Minerva

Minerva. The name of the Roman goddess of wisdom, invention, and the martial arts was applied by imperial-minded interpretatio romana (see GAUL) to an indigenous deity of the colonized Celts. Julius Caesar (1st cent. BC) estimated that, while Gaulish Minerva was one of the most esteemed of native gods, she ranked lower than Mercury, Apollo, Mars, and Jupiter. She was thought to teach the first principles of the arts. Her worship was also known in Roman Britain, where the geographer Solinus (2nd cent. AD) described her sanctuary as possessing a perpetual fire, thus earning her the epithet Belisama [most brilliant]. More importantly, the cult of Minerva became conflated with that of the British healing goddess Sulis, especially at the spring at Bath, known as Aquae Sulis in Roman times. The name of the indigenous goddess, Sulis-Minerva or Sul-Minerva, always takes first place in inscriptions. The large gilded bronze head of Sulis-Minerva that survives at Bath, ripped from its torso with helmet severed, indicates that the goddess was portrayed there in classical dress. Minerva also appears to contribute to the conception of the British goddess Brigantia and the Irish fire-goddess Brigit. See also ATHENA; SULEVIAE.