Epona
| Epona | |
|---|---|
Gallo-Roman Horse Goddess | |
Epona surrounded by four foals in the stables of a circus, engraved from a lost wall panting in the Circus of Maxentius | |
| Venerated in | Roman Empire |
| Symbols | Foal, patera, corn, fruit, cornucopia |
| Day | December 18 |
| Mount | Mare |
| Gender | Female |
| Ethnic group | Gauls |
In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was the goddess of horses and ponies and protectress of the cavalry. She was also a fertility and mother goddess, and was frequently depicted in art and sculptures with a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain, and foals. She and her horses might also have escorted souls in the afterlife, parallels found in later literary figures such as the character Rhiannon from the Welsh Mabinogion.
Epona's worship as the patroness of cavalry was widespread in the Roman Empire between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. Epona was "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself"— this was unusual, as Celtic deities were usually only associated with specific localities.