Brigantia.
Etymology:
Delamarre (2003) says that the root of Brigantia is *bhergh-, meaning eminent and or high. Therefore Brigantia, containing the Gaulish root Brigant- is the Goddess most high or most eminent. The root comes to denote nobility, kings and those of high rank in later languages (Delamarre, 2003).
Brigantia and the Brigantes:
Beck (2013) argues that Brigantia would not be of the Brigantes, due to the linguistic evolution of the word, as the development follows *bhrgh -nt-ih2 > *Brígəntī > *Brígenti as opposed to *Brígəntī-ā, where Brigántia may be a redetermined participle. Beck (2013), therefore, argues that the connection between the Brigantes and Brigantia is not etymological. Instead, they were adopted as tutelary deities later on, perhaps due to the phonetic similarities between the tribe’s name and Brigantia’s name.
Koch (2003) and others suggest that due to the tribal links of the northern England Brigantes and the Irish Brigantes that there must be a shared cult of Brigantia, who became Brigit in Ireland. However, Beck (2013) disputes this as linguistically Brigit is more archaic due to the name following the IE feminine particle *-ih2 , but states that they are still related names.
Inscriptions:
There are seven inscriptions dedicated to Brigantia in Britain.
“To the goddess Victoria Brigantia and to the Divinities of the two Emperors, Titus Aurelius Aurelianus gave and dedicated (this altar) for himself and his family, while he himself was master of sacred rites, in the third consulship of Antoninus and the [second] of Geta.” (RIB 627)
“To the goddess Victoria Brigantia Aurelius Senopianus dedicated this altar.” (RIB 628)
“To the goddess Brigantia, Cingetissa set up this offering.” (RIB 630)
“Sacred to the goddess Brigantia: Congennicus willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.” (RIB 1053)
“To eternal Jupiter of Doliche and to Caelestis Brigantia and to Salus Gaius Julius Apolinaris, centurion of the Sixth Legion, at the command of the god (set this up).” (RIB 1131)
“This offering to the goddess-nymph Brigantia, which he had vowed for the welfare and safety of our Lord the Invincible Emperor Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus and of his whole Divine House, Marcus Cocceius Nigrinus, procurator of our Emperor and most devoted to his divinity and majesty, gladly, willingly, and deservedly fulfilled.” (RIB 2066)
“Sacred to Brigantia: Amandus, the engineer, by command fulfilled the order.” (RIB 2091)
In addition to the inscriptions to Brigantia, there is a single inscription to the God Bregans, whose name is the masculine form of Brigantia (RIB 623).
Iconography:
On the left side of altar RIB 630 is the depiction of a serpent. On the altar RIB 1053 there is a bird on the back, on the left side a jug and on the right a patera. RIB 2091 contains the best iconography to date with the below depiction of Brigantia:
The carving shows Brigantia depicted the same way Minerva was classically. There is a gorgons head on Her chest, a globe in Her left hand, a spear in Her right, and a shield to Her left. On Brigantia’s head is a plumed helmet with a turreted crown, referencing Her relationship with forts and defensive structures. And finally, on her back, wings are present, referring to the winged Victoria (Aldhouse-Green, 2018).
Interpretatio:
In the inscriptions we see Brigantia synced with Victoria in RIB 627 and 628, Caelestis in RIB 1131, and depicted in the guise of Minerva in RIB 2091.
Victoria: Victoria is the classic Goddess of victory, often depicted ‘granting’ victory to figures by placing a laurel wreath on their heads.
Caelestis: Caelestis means celestial or heavenly, and was used as an epithet for many Gods, including Juno. The epithet points to Brigantia having a high status amongst worshippers.
Minerva: Minerva is the classic Goddess of the arts, wisdom, war and crafting.
Interpretatio Britanna:
There is mounting archaeological evidence that most hillforts started as religious and sacred sites, eventually becoming politico-religious sites (Fernández‐Götz, 2014). This change, likely instigated by the local aristocrats, transformed hillforts from hinterland sites to centres of hierarchical power and sources of societal cohesion and identity (Fernández‐Götz, 2014). There are several reasons that one could link Brigantia and hillforts. The first is that the word for hill, mount and eventually fort is briga, the same root in Brigantia’s name (Delamarre, 2003). Second, in RIB 2091, an architect, whose job is to design and build defensive structures for the army (Evans, 1994), made a dedication to Brigantia, who in two finds wears a crown of turrets, strengthening the association between Brigantia and the knowledge and construction of these structures. Lastly, the interpretatio of Brigantia with Minerva and Victoria to further enhances the associations. Minerva is associated with law, justice and defensive wars, and Victoria with victory and triumph. Considering these points, we could suggest that Brigantia, as a Goddess of wisdom and knowledge, granted the skills and know how to build hillforts, and therefore is responsible, at least in part, for the societal structure which the centralising power of the hillforts brought about, making Brigantia a goddess of society and nobility.
Bibliography:
RIB 623, Altar dedicated to Bregans and the divinity of the emperor, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/623
RIB 627, Altar dedicated to Victoria Brigantia and the divinities of the of the emperors, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/627
RIB 628, Altar dedicated to Victoria Brigantia, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/628
RIB 630, Altar dedicated to Brigantia, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/630
RIB 1053, Altar dedicated to Brigantia, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/1053
RIB 1131, Altar dedicated to Jupiter of Doliche, to Caelestis Brigantia, and to Salus, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/1131
RIB 2066, Altar dedicated to Brigantia, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2066
RIB 2091, Dedication to Brigantia, Roman Inscriptions of Britain, https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2091
National Museums Scotland. (n.d.). Sculpture / figure of Brigantia in the guise of Minerva. [online] Available at: https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/sculpture-figure/141383 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2021].
Fernández‐Götz, M., 2014. Reassessing the oppida: the role of power and religion. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 33(4), pp.379-394.
Evans, E., 1994. Military architects and building design in Roman Britain. Britannia, 25, pp.143-164.
Beck, N., 2013. Celtic divine names related to Gaulish and British population groups. Na.
Delamarre, X. (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Paris: Errance.
Aldhouse-Green, M.J. (2018). Sacred Britannia: the gods and rituals of Roman Britain. London; New York: Thames & Hudson.