3) Some Celtic dedicators

With regards to the dedicators honouring the Mothers in Gaul, many of these have Latin names, but it is noteworthy that some have typical Celtic names. This can be considered evidence that people of Celtic stock still payed homage to their deities in Gallo-Roman times. In four different inscriptions, individuals called Casuna, Mastonia, Sappiena and Oxia,¹⁶⁷ respectively pay their vow to the ‘Mothers’, in Brienne, near Brignon (Gard), in Lyons (Rhône) and in Besançon (Doubs): Casuna v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito) Mat(ribus), ‘Casuna paid her vow willingly and deservedly, to the Mothers’;¹⁶⁸ Matris aug(ustis) Mastonia Bella v.s.l.m., ‘To the August Mothers, Mastonia Bella paid her vow willingly and deservedly’;¹⁶⁹ Sappiena Lychnis matris v.s.l.m., ‘To the Mothers Sappiena Lychnis paid her vow willingly and deservedly’ ;¹⁷⁰ Matrabus sacrum, Oxia Messori filia v.s.l.m., ‘Sacred to the Mothers, Oxia daughter of Messorus paid her vow willingly and deservedly’.¹⁷¹

Similarly, in the inscriptions from Vaison-la-Romaine (Vaucluse) and Sahune (Drôme), the names of the dedicators’ fathers, Vassedo and Solimutus, are Gaulish: Matribus Adcultus, Vassedonis f(ilius) v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito), ‘To the Mothers, Adcultus, son of Vassedo, paid his vow willingly and deservedly’ and Ingenua Solimuti (filia) Matris v.s.l.m., ‘Ingenua, daughter of Solimutus, paid her vow willingly and deservedly to the Mothers’.¹⁷² It is interesting to note that women’s names stand out in the dedications to the Mothers, for it illustrates their close connection to these deities. The Mothers must have helped and protected the dedicators in their everyday lives.