Editing Sulis (section)

== Sulis in art and epigraphy ==

=== Sulis Minerva's head ===
A gilt bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva was discovered in Bath in 1727 (see top right), which was probably from a cult statue that stood inside her temple, next to the sacred spring.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2014-10-24|title=Key objects of the collection|url=https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|access-date=2021-03-15|website=The Roman Baths|language=en|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421140657/https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|url-status=live}}</ref> It is possible that this statue was positioned across the temple courtyard from the sacrificial altar site.<ref name=":3" /> The statue may be a product of the foundation of the Roman site, dating from the late first-century CE.<ref name=":3" /> There are only two other known gilt bronze finds from Roman Britain.<ref name=":3" />

=== Temple pediment and Gorgon's head ===
{{main|Bath Gorgon}}
Discovered in 1790, this pediment from the Temple of Sulis Minerva features a large Gorgon's head in its centre.<ref name=":32">{{Cite web|date=2014-10-24|title=Key objects of the collection|url=https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|access-date=2021-03-15|website=The Roman Baths|language=en|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421140657/https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|url-status=live}}</ref> It was likely carved in the first century CE, by craftsmen from northern [[Gaul]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last=Cousins|first=Eleri H.|date=2016|title=An Imperial Image: The Bath Gorgon in Context|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44336599|journal=Britannia|volume=47|pages=99–118|doi=10.1017/S0068113X16000131|jstor=44336599|s2cid=191391802|issn=0068-113X|access-date=13 April 2021|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413012949/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44336599|url-status=live}}</ref> Originally at a height of fifteen metres, the pediment would have been supported by four fluted columns.<ref name=":32" /> There are also several accompanying images on the pediment, such as Tritons (the half-fish and half-men servants to Neptune), a face-helmet shaped like a dolphin's head, a small owl, and female Victories standing on globes.<ref name=":32" />
[[File:'Gorgon's Head' - Bath Temple Pediment.jpg|thumb|Pediment from Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath]]
One interpretation of the central image, giving the piece its name, is that the head represents the mythical [[Gorgon]].<ref name=":33">{{Cite web|date=2014-10-24|title=Key objects of the collection|url=https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|access-date=2021-03-15|website=The Roman Baths|language=en|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421140657/https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|url-status=live}}</ref> As Greek mythology has it, the hero [[Perseus]] killed the Gorgon and gave the head to [[Athena]], who wore it on her breastplate. Thus, the Roman Baths Museum suggests a possible connection between the Gorgon to the goddess Sulis Minerva (Minerva being the Roman equivalent of the Greek Athena).<ref name=":33" /> While the Gorgon on the pediment is male and the mythical Gorgon was female, it has been suggested that the pediment image was altered to reflect a combination of Celtic and classical styles.<ref name=":33" />

Another interpretation is that the central head reflects a water god, due to similarities with other water gods from Britain. For example, the Roman Baths Museum points to a silver dish from Mindenhall depicting the god Oceanus.<ref name=":34">{{Cite web|date=2014-10-24|title=Key objects of the collection|url=https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|access-date=2021-03-15|website=The Roman Baths|language=en|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421140657/https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/key-objects-collection|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Mildenhall treasure great dish british museum.JPG|thumb|Silver dish depicting the god Oceanus from the Mildenhall treasure found in Suffolk, England, in 1942 or 1943.]]
In a 2016 article, Eleri H. Cousins argued that much of the imagery on the pediment can be linked to imperial iconography, including the Victories, the oak wreath and the star at its apex.<ref name=":72">{{Cite journal|last=Cousins|first=Eleri H.|date=2016|title=An Imperial Image: The Bath Gorgon in Context|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44336599|journal=Britannia|volume=47|pages=99–118|doi=10.1017/S0068113X16000131|jstor=44336599|s2cid=191391802|issn=0068-113X|access-date=13 April 2021|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413012949/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44336599|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, Cousins highlighted other examples of similar first- and second-century architectural features, particularly Gorgon imagery found in Gaul and Spain, to suggest that the Forum of Augustus in Rome was used as an overall archetype.<ref name=":72" /> According to Cousins, the pediment and its imagery are not just 'Roman' or 'Celtic', but result from a mixture of styles and concepts from "the local to the empire-wide".<ref name=":72" />

=== Altar-like statue base ===
The altar-like statue base was found on the pavement nearby the steps of the Temple for Sulis Minerva.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Tomlin|first=RSO|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1143479195|title=Britannia Romana: Roman Inscriptions and Roman Rritain|date=2020|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-78925-548-5|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|pages=331, 335|oclc=1143479195|access-date=21 February 2021|archive-date=29 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429024609/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1143479195|url-status=live}}</ref> The base reads, "To the goddess Sulis, Lucius Marcius Memor, soothsayer, gave (this) as a gift" (RIB III, 3049).<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=RIB 3049. Dedication to Sulis Minerva {{!}} Roman Inscriptions of Britain|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/3049|access-date=2021-03-22|website=romaninscriptionsofbritain.org|language=en|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413013231/https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/3049|url-status=live}}</ref> This is the only known instance of a [[haruspex]], or professional diviner who interpreted sacrificed animals' entrails, from Britain.<ref name=":5" /> The original inscription used the abbreviation 'HAR' to distinguish Memor as a [[haruspex]], but it appears there was a later addition of the letters 'VSP'.<ref name=":02" /> This may have been an attempt to clarify his position as more than an informal 'soothsayer', and suggests that Memor may not have been attached to the temple itself, but rather that he may have been a visiting member of the governor's staff.<ref name=":5" />

=== Altar-like tombstone ===
This tombstone resembling an altar (see top left) was found with two cinerary urns outside the city of Bath,<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last=Tomlin|first=RSO|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1143479195|title=Britannia Romana : Roman Inscriptions and Roman Rritain|date=2020|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-78925-548-5|location=Oxford|pages=331, 335|oclc=1143479195|access-date=21 February 2021|archive-date=29 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429024609/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1143479195|url-status=live}}</ref> in the parish of Bathwick, 800 metres north-east of the Roman Baths.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=RIB 155. Funerary inscription for Gaius Calpurnius Receptus {{!}} Roman Inscriptions of Britain|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/155|access-date=2021-03-22|website=romaninscriptionsofbritain.org|language=en|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802113751/https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/155|url-status=live}}</ref> The tombstone reads, "To the spirits of the departed; Gaius Calpurnius Receptus, priest of the goddess Sulis, lived 75 years; Calpurnia Trifosa, his freedwoman (and) wife, had this set up" (RIB 155).<ref name=":6" /> Receptus' widow's name, Trifosa, is Greek and means 'De Luxe', and would have likely been her given name when she was a slave, before she was freed and married to her former owner, the priest Receptus.<ref name=":03" />