I wander, never ceasing to pass through the whole world, but I am first and foremost
a faithful worshiper of Onuava. I am at the ends of the earth, but the distance cannot
tempt me to make my vows to another goddess. Love of the truth brought me to Tibur,
but Onuava’s favorable powers came with me. Thus, divine mother, far from my home-
land, exiled in Italy, I address my vows and prayers to you no less.We learn from this evolution that, as a result of the political integration of the
various populations, the place of provincial communities became less and less
distinct from that of truly Roman groups in the provinces – military units and the
associations of Roman citizens settled in foreign lands. The calendar of the
Palmyrene cohort of Dura-Europos, dated toad 225–7, presents us with a long
litany of Roman cults and imperial birthdays celebrated in the camp’s enclosure
(Fink et al. 1940). One expects no less of an institution of the Roman state, but it
has been noted that the sanctuaries found around camps still welcomed numerous
divinities, including those from the military units’ own regions or whose local char-
acter helped to ensure the safety of their quarters. The fort of Maryport, occupied
by the Hispanian cohort along Hadrian’s Wall, has produced 21 altars consecrated
to Iuppiter Optimus Maximus (RIB813–35), something that must be seen as bear-
ing witness to official ceremonies celebrated in honor of the Roman state’s great
god. The other gods known in the military circles of the province of Britannia
could also reflect the ethnic origins of the recruited soldiers (the goddess Syria
or Astarte, Viradecthis, deity of a Romano-Celtic pagus). Nonetheless, one most
frequently encounters local gods, such as Conventina, or those adapted to military
activity, such as Epona, goddess of horsemen, as well as Iuppiter Dolichenus, Mars,
Hercules, Disciplina, or Victoria, other gods directly associated with the military
profession. A cohort recruited in Emesa in Syria and stationed along the Danube
beginning inad 160 brought along its own national gods as well as certain Roman
gods, including Jupiter.
For the associations of Roman citizens settled throughout the empire, origin and
the community to which they belonged became one and the same: the national gods
were Roman (Van Andringa 2003). This can be seen in the impressive series of altars
erected throughout the second centuryad along the summit of Pfaffenburg, near
Carnuntum, in the sanctuary of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus. These monuments
commemorate ceremonies celebrated by the Roman citizens living in Carnuntum in
honor of the father of the gods for the health of the reigning emperor or emperors
(Piso 2003). In a Dacian sanctuary at Turda, expatriate Romans established a cult
to Jupiter and Terra Mater. We have the date for the celebration of the cult of Iuppiter
Optimus Maximus by the Roman citizens settled in a vicusof Histria on the Black
Sea: December 13, the same date as that of the feast celebrated in Rome in honor
of the Capitoline god. Since the very beginning of the imperial era, the status of
Roman citizen also demanded the performance of the cult of the deified emperor
(Cass. Dio 51.20.6–7). However, religious activities were not limited to cults which
focused on politics or identity: expatriate groups, as well as the other communities,
created their own religious systems, systems which took into account the activity
exercised just as much as the local context. It could not happen otherwise in the
Religions and the Integration of Cities 91