Diversidad en la distancia. Imágenes romanas de divinidades en el Occidente Hispano

Abstract

The compilation of the images of the native-influenced gods of the Hispanic West leads to a heterogeneous picture. Besides the images that are clearly based on Greco-Roman models such as the Endovellicus or the demons from Rio Tinto there are others that stand in the Celtic-Roman tradition such as the blacksmith-god of Vilar de Perdizes or autochthonous creations such as the so-called Vestius Aloniecus . Thus, the Mediterranean impetus for the creation of divine images was adopted in different ways and led to different solutions. Their distance to the Roman model is evident. Nevertheless, the studied monuments do indeed document the beginnings of an independent development in Hispania, which in a long-term perspective did not prevail against the background of the Roman models, however, and consequently did not lead to a common canon of divine imagery in the Indo-European West of Hispania. The example of Aelius Fronto in Munigua shows clearly that the initiative for the installation of indigenous gods came only by order of the private sphere. Also for this reason it proves to be quite heterogeneous by nature due to the respective social position, level of education and origin - from the provincial capital Augusta Emerita or from the hinterland.