophonius+must%2C+like+Phineas%2C+be+associated+with%22&pg=PA136 online.]</ref>
Primary among the medical uses of ''taxea'' was the treatment of impotence,<ref>Catherine Rider, ''Magic and Impotence in the Middle Ages'' (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 26 [https://books.google.com/books?id=i9iqbHyEHZQC&dq=%22De+taxone%22&pg=PA26 online.]</ref> which casts a different swagger on a phrase from the Latin comic poet Afranius: "The cloaked Gaul, fattened up on badger grease."<ref>''Gallum sagatum pingui pastum taxea'', quoted by Isidore, ''Etymologiae'' 20.2.24 (Com. Fragm. v. 284 Rib.)</ref> The Gaulish word ''tasgos'' may be related to an Indo-European root meaning "peg, stake," because of the badger's pointed nose; it has been argued that the root can also have a phallic meaning, and that the use of ''taxea'' for impotence was thus a form of sympathetic magic.<ref>Joshua T. Katz, "Hittite ''tašku-'' and the Indo-European Word for ‘Badger’," ''Historische Sprachforschung'' 111 (1998) 61–82. Katz notes that Epiphanius of Salamis called a heretical Christian sect from Galatia the ''Taskodrougitai'', "Badger-snouts" or "Peg-noses," referring to their attitude at prayer, with pointed finger touching nose. Galatia was formed in the 3rd century BC by migrating Celts, who continued to speak a Celtic language in the region as late as the time of Jerome.</ref>
Although its cultural significance among the Celts of Gaul is murky, the badger appears much later as a totem animal for Tadhg mac Céin, a legendary insular Celtic king whose name contains an Old Irish form for "badger."<ref>Alan Mac an Bhaird, "Tadhg mac Céin and the Badgers," ''Ériu'' 31 (1983) 150–155; Bernhard Maier, ''Die Religion der Kelten: Götter, Mythen, Weltbid'' (C.H. Beck, 2001), pp. 69–70 [https://books.google.com/books?id=qiai5h2gQuIC&dq=%22Geschichte+von+Tadhg+mac+Céin%22&pg=PA69 online] and p. 193, note 152 on etymology. "The Adventure of Tadhg mac Céin" (''Eachtra Thaidhg Mhic Céin'') is an early modern Irish voyage tale from the Book of Lismore; see president's address, ''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland'' 24 (1895), p. 466 [https://books.google.com/books?id=WSpdifCFlFMC&dq=%22Tadhg+mac+Céin%22&pg=PA466 online.] The name (see Tadhg) is usually thought to mean "bard" or "poet," but even this meaning has been connected to "badger" as a characterization of the fierce Celtic satirist of legend; see Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de langue gauloise'', p. 293.</ref> In Welsh lore, a number of games involved "playing badger,"<ref>Koch, ''Celtic Culture'', p. 793.</ref> including in the first book of the Mabinogion where the game ''Broch ygkot''<ref>''Broch'' is the Welsh derivative of ''broccos'', the other Celtic word for "badger."</ref> ("a badger in a bag") is explained cryptically as "let him who is a head be a bridge."<ref>''A vo penn bit pont''; E. Anwyl, "The Value of the Mabinogion for the Study of Celtic Religion," ''Transactions of the Third International Congress for the History of Religions'' 2 (1908), p. 238 [https://books.google.com/books?id=bPcnAAAAYAAJ&q=badger&pg=PA238 online.]</ref> The narrative is presented as an aetiology of the game, involving two rivals for Rhiannon, her first husband Pwyll who carelessly loses her to Gwawl, and a magic bag that is Rhiannon's gift to Pwyll. The bag cannot be filled no matter how much food is put in it, and generosity can meet only with insatiability. Gwawl thinks that he can gain some infinite quality by climbing into the bag himself; thus captured, he receives beatings instead.<ref>For the significance of the bag in Celtic mythology, see W.M. Parker's [http://www.mabinogi.net/pwyll.htm#_ftn47 note] to his edition of [http://www.mabinogi.net/pwyll.htm Mabinogion 1], and ''American, African, and Old European Mythologies'', edited by Yves Bonneoy and Wendy Doniger (University of Chicago, 1993), p. 207 [https://books.google.com/books?id=GYjc5POwJjAC&dq=%22Three+series+of+events+take+place+afterwards%22&pg=PA207 online.]</ref>
==Numismatics== thumb|250px|Drawing of bronze coin issued by '''Tasgetius''' (''Tasgiitios'') ''Tasgiitios'', with the double ''i'' representing vowel lengthening,<ref>Joachim Lelewel, ''Études numismatiques et archéologiques: Type gaulois, ou celtique'' (Brussels, 1841), vol. 1, p. 228.</ref> appears on numerous examples of a bronze coin assumed to be issued by Caesar's friend. The coin depicts on its obverse a crowned head of "Apollo" with a three-lobed ivy leaf, a usual symbol of Dionysus, and the name or cult title ΕΛΚΕSΟΟΥΙΞ (''Elkesovix''). A winged horse, usually called "Pegasus" in numismatic literature, appears on the reverse with the name ''Tasgiitios''.
