Matres and matronae

A typical relief of the three matres and matrones (Corinium Museum)

The matres (Latin for "mothers") or matronae (Latin for "matrons") refers to a religious cult based around three female goddesses which appears to have been popular in parts of Germania, Eastern Gaul, and Northern Italy during the Roman era. It is generally assumed that they were considered to be fertility goddesses but little is known about the mythology, beliefs, and cult activities associated with the matres and matronae.

The matres and matronae are depicted on votive offerings and altars that bear images of goddesses, depicted almost always in groups of three. Among the votive inscriptions, half feature Continental Celtic names and half of which feature Germanic names. Matres aloso appear on votive reliefs and inscriptions in other areas occupied by the Roman army, including southeast Gaul, as at Vertillum; in Spain and Portugal, where some twenty inscriptions are known, among them several ones that include local epithets such as a dedication to the Matribus Gallaicis, "to the Galician Mothers"; and also in the Romano-Celtic culture of Pannonia in the form of similar reliefs and inscriptions to the Nutrices Augustae, "the august Nurses" found in Roman sites of Ptuj, Lower Styria.

Depictions

Information about the religious practices surrounding the Matres is limited to the stones on which their depictions and inscriptions are found, of which more than 1,100 exist.

Matres and Matronae appear depicted on both stones with inscriptions and without, both as altars and votives. All depictions are frontal; they appear almost exclusively in threes with at least one figure holding a basket of fruit in her lap, and the women are either standing or sitting. In some depictions, the middle figure is depicted with loose hair and wearing a headband, and the other two wear headdresses. In addition, snakes, children, and diapers appear. Other motifs include depictions of sacrifice—including incense-burning, pigs, bowls filled with fruit—and decorations of fruits, plants, and trees. In most cases, the votive stones and altars are not found singularly, but rather in groups around temple buildings and cult centers.

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  An altar of the Matronae Aufaniae (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn)
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  An altar of the Matronae Axsinginehae (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)
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  The Vertault relief from Vertillum (Musée de Bibracte)
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  Small clay votive statuette of the matres (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)
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  An altar to the Matronae Audrinehae (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

Function

Rudolf Simek suggests that the loose hair may point to maidenhood whereas the head dresses may refer to married women, the snakes may refer to an association with the souls of the dead or the underworld, and the children and diapers seem to suggest that the Matres and Matronae held a protective function over the family as well as a particular function as midwives.

The motif of triple goddesses was widespread in ancient Europe.

See also

• Dea Nutrix
• Dea Matrona
• Hooded Spirits
• Dís
• Idis
• Modron
• Mōdraniht
• Nehalennia
• Suleviae

References

• Lindow, John (2002). Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-983969-8.
• Simek, Rudolf (1996). Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-513-7.

Further reading

• Garman, Alex Gustav (2008). The Cult of the Matronae in the Roman Rhineland: An Historical Evaluation of the Archaeological Evidence. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-5224-4.
• Spickermann, Wolfgang. "NOUVELLES RÉFLEXIONS RELATIVES À LA GENÈSE ET AUXVECTEURS DU CULTE MATRONAL DANS LA RÉGION DU RHIN INFÉRIEUR." Cahiers Du Centre Gustave Glotz 13 (2002): 141-67. www.jstor.org/stable/24359212.

External links

Media related to Matres at Wikimedia Commons