Editing Sirona (goddess) (section)

==Evidence for Sirona==
[[File:Sironadist.png|thumb|upright=2|Map showing the distribution of Sirona inscriptions and representations]]
The evidence for Sirona is both epigraphic (inscriptions) and representational (sculptures and statues). As the map shows, it is primarily concentrated in east-central [[Gaul]], up to the Germanic lines, and along the Danubian limes as far east as Budapest. A few outliers are seen in Aquitaine, Brittany, and one in Italy. There are no Sirona finds in [[Britannia]], [[Hispania]], or in any of the other [[Roman provinces]].

===Inscriptions===
Some inscriptions, such as those at [[Bordeaux]] {{CIL|13|00582}}, [[Corseul]] {{CIL|13|03143}}, the three from [[Ihn (Wallerfangen)|Ihn]] in [[Saarland]], Germany {{AE|1994|1256}}, {{AE|1994|1257}}, {{AE|1991|1248}}, [[Mainz]] {{CIL|13|06753}}, [[Mühlburg]] in [[Baden-Württemberg]] {{CIL|13|06327}} and [[Trier]] (CIL 13, 03662) are to the goddess Sirona alone, ''deae Đironae''.

More usually, Sirona is paired with Apollo, as in this inscription from [[Graux, Belgium|Graux]] {{CIL|13|04661}} in the [[Vosges Mountains|Vosges mountains]]:

:''Apollini et Si/ronae / Biturix Iulii f(ilius) / d(edit)''

or this inscription from [[Luxeuil-les-Bains]] in [[Franche-Comté]] {{CIL|13|05424}}:

:''Apollini / et Sironae / idem / Taurus''

When paired with Sirona, Apollo is often assimilated with a [[Gaulish]] deity, such as Apollo [[Borvo]] or Apollo [[Grannus]]. An example from [[Sarmizegetusa (commune)|Sarmizegetusa]] in [[Dacia]] {{AE|1983|00828}}:

:''Apollini / Granno et / Sironae / C(aius) Sempronius / Urbanus / proc(urator) Aug(usti)''

and another from [[Augsburg]] {{AE|1992|01304}} where Sirona is given the epithet ''sancta'' (holy) and is identified with Diana:

:''Apollini / Granno / Dianae / [s]anct(a)e Siron(a)e / [p]ro sal(ute) sua / suorumq(ue) / omn(ium) / Iulia Matrona''

A dedication from [[Großbottwar]] in [[Baden-Württemberg]] {{CIL|13|06458}} can be precisely dated to the year 201 CE by mention of the [[List of late imperial Roman consuls|two consuls]], L. Annius Fabianus and M. Nonius Arrius Mucianus:

:''In h(onorem) d(omus) d(ivinae) Apo[lli]ni et Sironae / aedem cum signis C(aius) Longinius / Speratus vet(eranus) leg(ionis) XXII Pr(imigeniae) P(iae) F(idelis) et Iunia Deva coniunx et Lon/gini Pacatus Martinula Hila/ritas Speratianus fili(i) in / suo posuerunt v(otum) s(olverunt) l(ibentes) l(aeti) m(erito) / Muciano et Fabiano co(n)s(ulibus)''

===Depictions===

At the sulphur springs of [[Alzey]] in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], Germany, a stone bas-relief shows Sirona wearing a long gown and carrying a [[patera]] in her right hand and a [[sceptre]] in her left. The identification as Sirona is assured by a dedication ({{AE|1933|00140}}) to Apollo and Sirona.

The richly furnished spring sanctuary of [[Hochscheid]] (Cueppers 1990; Weisgerber 1975) was decorated with statues of Sirona and Apollo, again confirmed by an inscription {{AE|1941|00089}} ''Deo Apolli/ni et sanc/t(a)e Siron(a)e ...'' (to Apollo and holy Sirona ...). The statue of Sirona shows her carrying a bowl of eggs (Green 1986 p.&nbsp;162) and holding a long snake coiled around her lower arm (a link to the iconography of the Greek healing goddess [[Hygeia]], daughter of [[Asklepios]]). She wears a long gown and has a star-shaped diadem on her head (a link with the meaning of the name Sirona).

