Veteris

1) Veteris(Lucius Vitellius Veteris, the elder) (before 5 BC-51) was the youngest of four sons of quaestor Publius Vitellius and the only one of them not to die through politics. During Claudius' reign he was consul of Rome twice and governor of the Roman Emperor in Britain.

2) Veteris (commonly spelled "Vitiris, Vheteris, Huetiris", and "Hueteris") was a Celtic god attested from many inscriptions in Roman Britain. The dedicants were usually private individuals and were exclusively male. During the 3rd Century AD the cult was particularly popular among the ranks of the Roman army.

Veteris' name was never linked with that of any of the Classical gods, but he was invoked with another local god, Mogons, at Netherby.

3) Veteris, Guigues I of Albon, known as "dolphin", born Guigues I Levieux count of Albon c. 1000, died in 1070 at Cluny. He was the son of Guigues count d'Albon and Gotelana de Clérieux. The “official” history written by George de Manteyer has caused him to be known as the first Dauphin, despite this name only appearing a century later. Guigues was the 1st Dolphine of Viennois in Dauphine, he is found to be a landowner in Champsaur (1027), in Oisans with the title of count (1035), Grésivaudan (towards 1050), Briançonnais (towards 1053) and in the valley of Oulx (1070). From 1035, he is always dignified as "count". At the end of his life, Guigues retired to Burgundy at Cluny where he dies in 1070. He had married Adelaide, who seems to be of the family of the counts de Turin, and had had a son, Guigues II (1025 - 1079), who succeeded him.

Centres of worship

Veteris was worshipped in Roman Britain and altar-stones raised to him have been recovered in the United Kingdom, [ [http://www.roman-britain.org/rbgods.htm The Gods of Roman Britain] from roman-britain.org] such as those excavated at:
*Netherby (971 [Mogont Vitire] , 973 [Huetiri] )
*Carrawburgh (1548 [Veteri] , 1549 [Huiteribus] )
*Housesteads (1602 [Hueteri] , 1603 [Huitri] , 1604-7 [Veteribus] )
*Hadrian's Wall ((2068 [Veteri] , 2096 [Huiteribus] )
*Catterick (727)
*Chester-le-Street (1046 [Vitiri] , 1047 [Vitiribus] , 1048 [Vitbus] )
*South Shields (1070c [Ansu Vitiri] )
*Lanchester (1087, 1088)
*Ebchester (1103 & 1104 [Vitiri] )
*Corbridge (1139 [Veteri] , 1140 [Vitiri] , 1141 [Vit] )
*Benwell (1335 [Vetri] , 1336 [Vitirbus] )
*Chesters (1455 [Vitiri] , 1456 [Veteribus] , 1457 [Vitirbus] , 1458 [Votris?] )
*Great Chesters (1728 [Vetiri] , 1729 & 1730 [Veteribus] )
*Chesterholm (1697 [Veteri] , 1698 [Veteri] , 1699 [Veteribus] , 1722e & 1722f [Veteribus] )
*Carvoran (1793-5 [Veteri] , 1796 [Vetiri] , 1797 [Vetiriu] , 1798 [Viterino] , 1799-1801 [Vitiri] , 1802/3 [Veteribus] , 1804 [Viteribus] , 1805 [Vitiribus] )

Forty altars to this god are recorded altogether, some alluding to Veteris as a single entity, others to a multiple version, perhaps a triad. Little is known about the specific function or character of the god. Occasionally, there is iconography associated with Veteris: for example, an altar from Carvoran is decorated with images of a boar and snake, the boar indicative of hunting or war and the snake healing or death.

Etymology

Veteris may possibly be related to the Proto-Celtic root *"weto-" meaning 'air' or *"wī-ti-" meaning 'food'. [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf Proto-Celtic—English lexicon] and [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/MoE-PCl.pdf English—Proto-Celtic lexicon] . University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. (See also [http://www.wales.ac.uk/newpages/EXTERNAL/E4504.asp this page] for background and disclaimers.) Cf. also the [http://www.indo-european.nl/cgi-bin/query.cgi?root=leiden&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cceltic University of Leiden database] .]

ources

*British Museum, London, England.
*Lancaster museum, Lancaster, England.
*Newcastle Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle, England.
*Penrith Museum, Penrith, England.
*Verovicium Roman Museum, Housesteads Fort, Northumberland, England.
*York Castle Museum, York, England.

*Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Miranda J. Green, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1997