The obverse has been seen as imitating a Roman denarius of the ''gens Titia''. Although a winged horse appeared on Celtic coins as early as the 3rd century BC,<ref>For an example, see the gold stater of the Mediomatrici, dated 3rd–2nd century BC, at [http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=338058&AucID=604&Lot=79 CoinArchives.com], which is more likely to be modeled after Greek staters.</ref> during the period 60–50 BC the Roman moneyer Quintus Titius issued a series of denarii with Pegasus on the reverse and various figures on the obverse, including Apollo, a winged Victory, and a bearded figure sometimes identified as the Roman phallic god Mutunus Tutunus. The Apollo denarius of Titius may have been the model for Tasgetius's issue,<ref>Robert Forrer, ''Keltische Numismatik der Rhein- und Donaulande'' (Strassburg, 1908), p. 119.</ref> and the name Elkesovix has been interpreted as an epithet of Apollo,<ref>Bunnell Lewis, "Roman Antiquities in South Germany," ''Archaeological Journal'' 58 (1901), pp. 290–291 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bpw8AAAAIAAJ&dq=Tasgetius+OR+Tasgetios&pg=RA1-PA290 online.] Examples of Quintus Titius's other denarii with Pegasus on the reverse may be viewed at CoinArchive.com, including the [http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=340056&AucID=609&Lot=399 winged Victory] and [http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=340055&AucID=609&Lot=398 Mutunus Tutunus.]</ref> or as that of Tasgetius's grandfather or other ancestor.<ref>Lelewel, ''Études numismatiques'', vol. 1, p. 249 [https://books.google.com/books?id=mUoGAAAAQAAJ&dq=Tasgiitios&pg=PA249 online.]</ref> The appearance of an Apollo on the coin of the badger-named Tasgetius, and the "badger" semantic element in the name ''Moritasgus'' for a god equated with Apollo, raises the question of whether the god of healing was associated in Celtic religion and myth with an animal used in healing.
A coin of the Suessiones dated ''ca.'' 60–50 BC — that is, roughly contemporary with that of Tasgetius — also depicts a winged horse on the reverse, which appears with the name Cricironus. The profile of the helmeted head on the obverse faces left instead of right.<ref>This coin of the Suessiones may be viewed at [http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=336460&AucID=603&Lot=1 CoinArchives.com], where the winged horse is described as "Celticized Pegasos flying left."</ref> Tasgetius's series has been studied in connection with the coins of Commius, the Atrebatan king also supported by Caesar.<ref>L. de la Saussaye, "Attribution d'une médaille en bronze à Tasget, roi des Carnutes," ''Revue de la numismatique françoise'' 2 (1837), p. 1 [https://books.google.com/books?id=348OAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22Lorsque+M.+Vergnaud+me+communiqua%22&pg=PA1 online.]</ref>
A hoard discovered in 1956 at the fork of a Gallic road included coins of Tasgetius. It is estimated to have been buried in 51 BC. The coins may have been hidden by refugee Carnutes during the last campaigns of the Gallic Wars in Belgica, as narrated by Aulus Hirtius in his continuation (Book 8) of Caesar's commentaries.<ref>Jean-Mary Couderc, "Un pont antique sur la Loire en Aval de Tours," in ''La Loire et les fleuves de la Gaule romaine et des régions voisines'' (Presses Universitaires de Limoges, 2001), p. 63 [https://books.google.com/books?id=2lhBmFMRPKsC&dq=TASGIITIOS+coin+OR+stater+OR+bronze&pg=PA63 online.]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * The coin of Tasgiitios (Tasgetius), British Museum, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726220051/http://www.finds.org.uk/CCI/details.php?coin_num=91.0478 The Oxford Celtic Coin Index]
Category:Celtic warriors Category:1st-century BC Gaulish tribal chiefs Category:Barbarian people of the Gallic Wars