Editing Interpretatio graeca (section)

==''Interpretatio romana''==
The phrase ''interpretatio romana'' was first used by the [[Roman Empire|Imperial-era]] [[Roman historiography|historian]] [[Tacitus]] in the ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]''.<ref>Tacitus, ''Germania'' [http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Germania#43 43.]</ref> Tacitus reports that in a [[sacred grove]] of the [[Nahanarvali]]<!--also spelled Naharvali-->, "a priest adorned as a woman presides, but they commemorate gods who in Roman terms ''(interpretatione romana)'' are [[Castor and Pollux]]" when identifying the divine [[Alcis (gods)|Alcis]].<ref>"Praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu, sed deos interpretatione romana Castorem Pollucemque memorant. Ea vis numini, nomen Alcis."</ref> Elsewhere,<ref>Tacitus, ''Germania'' [http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Germania#9 9.]</ref> he identifies the principal god of the Germans as [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]], perhaps referring to [[Odin|Wotan]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4rezhDpcWwkC&pg=PA251 |title=Robert Leo Odom, ''Sunday in Roman Paganism'' (TEACH 2003 ISBN 978-1-57258242-2), pp. 251-252 |date= 2003-01-01|access-date=2013-01-24|isbn=9781572582422 |last1=Odom |first1=Robert Leo |publisher=TEACH Services }}</ref>

[[File:Sulis Minerva head Bath.jpg|thumb|Gilt bronze head from the cult statue of Sulis Minerva from the [[Roman Baths (Bath)|Temple at Bath]]]]

Some information about the deities of the ancient [[Gauls]] (the [[continental Celts]]), who left no written literature other than inscriptions, is preserved by Greco-Roman sources under the names of Greek and Latin equivalents. A large number of [[Gaulish]] [[theonym]]s or cult titles are preserved, for instance, [[Mars (mythology)#Provincial epithets|in association with Mars]]. As with some Greek and Roman divine counterparts, the perceived similarities between a Gallic and a Roman or Greek deity may reflect a common Indo-European origin.<ref>John T. Koch, "Interpretatio romana," in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 974.</ref> [[Lugus]] was identified with [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]], [[Nodens]] with Mars as healer and protector, and [[Sulis]] with [[Minerva]]. In some cases, however, a Gallic deity is given an ''interpretatio romana'' by means of more than one god, varying among literary texts or inscriptions. Since the religions of the [[Greco-Roman world]] were not dogmatic, and [[polytheism]] lent itself to multiplicity, the concept of "deity" was often expansive, permitting multiple and even contradictory functions within a single divinity, and overlapping powers and functions among the diverse figures of each pantheon. These tendencies extended to cross-cultural identifications.<ref>Koch, "Interpretatio romana," in ''Celtic Culture'', pp. 974–975; Assmann, ''Moses the Egyptian'', p. 45.</ref>

In the Eastern empire, the [[Teshub|Anatolian storm god]] with his [[labrys|double-headed axe]] became [[Jupiter Dolichenus]], a favorite cult figure among soldiers.

===Application to the Jewish religion===
Roman scholars such as [[Varro]]{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} interpreted the monotheistic god of the Jews into Roman terms as [[Caelus]] or [[Jupiter Optimus Maximus]]. Some Greco-Roman authors seem to have understood the Jewish invocation of [[Yahweh]] [[Sabaoth]] as [[Sabazius]].<ref>[http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost01/Valerius/val_fac1.html#03 (Valerius Maximus), epitome of ''Nine Books of Memorable Deeds and Sayings'', i. 3, 2], see ''EXEMPLUM 3''. [Par.]</ref>
In a similar vein, [[Plutarch]] gave an example of a symposium question "Who is the god of the Jews?", by which he meant: "What is his Greek name?" as we can deduce from the first speaker at the symposium, who maintained that the Jews worshiped [[Dionysus]], and that the day of [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] was a festival of Sabazius. [[Lacuna (manuscripts)|Lacunae]] prevent modern scholars from knowing the other speakers' thoughts.<ref>Plutarch. ''Symposiacs'', iv, 6.</ref> [[Tacitus]], on the topic of the [[Sabbath]], claims that "others say that it is an observance in honour of [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]], either from the primitive elements of their faith having been transmitted from the [[Mount Ida|Idæi]], who are said to have shared the flight of that God, and to have founded the race",<ref>Tacitus, [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Histories_(Tacitus)/Book_5#4 ''Histories'' 5.4]</ref> implying Saturn was the god of the Jews.

From the Roman point of view, it was natural to apply the above principle to the [[Jew]]ish God. However, the Jews, unlike other peoples living under Roman rule, rejected any such attempt out of hand, regarding such an identification as the worst of [[sacrilege]]. This complete divergence of views was one of the factors contributing to the frequent friction between the Jews and the Roman Empire; for example, the Emperor [[Hadrian]]'s decision to rebuild [[Jerusalem]] under the name of [[Aelia Capitolina]], a city dedicated to Jupiter, precipitated the bloodbath of the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]].

Emperor [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]], the 4th century pagan emperor, remarked that "these Jews are in part god-fearing, seeing that they revere a god who is truly most powerful and most good and governs this world of sense, and, as I well know, is worshipped by us also under other names".<ref>Julian, [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letters_of_Julian/Letter_20 Letter XX to Theodorus], translated by [[Wilmer Cave Wright]] (1913)</ref> However, Julian specifies no "other names" under which the Jewish god was worshiped.

In late-antique mysticism, the sun god [[Helios]] is sometimes equated to the Judeo-Christian God.<ref>Eleni Pachoumi, [http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/viewFile/15325/6623 ''The Religious and Philosophical Assimilation of Helios in the Greek Papyri'']</ref>