A bronze statue from [[Mâlain]] in the [[Côte-d'Or|Côte d'Or]] and dating to around 280 CE (Deyts & Roussel 1994; Deyts 1998) shows Sirona naked to the waist and holding a snake draped over her left arm, together with a very classical Apollo with [[lyre]]. The inscription ( ILingons-M, 00002) is ''Thiron(a) et Apollo''.

A stone with an engraved bust of Sirona from [[Saint-Avold]], now in the Musée de Metz, bears an inscription ({{CIL|13|04498}}):
:''Deae Đironae/ Maior Ma/giati filius / v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)''.

At [[Vienne-en-Val]] in the [[Loiret]], a square stone pillar depicts Sirona, Apollo, [[Minerva]] and [[Hercules]] (Debal 1973).  Sirona wears a long dress and a diadem, from which falls a veil. Her left hand holds a [[cornucopia]] and in her right is a [[patera]] which she is offering to a coiled snake. Again there is a similarity with [[Hygeia]], who also carries a snake. Indeed, when a statue has no inscription, it is not clear whether Sirona or Hygeia is depicted, a syncretism demonstrated by the inscription at [[Vienna|Wein]] ({{AE|1957|00114}}) which includes Sirona and [[Aesculapius]], the Roman form of Asklepios:
:''[I(ovi)] O(ptimo) M(aximo) / Apollini / et Sirona[e] / [Ae]sculap[io] / P(ublius) Ael(ius) Luciu/s |(centurio) leg(ionis) X v(otum) s(olvit) / l(ibens) l(aetus) m(erito)''

A different aspect of Sirona is shown at Sainte-Fontaine, where Sirona holds fruit and corn (Green 1986 p.&nbsp;161).

===Temples===

Several temples to Sirona are known. Often these were of the Gallo-Roman [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#fanum|fanum]] type, an inner [cella] with an outer walkway or [[pronaos]], and were constructed around thermal springs or wells, as at [[Augst]] (Bakker 1990) and [[Nierstein#Culture and sightseeing|Oppenheim-Nierstein]] (Cüppers 1990).

At [[Budapest]] (in antiquity, [[Aquincum]]) a healing shrine at the spring which fed the [[Roman aqueduct|aqueduct]] was dedicated to Apollo (presumably Grannus) and Sirona ({{AE|1982|0806}})

:''Apolini /et/Serana(e)/ T(itus)Iul(ius) MER/CATOR D(e)C(urio)/V[1]LM''

It was established by the emperor [[Caracalla]] when he visited [[Pannonia]], although [[Dio Cassius]] says (Roman Histories, 78.15) that the emperor

:''received no help from Apollo Grannus, nor yet from Aesculapius or Serapis, in spite of his many supplications and his unwearying persistence''.

Two inscriptions describe the establishment of temples to Sirona. From [[Ihn-Niedaltdorf]] an inscription ({{CIL|13|04235}}) records the donation of a building and its furnishings at the dedicant's expense:

:''De[ae Sirona]e / aedem [cum suis or]na/mentis M[3] v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) l(aetus) m(erito)''

At [[Wiesbaden]] in [[Hesse]] (in antiquity, [[Aquae Mattiacorum]]) an inscription ({{CIL|13|07570}}) records the restoration of a temple by a ''curator'' at his own expense:

:''Sironae / C(aius) Iuli(us) Restitutus / c(urator) templ(i) d(e) s(uo) p(osuit)''

It seems possible that another [[Wiesbaden]] inscription ({{CIL|13|07565}}) that the wife of military commander Porcius Rufianus from [[Mainz]] dedicated to an otherwise unknown goddess ""Diana Mattiaca"" for the healing of her daughter Porcia Rufiana, also refers to Sirona:<ref>Schmid, A., Schmid, R., Möhn, A., Die Römer an Rhein und Main (Frankfurt: Societäts-Verlag, revised edition 2006)</ref>

:''Antonia Postuma / T(iti) Porci Rufiani leg(ati) / [l]eg(ionis) XXII P(rimigeniae) P(iae) F(idelis) [pro sa]lu/te Porciae Rufianae / filiae suae Dianae Mat/tiacae [ex] voto / signum posu[it]''

An elaborate shrine and temple complex at Hochscheid (Cüppers 1990) has already been mentioned. It was built in the second century CE around a spring, which filled a cistern in the temple. The remote location is thought to have been a pilgrimage site (Weisgerber 1975). It was destroyed in the third century, probably during the Germanic incursions of 250-270, and was never rebuilt.