REDONES Rennes region 3rd century - 1st half of 2nd century - Lot 106

REDONES Rennes region 3rd century - 1st half of 2nd century B.C. Apollonian head on left (not laureate) adorned with pearl necklace. R/. Nude goddess Epona on horseback left, armed with sword and shield. Lyre below. ♦ DT 2081 (reverse); BN 6740 var. Heavyweight gold quarter statere "à la cavalière armée". (2,05 g) Very rare. A very fine example. Redones or Riedones. The Riedones were a Gallic people from northwestern Gaul. Their territory lies in the present-day department of Ille-et-Vilaine, which they shared with the Coriosolites to the west. They gave their name to the present-day city of Rennes, on the site of their capital Condate Riedonum in Gallo-Roman times, and perhaps to Redon, further southwest on the borders of their former territory. Their neighbors were the Coriosolites to the northwest, the Unelles and Aulerques Diablintes to the east, and the Namnètes to the south. The Celtic goddess Epona is depicted on horseback. She is the protector of horses, deity of fertility and ruler of souls in the afterlife. She was a very popular goddess in Gaulish Celtic mythology, whose cult is attested in Gaul by Gallo-Roman sources. Epona is associated with the horse, an animal emblematic of the Gallic military aristocracy, whose expeditions led to the spread of her cult, and more recently with the mule. Epona's cavalry cult was generally accepted by Roman civilization.