{{Short description|Celtic god of vegetation, rebirth and agriculture}} [[File:Limestone figurative carving, probably an altar piece depicting a naked man (FindID 52144-8647).jpg|thumb|A limestone figurative carving depicting a naked man, from a Romano-British site in Ancaster,<ref name=LIN-6F31A1/> conjectured to be ''Viridios''.]] '''Viridios''', or '''Viridius''', is a god of ancient Roman Britain.
==Centres of worship== thumb|left|The Ancaster stone found in 1961 Inscribed stones dedicated to Viridios have been recovered in the Romano-British town of ''Cavsennae'' or ''Cavsennis'', now Ancaster, Lincolnshire, in England.<ref>{{cite web |website=Roman Britain |title=Cavsennae / Cavsennis |department=Romano-British Town |series=Ancaster, Lincolnshire, UK |url=http://roman-britain.co.uk/places/ancaser.htm}}</ref> So far, Ancaster is the only place where inscriptions to this god have been found.
==The Ancaster inscriptions== The first inscribed stone was discovered in 1961 in a grave in Ancaster. Wright (1962)<ref name=Wright-1962/> reports the find thus: {{quote|Ancaster (''Causennae''), Lincs. (pl. XXVII, 2). Limestone slab, 271 by 12 in., found in 1961 in digging a grave in the new cemetery on the west side of the Roman W ditch (see above, p. 167). The stone had been re-used to form a medieval grave-cover, and in this process the lower moulding and part of 1. 3 had been trimmed off, and on the back the upper and lower edges had been chamfered. As the height of the letters in 1. 2 is 34 in. and substantially exceeds the height of 2–1 in. of 1. i, it seems likely that the text is complete; it reads: :::'''DEO VIRIDIO''' :::'''TRENICO ARCVM''' :::'''FECITDESVODON''' If the text is complete ''Trenico'' must be the dedicator and subject of ''fecit'' and ''don''(''avit''). The god ''Viridios'' is unmatched.<ref name=Wright-1962>{{cite journal |last=Wright |first=R.P. |year=1962 |title=Roman Britain in 1961: I. Sites Explored: II. Inscriptions |journal=The Journal of Roman Studies |volume=52 |page=192 |doi=10.2307/297888}}</ref>}}
[[File:Time Team Stone Inscription.jpg|thumb|The ''Time Team'' stone found in 2001]] The Latin inscription may be translated in English as: ''For the god Viridius, Trenico made this arch, donated from his own funds''. This stone is now in The Collection Museum in Lincoln.<ref name=Lincs-Mus-Arch-8/>
A second inscribed stone was discovered in 2001 by British Channel 4 Television's archaeological programme ''Time Team''.<ref>{{cite episode |series=Time Team |series-link=Time Team |title=The Roman's Panic |season=09 |number=02 |air-date=13 January 2002 |network={{nowrap|Channel 4}} |place=London, UK |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/time-team}}</ref> The stone was discovered as part of a late Roman or early Sub-Roman ''cist'' burial, being used as a side slab in the grave.<ref>{{cite web |title=Romano-British cemetery, Ancaster |id=1403642 |publisher=Lincolnshire County Council |website=Lincs to the Past |url=https://www.lincstothepast.com/Romano-British-Cemetery--Ancaster/1403642.record?pt=S}}</ref> Located near the grave where the first inscribed stone was found, the inscription on this second stone reads: ::::'''DIO VRID''' ::::'''SANCT''' which has been interpreted as: ''To the holy god Viridios''.
==Etymology of the name== The Ancaster inscriptions are in Latin, suggesting that the name of the god is also in Latin. If so, the name is used in the dative form, meaning ''to (the deity)''. The nominative form, and therefore the name of the god, would be ''Viridius'' or ''Viridios''. Because of the Latin word '''''viridis''''' ('green', 'fresh', 'vigorous'), the simplest etymology proposed is that the god's name derives from this root word and refers to a local, tribal Roman god possessing these characteristics. The Green Man is a well-known pagan mythic personage whose human face sprouting green leaves or vines is found in some medieval churches.
Significant speculation exists as to the possible Celtic origins of the deity.<ref name=Lincs-Mus-Arch-8>{{cite report |series=Lincolnshire Museums Information Sheet |id=Archaeology Series No. 8 |title=Gods and Goddesses of Roman Ancaster |url=https://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/assets/downloads/IS_arch_8_gods_and_goddesses_of_roman_ancaster.pdf}}</ref> Wright<ref name=Wright-1962/> specifically addresses such speculations, but notes that such a connection cannot be affirmatively made as there are no firm historico-linguistic connections in evidence between the modern conception of Viridios as a Celtic deity and the god Viridios referenced on the inscriptions: {{quote| For the stem of ''Trenico'' there is a Dobunnian ''Trenus'' cited on a diploma (CIL XVI, no. 49). Holder (Altcelt. Sprachsch.) cites nine examples of ''-ico'' for men's names. Professor K. Jackson concurs in 'lively', 'vigorous', or 'virile' as the probable translation of ''Viridios'', but says that certainty is unattainable as there are no derivatives in medieval or modern Celtic languages.<ref name=Wright-1962/>}}
==Related archaeological evidence== An additional limestone figurative carving, probably used as an altarpiece, was also found near Ancaster and dated to the late Iron Age.<ref name=LIN-6F31A1>{{cite report |title=Figurine LIN-6F31A1 [from Ancaster, of a naked man] |series=database |department=Portable Aniquities Scheme |publisher=The British Museum |place=London, UK |website=finds.org.uk |id=52144 |url=https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/52144}}</ref> The carving depicts a naked man holding an axe, standing beneath an archway. While no inscriptions appear on the stone, the location of the find near Ancaster, and the features displayed on the god that may depict suggested meanings of the name ''Viridios'' ('mighty', 'virile', 'verdant', 'fertile'), have led some to speculate that the altarpiece is a depiction of the god ''Viridios''.
==See also== * Green Man * Viridia gens
==References== {{reflist|25em}}
==External links== *{{Commonscatinline}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/time-team |title=Time Team programme webpage |publisher=Channel 4}}
Category:Gods of the ancient Britons Category:Nature gods